corporate entrepreneurship

 

Corporate entrepreneurship is the process of profitability and innovation within an organizational setting. Corporate entrepreneurship may be formal or informal activities aimed at creating new businesses in established companies through product and process innovations and market developments. However a corporate entrepreneur is a person or employee who innovates or initiates new ideas within an organization to maximize company profit and increase his/her income. corporate entrepreneurs are also referred to as Intrapreneurs. Unlike entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs don't risk their carrier, family, or health in the process. example of intrapreneurs are Ken Kutaragi, and Spencer Sylver.

Examples of Intrapreneurs

Here are some of the best intrapreneurs and how they came up with their Ideas.

· Java Programming Language

Intrapreneurs: Patrick Naughton, James Gosling, Bill Joy

Company: Sun Microsystems

Year Launched: 1995

Patrick Naughton, a 25-year-old, up-and-coming programmer, decided to leave the Sun Company, then known for its business workstations because, he thought it was missing out on the fast-growing PC consumer market. But, Naughton was made to stay and Sun set up a group dedicated to breaking into the consumer market. Group member James Gosling created an elegant object-oriented programming language called Oak (renamed Java), which Sun initially hoped would be used by Time Warner in its cable set-top boxes. When that deal fell through, it looked like the language would be abandoned. It took Bill Joy, a Sun co-founder, to champion the project. Joy realized that with the explosion of the Web, a programming language like Oak could be used across different platforms — computers, cell phones, PDAs, and more. Joy also understood that the key to making Java a cross-platform linchpin was to give the language and development kit away. By the end of 1996, Java had nearly 100 licensees and had attracted 6,000 developers.

· Post-it Notes

Intrapreneurs: Spencer Silver and Art Fry

Company: 3M

Year Launched: 1980

The Post-it, now as indispensable to the typical office worker as a chair and desk, might never have made it to market without 3M’s longstanding “bootlegging” policy. The company’s program allows employees to spend up to 15 percent of their time at work developing their ideas. That’s how 3M scientist Spencer Silver invented a light, repositionable adhesive in 1968, although he was unsure how best to use it. He gave seminar after seminar, explaining the advantages of his adhesive to co-workers, but he was unable to drum up much enthusiasm for his not-so-sticky stickum. Five years later, Art Frey, one of Silver’s colleagues, noticed his bookmarks were constantly falling out of his hymnals during choir practice. He remembered Silver’s seminars, and in that “Eureka” moment, the Post-it was born. The product languished until a marketing manager, Bill Shoonenberg, designed a campaign called the “Boise Blitz” to drive sales and blanketed the state of Idaho in Post-its. The sticky notes went national in 1980 and quickly became an office-supply and household standard.

Other examples are: Ken Kutaragi who worked in sony's sound lab and developed the PS 1, 2, and 3 Game which is now the best selling TV game in the global market, and Dave Myers and John Spencer who discovered the Elixir String.

Reasons for Corporate Entrepreneurship

Many sophisticated competitors investing more money.

A sense of distrust in the traditional methods of managing corporations.

To decrease the number of several best employees leaving corporations to setup their own businesses.Downsizing of major corporations like GM(general motors).

An overall desire to improve efficiency and productivity.

How an Organization can Develop Corporate Entrepreneurship

1. Management support
Management of an organization should set parameters for employees to innovate and should recognize those who bring forward the ideas and help in implementing these ideas.
2. Autonomy/Work Discretion
Workers should be allowed to choose the best time for them to work and should not be criticized when innovating.
3. Reward and Reinforcement
Rewarding and reinforcing worker who innovate tend to be a motivation for them to create new initiatives. The innovation should be made known to others in the organizational hierarchy, write-ups in website, or local paper and bonuses should be given to innovators.
4. Time Availability
Management should not give too much work or overburden their employees in order to allow them innovate. The more free time an employee gets, the more he creates new ideas.
5. Organizational Boundaries
Employees should be encouraged to view their organization in a broad view and not only focus on their line of duty. They should propose new ideas in other areas of the organization which may not necessirily be their aspect of job.