Fostering Intrapreneurial Skills: Trait-Pedagogy Fit in Corporate Training Innovation

Abstract

Corporate intrapreneurship training increasingly relies on innovative pedagogical designs to develop the adaptive influence capabilities that B2B professionals require in complex selling and negotiation environments. Innovative instructional approaches have gained wide adoption on the premise that active engagement leads to deeper knowledge and more sustainable behavioral change. However, whether such innovations benefit all learners equally or whether their effectiveness depends on the fit between pedagogical demands and individual learning characteristics remains underexplored in entrepreneurship education research. This study draws on Cognitive Load Theory and March's (1991) exploration–exploitation framework to examine how different teaching approaches interact with learners' exploratory and exploitative tendencies to shape engagement, exhaustion, and training outcomes. Data were collected from 557 B2B sales professionals and corporate intrapreneurs participating in influence tactics training programmes. A scenario-based survey presented participants with nine instructional conditions derived from a 3 × 3 combination of teaching approaches (Cognitivist, Constructivist, Behaviorist) and salesperson influence tactics (Professional-oriented, Motivation-oriented, Consequentialism-oriented). Data were analyzed using Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modelling, Moderated Multiple Regression, Multi-Group Analysis, and exploratory K-Means clustering. Results reveal a dual-pathway mechanism: both exploratory and exploitative tendencies are positively associated with engagement, which facilitates training outcomes, while the exploitative trait is additionally associated with learning exhaustion under high-demand conditions, generating a significant negative indirect effect on behavioral change (β = −0.130). Multi-Group Analysis further indicates this negative pathway is substantially stronger among exploitative learners (Δβ = 0.271, p < 0.001), whereas exploratory learners show structurally consistent response patterns. Three-way interaction modelling explains 48.6% of the variance in behavioral change and identifies differentiated instructional fits across learner profiles. These findings challenge the assumption that more interactive instructional designs are universally superior and offer an evidence-based framework for aligning corporate intrapreneurship training with individual learner characteristics.