The moderation effect of work engagement on entrepreneurial attitude and organizational commitment: evidence from Thailand’s entry-level employees during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Purpose: Past research has convincingly shown that the more entrepreneurial employees are, the more likely they are to leave the organization and start their own enterprise. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to understand how entrepreneurial employees can be retained in organizations by examining the relationships between work engagement, organizational commitment and entrepreneurial attitude among entry-level employees. Design/methodology/approach: Covariance-based structural equation modeling is used to test the hypothesized relationships by using a survey of 416 employees. Findings: The results of the study indicate that an entrepreneurial attitude significantly and positively contributes to work engagement, although it can divert employee attention regarding the level of commitment. Interestingly, the study findings show that employees will commit to an organization if they have engaged with the company, even if they have a highly entrepreneurial attitude. Practical implications: This study’s findings are beneficial in understanding the concept of an entrepreneurial attitude and its impact on an organization. For firms to concurrently promote entrepreneurial characteristics and employee commitment, policy and staff practices must ensure the appropriate level of work engagement. Originality/value: This study proposes new distal antecedent and consequence constructs of the engagement theory related to entrepreneurial attitude orientation and establishes the important link between these constructs with work engagement. The findings originally point to the role of work engagement in maintaining entrepreneurial employees and its effect on organizational commitment.