Corporate Intrapreneur

"A critical success factor is an operational function or competency that a company must possess in order for it to be sustainable and profitable."[1]

Each company has different factors that must be sustained for success. Examples range from sales growth and new customer acquisition rate, to inventory turnover. These factors change and mutate as the company evolves. In order to be sure that executives are receiving the information they need to make the right decisions for future actions, the company must determine which factors are essential at that time. Rapidly growing companies may need to acquire customers in a short time, while mature companies may find that reducing costs are more important to continue to be profitable.

Factors will change throughout the business life cycle; however there are four factors that every organization, big or small, requires for long term success and profitability: innovation, creativity, the desire to implement new and exciting ideas in the organization in an entrepreneurial fashion at the risk of failure and support & recognition from the company and the executives and managers running it. Without these four things, a company will never develop the intrapreneurial spirit. And without that spirit, the company is most likely to not survive to the future.

Introducing the "Intrapreneur"

For decades now the entrepreneur, the "founder of all businesses great and small" has been awarded the lion's share of recognition for amazing innovation and perseverance in spite of the challenges ahead. Eventually all entrepreneurial start ups reach a size or momentum where they become "business". They are no longer considered to be entrepreneurial. In this case, often the entrepreneurial spirit is lost as the organization plods its way into the future. By keeping this spirit alive within the company, and rewarding the free thinkers and innovators appropriately, organizations can develop and dramatically improve their competitive advantage far into the future. The people with entrepreneurial spirit inside a corporation who work for the prosperity of that company and not for themselves are known as "intrapreneurs".

For intrapreneurism to succeed, senior management "must establish an environment that nurtures, rewards and celebrates innovation at every level of the company." They must also back this up by compensating the inventors appropriately.[2] Companies like Thermo Electron know this well and in some cases pay their engineers who develop the new products and services for a spin-off that is run by another CEO even more than the CEO that is brought in to manage the new company (for business reasons it isn't always good to have people who are not prepared for executive responsibilities to run a business, even if they want to).[3]

Norman Macrae wrote a series of interesting articles for the Economist between 1976 and 1982 where he suggested that "dynamic corporations of the future should simultaneously be trying alternative ways of doing things in competition within themselves".[4] This is exactly what has happened with the companies that are flourishing in this competitive global business market. His revolutionary ideas go so far as to suggest that workers not be paid for showing up for work, but actually for producing innovative and creative ideas in the company. How creative is that?! The use of this concept was further developed by Gifford Pinchot who coined the term "intrapreneur" and it finally became a real word when The American Heritage Dictionary added it to their lexicon in 1992. Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computers claims that the Macintosh was an intrapreneurial adventure within their company. Many more large companies base their success on the concepts of intra-corporate entrepreneurs who continue to be the backbone to their success.

Growth with Innovation

In order to successfully compete in our global market, businesses are going on growing sprees. Many do it through mergers and acquisitions to bypass the long growth curves and investments in organic growth (i.e. develop new products themselves). But at the same time this is not enough because rivals are doing this and spreading across the globe at record speeds. It is a known fact that the larger companies become, the less "entrepreneurial" they are and the more they slow down. In these circumstances, the young start-ups are able to often take a good chunk of the pie and change the way the business is done, very quickly and affordably because they act in an innovative and creative manner.

To prevent this, established corporate middle and heavy weights must continue to innovate, move, and adapt products and services with the nimbleness of entrepreneurial companies. The internet has sped up the game tremendously and the only way large corporations can innovate at Internet speed is to make good use of their people's intrapreneurial energy.[5]

Innovative Solutions to Cultivate Intrapreneurship

Here is a brief list of some of the innovative things that breakaway companies can do to foster the corporate entrepreneurial creative and innovative spirit:[6]

* Staff members are allowed to make their own choice of which internal vendor they wish to use.
* Intrapreneurial employees receive "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.
* Team members are allowed a variety of options in jobs, innovation efforts, alliances, and exchanges.
* Employees are encouraged to develop through training programs.
* Internal enterprises have official standing in the organization.
* Contractual agreements between internal enterprises are 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.

Conclusion

The most important factors for long-term success in business are people and their invaluable knowledge bank. We cannot buy or steal it, but we can create an environment where employees feel they are free to use their creativity and innovation to improve the standing of their employer in the market. People and what they know are the most critical factors for success.

References [1] Roberts, Stevenson, Sahlman, Marshall and Hamermesh, 'New Business Ventures & the Entrepreneur, sixth edition', McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2007, p.158.

[2] David M. Brown, 'Many entrepreneurs work for big companies', Brigham Young University, 2004/02/01, Posted on deseretnews.com at http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,590039801,00.html

[3] Stephen J. Simurda, 'There's a word for it: Intrapreneurism', 'Worldbusiness magazin, Nov/Dec 1996 Issue (no longer available).

[4] Judith Kautz, 'Small Business Notes - History of Intrapreneurship', Retrieved from: http://www.smallbusinessnotes.com/choosing/intrapreneurship/inthistory.html.

[5] Gifford Pinchot, 'Intrapreneuring: Why You Don't Have to Leave the Corporation to Become an Entrepreneur', Harpercollins; Reprint edition (May 1986) (out of print), Retrieved from: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0060913355/ref=dp_proddesc_0/002-7414076-2126447?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books.

[6] Judith Kautz, 'Small Business Notes - The Intrapreneurial Organization', Retrieved from: http://www.smallbusinessnotes.com/choosing/intrapreneurship/intorg.html.

Cameron has lived and worked in Japan for over 18 years. Originally a researcher and educator he has a penchant for details and a natural born flair for communication "soul to soul".

His extensive experience in the culture, coupled with language fluency and a deep understanding of Japanese ethics, morals and thought processes has allowed him to develop a special niche market in the business world.

While working to develop a global presence for a titanium raw material / parts & accessories distributor for the eyeglass manufacturing world for 5 years, Cameron saw the difficulties small/medium sized manufacturers were having themselves trying to expand their businesses outside of Japan. He decided to assist those kinds of businesses get started successfully.

Currently Cameron owns and operates a SOHO business designed to help Japanese and foreign companies come together in business in a very efficient, effective, and cost-effective successful manner.

Reach Cameron @: http://www.intrmarketsolutions.com

Visit his blog @: http://360.yahoo.com/intrmarket

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