What is Intrapreneurship?

Intrapreneurship

Intrapreneurship is the process where an employee within a large company acts like an entrepreneur within that organisation and takes responsibility for a turning a new concept into a finished product or service through calculated risk-taking and innovation. Intrapreneurship is a particular style of corporate management that integrates the characteristics of the entrepreneurship approach as well as the reward and motivational techniques employed i.e. it’s essentially corporate entrepreneurship. Intrapreneurship also encompasses employee initiatives in corporations to take on something new using their own initiative. Intrapreneurship allows an employee to think like an entrepreneur looking out for opportunities, which profit the organisation he/she works within.

The objectives of Intrapreneurship

Intrapreneurship focuses on innovation and creativity and transforms an idea into a profitable venture, while operating within the organisational environment. Intrapreneurship involves following the goal of the organisation. It is an example of motivation through job design, either formally or informally. Intrapreneurship is used by certain departments (such as Marketing, Engineering, R&D etc) to encourage, incentivise and motivate those employees involved in certain projects, to behave as internal entrepreneurs even though they have the resources, capabilities and security of the larger organisation to draw upon.
Intrapreneurship helps capture some aspects of the dynamic nature of entrepreneurial management (persistently attempting things until successful, learning from failures, attempting to conserve resources, etc). It adds to the potential of an otherwise static organisation, without exposing those employees to the risks or accountability normally associated with entrepreneurial failure.

Examples of Intrapreneurship

Many companies are famous for setting up internal organisations/groups whose primary purpose is to promote innovation within their organisation. Some companies are known for implementing innovative policies, fostering an inspirational atmosphere and having an intrapreneurship environment which helps bring products/services to market efficiently.  Some of the most well-known are:

Lockheed Martin “Skunk Works” Group: The group was first brought together in 1943 to build the P-80 fighter jet. Because the project was to eventually become a part of the war effort, the project was internally protected and secretive.
3M: They give certain freedom to intrapreneurs to create their own projects, and they even give them funds to use for these projects. Employees can spend their 15% time working on the projects they like for the betterment of the company. On the initial success of the project, 3M even funds it for further development.
Google: The search engine giant is also known to be intrapreneur friendly, allowing their employee to spend up to 20% of their time to pursue project of their choice.

How to foster Intrapreneurship within an organisation

1. Build a dedicated team of both internal stars and external experts with deep domain experience in the category you will be competing in.
2. Spend only the absolute minimum time required on actions or processes which don’t have a large impact on the project. Ensure to employ great people, locate them together in the one place and that they have a good space for open communication. Do spend time on selecting the most efficient process that meets your project needs.
3. Be open about the new project operations to the remainder of the company to avoid internal resistance, to get the whole organisation behind the company, to obtain valuable feedback and recruit more volunteers to help out.
4. Leverage all assets and resources available for the project within the organisation to ensure the project is a success. This may require work from other business units.
5. Develop and validate the project for scale and success as quickly as is possible. However, always take time to assess both supply and demand.
6. Enjoy the fruits of your labour. With intrapreneurship you get to spend more time focused on the product and less time on the administrative, IT, and back-office demands.

Intrapreneurship is meant to encourage employees to develop their own ideas, innovations, and techniques into solid plans of action that benefit the companies they work for. Though it may be easier to launch a product or service when backed by a corporation, intrapreneurship still involves a lot of work. There are no guarantees about being successful and being tied to the corporate entity you work for can also create a fear of failing due to job security. However, intrapreneurship can be as rewarding and as fulfilling as entrepreneurship. Risk-taking and innovation can certainly take place within the walls of an established corporation. Inrapreneurship can be used to leverage the skills, resources and experience internally within a company. Intrapreneurship also can also be used for knowledge transfer between external subject matter experts and employees. It also encourages employee interaction within the different divisions within their company. Startups resulting from companies which fostered intrapreneurship are inclined to concentrate more on business-to-business products.

If you are a business owner, intrapreneur or manage a small to medium size enterprise and need help and advice on how best to foster intrapreneurship to benefit the organisation, then contact eCubation today for a FREE consultation.