The Intrapreneurial Organization

Intrapreneurs have been credited with increasing the speed and cost-effectiveness of technology transfer from research and development to the marketplace. While intrapreneurs are sometimes considered inventors, inventors come up with new products. Intrapreneurs come up with new processes that get that product to market. Part of the reason they are considered similar to inventors is that they are creative and are risk-takers in the sense that they are stepping out of their traditional role within the business. However, their risk-taking behavior is personal. In terms of the business, they actually work towards minimizing the risk through the innovative approaches they use to more efficient and effective product production and sales.

Some methods that have been used by businesses to foster intrapreneurship are:

Users of internal services are allowed to make their own choice of which internal vendor they wish to use.

Intrapreneurial employees are granted something akin to ownership rights in the internal intraprises they create.

Companywide involvement is encouraged by insisting on truth and honesty in marketing and marketplace feedback.

Intrapreneurial teams are treated as a profit center rather than a cost center(i.e, they are responsible for their own bottom line). One way some companies handle this is for the team to have their own internal bank account.

Team members are allowed a variety of options in jobs, in innovation efforts, alliances, and exchanges.

Employees are encouraged to develop through training programs.

Internal enterprises have official standing in the organization.

A system of contractual agreements between internal enterprises is defined and supported by the organization.

A system for settling disputes between internal enterprises and between employees and enterprises is part of the intrapreneurship plan.

Intrapreneurism in business has evolved to encompass a variety of concepts: identifying and fostering employees who have what a considered to be intrapreneurial traits, developing an intrapreneurial process for part or all of a business, and developing innovation through rewarding intrapreneurial behavior.