Transformational leadership and non-family employee intrapreneurial behaviour in family-owned firms: the mediating role of adaptive culture and psychological empowerment

PurposeThe purpose of the present study is to examine the direct impact of transformational leadership on non-family employee intrapreneurial behaviour and through a mediating role of corporate adaptive culture and psychological empowerment in family-owned firms.Design/methodology/approachThe study’s sample consisted of 368 key role non-family employees at 109 family export and import firms in the Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam. The data is analysed using a partial least square–structural equation model (PLS-SEM).FindingsThis paper shows that transformational leadership had a positive and significant influence on non-family employee intrapreneurial behaviour directly and via adaptive corporate culture and psychological empowerment as a mediating influence mechanism.Practical implicationsFamily-owned firms might balance the need to maintain traditional core values and requires innovation through the development of human capital with non-family employee intrapreneurship.Originality/valueThis paper grants a unique approach to studying intrapreneurial behaviour in the context of the family-owned business.