Do employees’ generational cohorts influence corporate venturing? A multilevel analysis

Organizations are facing an interesting phenomenon in the composition of their
workforce: the concurrence of multiple age generations that demand suitable
strategies regarding work design, job satisfaction, and incentives. Ongoing
entrepreneurship and strategic management debates require a better
understanding of the relationship between workplace generational cohorts’
configurations and organizational performance. We propose a conceptual model
for understanding how a diversified workforce influences some determinants
(i.e., employees’ human capital and attitudes, organizational climate, and
environmental conditions) of entrepreneurial organizations’ outcomes (i.e.,
corporate venturing). Our framework offers insights into corporate venturing
determinants for three generational cohorts: Baby Boomers, Generation X, and
Generation Y. Using a sample of 20,256 employees across 28 countries, our
findings lend support to the positive effect of individual and organizational
determinants on corporate venturing, as well as how these effects are reinforced
per generational cohort. Specifically, our results show that younger generations
(millennials) have more propensity to be involved in corporate venturing
activities. This study also contributes to thought-provoking implications for
entrepreneurial organizational leaders who manage employees from different
generations.