Corporate Entrepreneurship in the South African Financial Services Sector: Entrepreneurial Firm Culture as a Moderator Between Digital Capability and Digital Orientation in Fostering Innovations

Abstract

Corporate entrepreneurship relies heavily on technological innovation. Companies throughout Africa and South Africa have sought innovative approaches and advanced strategies to ensure their continued existence in the marketplace. This study analyzes the factors that impact the uptake of digital innovations for financial service organisations in South Africa. Through the lens of the resource-based view and dynamic capability theory, this research aimed to investigate not only the factors influencing digital innovation (digital capability and digital orientation) but also the moderating role of organisational entrepreneurship culture (CU) in considering the relationship between digital capability (DC), digital orientation (DO), and digitalinnovation (DI).

The report employed a positivist research philosophy using a quantitative research approach. The study had a descriptive and cross-sectional design. The research instrument was a questionnaire with five sections to measure the research constructs on seven-point scales. The convenience non-probability sampling strategy was used to gather 228 fully complete responses, which were used for data analysis. The tools utilised were Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and AMOS (correlation analysis, regression analysis and SEM).

The key finding of this study was that DO influenced DI, DC influenced DI, CU did not moderate the relationship between DI and DO, and CU did not moderate the relationship between DC and DO. These results imply that digital orientation can enhance corporate and academic efficiency as well as effectiveness and that digital orientation can enhance corporate and academic efficiency and effectiveness. Digital tools can streamline processes, reduce costs, and improve collaboration across departments and geographies for corporate organisations. Furthermore, digital capability can considerably impact an organisation's capacity for innovation and market competitiveness. Corporate organisations with robust digital capabilities can leverage emergent technologies to develop innovative products, services, and business models, thereby increasing market share and profitability