Means Of Innovation In An Intrapreneuship World

The concept of intrapreneurship has been around for long time but it is one that’s growing at quite a pace as organizations attempt to leverage and empower employees to create and innovate.

Focus On Innovation

There has been an understandable focus in recent years on open innovation, whereby insights, ideas and technologies are sought from external sources through partnerships, crowd-sourcing, licensing and so on. The concept rests on the notion that the smartest people will nearly always be employed somewhere else.

Intrapreneurship is a different ball-game however, and places employees in charge of new projects within the firm. They typically receive a large dose of autonomy and therefore take ownership of its success. Despite the apparent

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distinction between the two, there are many ways in which open innovation and intrapreneurship align.

Intrepreneurship: Scaling Up Internal Startups

A 2014 study from Wharton found that the most important factor in scaling up a startup is in the connections and networks the team can form.

This has been built by identifying five distinct challenges to achieve high levels of growth with a new project:

Finding the right skill mix for the project

Ensuring they have the right leadership skills

Accessing customers in other markets/home market

Accessing the right combination of finance

Navigating infrastructure

Organizational Support

It's clear that considerable support is required to take a nascent idea to something fit for market.

Companies With An Intrapreneurial Mindset

Companies are realizing the critical importance of what a vibrant intrapreneurial environment can offer to the long term health of a company. For instance, 3M Corporation, Accenture and Barclays have formal programs to encourage their employees to create new projects and roles.

Conclusion

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If your company already boosts intrapreneurs, use them as a case study to start building a more formal intrapreneurship initiative. Issues such as getting buy in from management, how to review intrapreneurs’ ideas and overall structure of program will be key to adopting this more formally within a company. Employees look for meaningful work, and want to be part of a movement where creativity and innovation are encouraged and rewarded. Creating a positive space within your company continue to help drive an impactful company culture.

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