Driving Operational Excellence in Aviation Organizations through Entrepreneurial and Intrapreneurial Orientation

Abstract

Organizations in the aviation industry are required to maintain safety and control over services and operations while adapting to changing service requirements and recurring process issues. The focus of this study is to examine the relationship between Entrepreneurial Orientation and Intrapreneurial Orientation on Innovation-Driven Operational Excellence of operational employees at Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore. It also provides empirical evidence of the roles of Employee Engagement as a mediator and Perceived Organizational Support as a moderator between Employee Engagement and operational excellence. This study adopted a positivist approach, deductive methods, and a quantitative cross-sectional design. The data were collected using purposive sampling and a non-probability sampling method to select employees with relevant aviation operational experience. Smart-PLS 4 was used to assess measurement and structural models. Employee Engagement and operational excellence were significantly affected by Entrepreneurial Orientation. Intrapreneurial Orientation had a significant effect on Employee Engagement but had no significant direct effect on Operational Excellence. Employee Engagement played a key role in explaining operational excellence and in mediating both orientations. The interaction effect of Perceived Organizational Support (POS) and Employee Engagement (EE) on Innovation-Driven Operational Excellence was not significant; therefore, the moderation hypothesis was not supported. The results indicate that high-quality entrepreneurial leadership and employee participation play a significant role in improving operations. The results further indicate that IO contributed to IDOE indirectly through EE.

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