The effects of entrepreneurship and corporate culture on the growth of local construction companies in Tanzania

The effects of entrepreneurship and corporate culture on the growth of local construction companies in Tanzania Fred Phanuel Okangi PhD (Business Administration) University of Dar es Salaam, Business school, 2020 This study investigates the effects of entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial motivational factors, and types of corporate culture on the growth of local Tanzanian’s construction firms. This study is guided by the Expectancy and Resource-Based View theories. It uses a quantitative method based on a semi-structured questionnaire survey conducted among local construction firms in Tanzania. The study employed probabilistic sampling technique to ensure that there was appropriate representation of the study population in the sample selected. The data collected from 227construction firms in Tanzania were subjected to multiple regression analysis with the help of STATA Software version 13.0.Findings indicate that entrepreneurial orientation construct had positive and significant effects on the growth of local construction firms in Tanzania whereas entrepreneurial motivational factors had no significant effect. The study also found that the two kinds of corporate cultures (hierarchy and adhocracy) had a positive and significant influence on the local construction firms’ growth the other two kinds of corporate culture, namely clan and market cultures were found to have an insignificant bearing on the growth of construction firms under review. Consonantly, the study proposes for the construction firms’ managers to foster entrepreneurial orientation behavior among their employees as a strategy for improving the odds of such firms attaining their goals and enabling rapid growth. Managers of construction firms are also encouraged to create working environments that favor risk-taking, dynamism, and flexibility in taking calculable chances when growth opportunities that comes their way. The positive and significant effects of the adhocracy and hierarchy cultures on the firms’ growth imply the importance of designing a working environment that concentrates on structured and formatted procedures. The study contributes knowledge to the field of entrepreneurship in developing countries on the effects of entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial motivational factors, and types of corporate culture on the firms’ growth particularly in the construction industry.