The IntrapreneurDeveloping in phases

Bernard Lievegoed (1979) .……

“…we pass through three major stages in our lives: a time to learn, up until the age of twenty; a time to expand, between twenty and forty; and a time to grow wise, from forty onwards……”

Negotiating your life’s coursesYour pathfinding attributes

Capacity for insight Possession of foresight Tolerance of uncertainty Willingness of risk Courage to change

The Entrepreneur

Three meta-definitions: As a performer of managerial tasks An agent of economic change, and As an individual with a particular personality

All three complement each otherSpecify entrepreneurs by the task that they perform.

Entrepreneurial organisation•accepts (even a need for) change•exploits opportunity

Established organisation•ability to consolidate around success•manages risk•control of resource flows

Intrapreneurism

The intrapreneur achieves the synthesis between “established-entrepreneurial”.

Intrapreneur

……an entrepreneur who works within the confines of an established organisation.

Gifford Pinchot (1985). Book: intrapreneuring

•Developing and communicating organisation vision•Identifying new opportunities•Generating innovative strategic options•Creating organisation wide perspective•Facilitating and encouraging change•Challenging existing ways of doing things•Breaking down bureaucratic inertia

Gifford Pinchot (1985)

Role similar to that of

“Change master”

Kanter, 1985

Four levels of intrapreneurial activityWithin : Outside`These differ on the impact on:• The organisation and its surroundings• Venture’s stakeholders• Resources required• Level of risk

1.Management of specific projects2.Setting up of new business units3.Reinvigorating the whole organisation4.Reinventing the business’s industry

The management of specific projectsTypically,

•NPD•Exploitation of new market opportunity•Integration of new technology•New funding for maintaining competitive edge

How is it done:

•Managed intrapreneurially, cutting across conventional boundaries•Perhaps, may be made responsibility of a cross disciplinary team operating with entrepreneurial flair

The setting up of new business units

Structure External strategic

issues Resources (including

HR) Relationship with

parent business

Best to have members of the

entrepreneurial team manage

these projects, as they may

have a future role

Reinvigorating the whole organisation Flexibility and

responsiveness to new and unmet customer demands

Reintroduce inventive spirit back – it is a radical process!

An intrapreneur must lead with entrepreneurial vision, leadership and motivation, and overcome resistance to change.

Loss of flexibility as the

organisation grows!!!

Internal concerns

Reinventing the business’s industryEntrepreneurs reinvent the industries they operate in by introducing:

New technology Delivering new products

New processes

Businesses can win by playing or changing the rules: Either requires strategic thinking, vision, risk taking and leadership.

Here, intrapreneurship = entrepreneurship

Limitations to intrapreneurship Entrepreneurs comfort: Entrepreneurs who

have created the company must let go so that intrapreneurs can operate.

(It is about breaking rules which entrepreneurs have created (Young, 1999)

Decision-making control:Balance needed between freedom for the intrapreneur and maintaining the business on a constant strategic path.

Limitations to intrapreneurship Internal politics: Intrapreneurs must

be able to predict and understand internal resistance to change. “Thrive on chaos” (Tom Peters, 1989)

Rewards: Can the organisation offer the same rewards as those expected by entrepreneurs? (economic, social and developmental). Moves to start own venture?

Summary:

Venture matures (consolidation)Changes to : financial, strategic, structural and organisational dynamics

Chance to create a defendable competitive position

Intrapreneurism offers the venture a way of combining theflexibility and responsiveness of the entrepreneurial with themarket power and reduced risk of the established organisation

Bibliography and references: Strategic entrepreneurship, (2001) by Philip A

Wickham, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0273 65115 3, pages 20, 224, 388-91

Creative Management, (reprinted 1996) Ed. Jane Henry, Chapter: Developing in phases, Ronnie Lessem, SAGE, ISBN 08039 8491X, Pages 254-65