Factors affecting to enhance the entrepreneurial orientation of executive-level employees in the Public Service in Sri Lanka: Based on the case study at the Ministry of Education

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to discover the factors that may enhance the effectiveness of
the public sector in Sri Lanka using the concept of managerial characteristics and entrepreneurial orientation of executive-level employees. Data are based on the case study of the Ministry of Education rather than increasing public funding. Factors such as innovativeness,
risk taking and pro-activeness are used to assess entrepreneurial orientation, and participatory
decision making, performance-based rewards and managerial autonomy are used to evaluate
managerial characteristics. Twenty educational administrative officers participated in structured
interviews. The authors used conversation-based content analysis to analyse the collected
case studies. The findings revealed that, although the Sri Lankan public sector consists of the
employees willing to contribute to development of the country, they do not have a space to do
so. The Sri Lankan public sector can develop by changing the attitude of public officers and
managers rather than increasing public resources.
Keywords: Entrepreneurial orientation, participatory decision making, performance-based reward, managerial autonomy, Sri Lanka