Purpose - Many unanswered questions remain regarding the authors’ understanding of how entrepreneurship can be fostered in the public sector. To fill this knowledge gap, the purpose of this paper is to conduct an empirical investigation to determine the relationship between different organisational factors and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in the South African public sector. Design/methodology/approach - Primary data are sourced from middle-level managers at municipalities in the three largest provinces across South Africa. Hypotheses are statistically tested using regression analyses. Findings - Results reveal that the organisational antecedents of structure and culture explain a significant amount of variation in the EO dimensions of innovativeness, risk taking and proactiveness. Additionally, the findings on organisational rewards converge with an emerging stream of research which highlights that while rewards works well to motivate individuals in the private sector, they are negatively correlated with entrepreneurship in the public sector. Research limitations/implications - The study implications relate to the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery of municipalities in South Africa. Due to increases in community protest actions, it is necessary not only to maximise efficiency in the provision of services, but also to innovate and be proactive in order to achieve more with less resources. Originality/value - By investigating previously unrelated factors in the public sector, the authors create closer conceptual and empirical links between the role of organisational factors and each of the EO dimensions. Furthermore, the study takes place in a relatively under-researched entrepreneurship and public sector context.

中文翻译：

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南非的公共部门企业家精神

目的-关于作者对如何在公共部门中培养企业家精神的理解方面，还有许多未解决的问题。为了填补这一知识空白，本文的目的是进行实证研究，以确定南非公共部门中不同组织因素与创业倾向（EO）之间的关系。设计/方法/方法-主要数据来自南非三个最大省份中市政当局的中层管理人员。假设使用回归分析进行统计检验。研究结果-结果表明，组织结构和文化的前身可以解释EO维度在创新性，冒险精神和积极性方面的巨大差异。另外，关于组织奖励的研究结果与新兴的研究趋势相吻合，该研究突显出，尽管奖励能很好地激励私营部门的个人，但它们与公共部门的企业家精神却负相关。研究的局限性/意义-研究的意义与南非市政当局提供服务的效率和效力有关。由于社区抗议活动的增加，不仅有必要最大程度地提高服务提供的效率，而且还必须进行创新和积极主动，以更少的资源实现更多的收益。原创性/价值-通过调查公共部门中以前不相关的因素，作者在组织因素的作用与EO维度之间建立了更紧密的概念和经验联系。此外，