Exploring innovative work behavior: A gender perspective on corporate competitive culture, role models and intrapreneurs

• Exploring the interplay between organizational culture, gender, and innovative work behavior. • Invisible power dynamics embedded within corporate culture influence female and male intrapreneurship. • Prevailing male gender schemas and a competitive corporate culture foster the emergence of male rather than female intrapreneurs. • Both males and females are encouraged to engage in intrapreneurship by role models, with a stronger effect on females. • The relative dominance of female intrapreneurial role models has a positive effect on spawning female intrapreneurs, but also male intrapreneurs. • Practical implications for managers seeking to foster an inclusive and innovative work environment. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between corporate culture and innovative work behavior, more specifically how corporate culture affects the spawning of female and male intrapreneurs within organizations. Findings from a survey encompassing 4,011 employees in Swedish private companies provide empirical support for adopting a gender sensitive perspective on corporate culture. Our results reveal that a competitive corporate culture tends to foster the emergence of male rather than female intrapreneurs. However, in contexts where corporate culture includes intrapreneurial role models, both males and females are encouraged to step forward, with particularly notable effects on female intrapreneurs, thus facilitating a shift in existing gender schemas. The findings underscore how power dynamics embedded within corporate culture influence innovative work behavior, and emphasize the importance of conceiving culture as a multifaceted determinant of such behavior. We discuss the implications of our findings for the management of intrapreneurship, human resources, and gender equality.