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Understanding Corporate Entrepreneurship and Development: A Practitioner View of Organizational Intrapreneurship

Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, Jul 2007 by Kenney, Matthew, Mujtaba, Bahaudin G

Executive Summary

This article focuses on understanding corporate entrepreneurship and how intrapreneurs develop through the use of literature, an interview of a corporate entrepreneur, and personal experiences of the authors on how a company can enhance its longevity and remain competitive by embracing entrepreneurship as an organizational value. The literature review identifies many of the benefits and challenges of corporate entrepreneurship, while an in-depth interview with an experienced intrapreneur provides insight into corporate entrepreneurship from the practitioner's perspective.

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Today's corporate managers, leaders and academic scholars are in search of discovering innovative methods of encouraging individuals and teams to become creative and, thus, make their organizations more competitive. Overall, the paper discusses the concepts of entrepreneurship, corporate entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, and collaborative entrepreneurship for readers and researchers. Besides practical recommendations for the creation of a culture that is focused on corporate entrepreneurship, this article also concludes with examples of collaborative entrepreneurship and practical implications of these concepts for existing and future entrepreneurs. Finally, recommendations are offered for future research and scholarship on entrepreneurship.

Introduction

The founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese's, Nolan Bushnell, states that "A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer" (Gundry and Kickul, 2007, p. 2). According to Gundry and Kickul (2007), the entrepreneurship journey, which requires taking action and doing, involves the discovery, evaluation and exploitation of available opportunities if a person or groups of individuals are to effectively bring new goods, services and processes to today's competitive market. Of course, the origins of entrepreneurship in the local and global marketplaces can be traced back thousands of years.

The foundation of Hayek's Theory of Cultural Evolution is that the growth of civilization can be traced to members of society emerging from small, confined groups and developing new relationships and processes. This emergence did not involve formal planning, rather it was spontaneous. As the population grew as a result of this proactive evolutionary step, rules were established by society that fostered and facilitated growth (Feldmann, 2006).

Hayek posited that this structure will eventually stifle new evolutionary progression, leading to the downfall of the society. The paradox is that the rules and structure required for the culture to thrive will ultimately lead to the culture's demise.

Each organization has its own unique culture, and similarities can be seen between Hayek's view of cultural evolution and the progression of a culture within an organization. Often, organizations are founded by entrepreneurs with little or no planning. As the organization grows, rules and procedures are implemented that provide the structure needed for the company to flourish. However, with this growth often comes bureaucracy, which stifles innovation and inevitably a company's ability to compete (Ireland, Kuratko & Morris, 2006).

It is well established that developing and nurturing an entrepreneurial culture will enhance a company's ability to develop innovative solutions and sustain strategic competitive advantages (Parboteaah, 2000). Hayek's theory has many proponents within the academic community and this paper will assume Hayek's theory to be valid.

Assuming that the rules implemented by corporate ventures will ultimately be responsible for the company's demise, various facets of corporate entrepreneurship will be explored in an effort to identify strategies that could be implemented to enhance a company's longevity.

Entrepreneurship Traits and Dimensions

While corporate entrepreneurship is one of the fastest growing areas of management research, the term is often misunderstood as many believe the term itself to be oxymoronic (Thornberry, 2001). Thus, it is important to distinguish between entrepreneurship and corporate entrepreneurship. Erkkila (2000, p. 19) states that "Entrepreneurship is drawing from a wide range of skills capable of enhancement to add value to a targeted niche of human activity." Erkkila continues by saying that "The effort expended in finding and implementing such opportunities is rewarded by income and independence as well as pride in creation." Others state that entrepreneurship is primarily viewed as an individual pursuit and associated with start-up entrepreneurs (Thornberry, 2001), whereas corporate entrepreneurship is viewed as acting entrepreneurially within the confines of an established organization. In a traditional start-up venture, entrepreneurial practices are central to the company's mission and at the core of processes. Corporate entrepreneurship doesn't need to be a core organizational principle for an established company to benefit from it (Thornberry, 2003), and is it usually found at the periphery of a venture (Antoncic & Hisrich, 2003).

Understanding Corporate Entrepreneurship and Development: A Practitioner View of Organizational Intrapreneurship

Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, Jul 2007 by Kenney, Matthew, Mujtaba, Bahaudin G

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