Intrapreneurship

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Intrapreneurship is the practice of entrepreneurial skills and approaches by or within a established organization. Employees, perhaps engaged in a special project within a larger firm are supposed to behave as entrepreneurs, even though they have the resources and capabilities of the larger firm to draw upon. Capturing a little of the dynamic nature of entrepreneurial management (trying things until successful, learning from failures, attempting to conserve resources, etc.) is claimed to be quite valuable in otherwise static organizations.

The term itself dates to the 1983 PhD dissertation by Burgelman and later defined in a 1985 book by Gifford Pinchot III, "Intrapreneuring"; a revised edition, entitled "Intrapreneuring in Action" is currently published. The concept apparently dates back to 1976.

An Intrapreneur is the person who focuses on innovation and creativity and who transforms a dream or an idea into a profitable venture, by operating within the organizational environment. Thus, Intrapreneurs are Inside entrepreneurs who follow the goal of the organization.

Examples
Many companies are famous for trying to setup internal organizations that promote innovation within their ranks. Perhaps the most famously quote is the "Skunk Works" group at Lockheed Martin. The group was originally named after a reference in a cartoon, and 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. Kelly Johnson, later famous for Kelly's 14 rules of intrapreneurship, was the director of this group.

Another example could be 3M, in which they encourage many projects withing the company. They give certain freedom to employees to create their own projects and they even give them fund to use for these projects.