Transcript Slide 1

Intrapreneurial Culture and
Competitivity
Intrapreneurship and Innovation in
Organizations
Louis Jacques Filion
Rogers-J.A. Bombardier Chair of Entrepreneurship
HEC Montreal
SEBRAE
Brasilia
September 19, 2008
What is Intrapreneurship
• Intrapreneurship is entrepreneurship applied within organizations
• Like entrepreneurship, it involves:
- Recognition of opportunities
- Project design and implementation
- Innovation
- Risk management
- Added value
The five “I”s of Intrapreneurship
Implementation
Imagination
Innovation
Information
Intention
Intrapreneurial Process
• The intrapreneurial process is similar to the entrepreneurial
process
• It is more complex because it is applied in a context where the
intrapreneur does not have control over the social system
Entrepreneurial Process
Opportunity
Recognitio
n
Innovatio
n
Risk
Use of
ressource
s
Actio
n
Added
Value
Intrapreneurship
• Characteristics of intrapreneurs are similar to those of
entrepreneurs
• Involves the development of intrapreneurial, projective and
visionary thinking
• Requires entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial competencies
Intrapreneurship is more easily applied in a
context of corporate entrepreneurship
Intrapreneurial Culture (1)
¤ Valorize innovation: new ways of doing
¤ Employees have a higher level of
responsibility
¤ Focus on clients
¤ Importance of learning
¤ Support “doers”
Intrapreneurial Culture (2)
¤ Tolerance of mistakes in the wake of risk management,
not stupidity
¤ Values the presence of entrepreneurs
¤ Rewards success
¤ Shares the earnings
Structures that Facilitate Intrapreneurial Expressions
• Small units: 200 people
• Organic organizational architectures
• Lean organizations (few managers)
• Project management
• Project design
• Project implementation
• Intrapreneurial training
• Intrapreneurial mentoring
Intrapreneurship is Action Oriented
• Difference between action orientation and activism
• Action orientation means:
- Thinking
- Preparation
- Planning
- Implementation
- Results
Intrapreneurial Thinking and Visionism
• Mental representation of self and of environment plays
a key role
• Requires a very accurate knowledge of the sector
• Systemic thinking that relates parts and combines them
to form a whole is a must
Visionaries and Visioners
Visioners
Visionaries
Visioners
Visioners
Visioners
Visioners
Visioners and Visionaries
Visioners
Visioners
Visionaries
Intrapreneurial Practice
Communications
Training
Mecanism to support
intrapreneurial initiatives
E.g.: 3 M
Evaluation criteria for
intrapreneurial
suggestions
Culture
Commandments
Rules
Mentoring
Coaching
Use of external consultants
and specialists
Sharing of the
results
The Intrapreneur’s
10 Commandments (1)
1) It is easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission
2) Do any job needed to make the project work, regardless of
your job description
3) Come to work each day willing to be fired
4) Recruit a strong team
5) Ask for advice before asking for resources
The Intrapreneur’s
10 Commandments (2)
6) Spread credit wide and celebrate victories
7) When you bend the rules always keep the best interests of the
company and customers in mind
8) Recognize and honor your sponsors
9) Underpromise and overdeliver
10) Be true to your goals but realistic about ways of achieving
them
Gifford Pinchot
Management of Intrapreneurial Projects
Vision design
Project design
Business Plans
Gathering of information
Market surveys
Sector analysis
Understanding
consumers’ needs and
trends
Feasibility studies
Market testing
Fight the Corporate Immune System (1)
• Identify elements of resistance to change
• Identify prohibited subjects of communications
• Identify subjects that are regarded as negative
• Identify subjects that contribute strong biases to the way the
organization and the market are seen
Fight the Corporate Immune System (2)
• Identify subjects that do not allow people to act
• Identify subjects that prevent people from taking action
• Identify viewpoints that will lead people to oppose changes
Be subtle and find ways to
counteract all these elements
Counteract Morphine Effects
•Things and people that are in your environment but that you do
not see
•Attitude that prevents learning from environmental changes
•Indifference to changes
•“Sleeping mind” attitude where people act as if they were
asleep
•Insensitivity to what is happening
Wake things up and get things
moving
Characteristics of Intrapreneurs
• The same as those of entrepreneurs, plus a few more
Some characteristics of
entrepreneurs
Some characteristics of
intrapreneurs
Involved
Adaptable
Resourceful
Innovative
Sensitive to environment
changes
Tolerance to risk
Sector Knowledge
Action oriented
Conservative risk takers
Extensive relations network
inside and outside the firm
Knowledge of the limits of what
is acceptable
Push things as far as they will
go
Users of resources
Focus on results
Intrapreneurs/Entrepreneurs
Dreamers who do
☻ When I was a teenager, I came early to work
to be able to type dreams I wanted to achieve.
For example, “I will make one million ships, one
million Brazilian planes”. I was determined to
carry the Brazilian flag all over the world. I
loved to dream.
Emerson de Almeida
Intrapreneurs
Creative doers
☻You can recognize
intrapreneurs. They are
passionate about new ideas
and eager to keep learning.
Contrary to managers, they
get bored doing repetitious
tasks.
Serban Teodoresco
Intrapreneurs/Entrepreneurs
Precision Workers
☻ My father is my friend. We planted hundred
of trees together. For each tree, you need a
hole of 60X40 centimeters. He works with
precision. If you need 60 centimeters, it is not
59 or 61, it is 60.
Emerson de Almeida
Intrapreneurial Competencies
Technical
Competencies
Conceptual
Competencies
Knowledge of sector
Knowledge of
products
Knowledge of
markets
Understanding of
users needs
Systems thinking
Analytical capabilities
Entrepreneurial
thinking
Projective thinking
Visionary thinking
Project design
Managerial
Competencies
Risk management
Communication
Polyvalence
Networking abilities
Negotiation
Task orientation
People orientation
Intrapreneurship and Mentoring
• Mentoring program, often using dual mentoring: internal
and external mentors
• Training
• Use of outside consultants
• Mentoring activities to be completed by coaching
activities
Intrapreneurial Advisory Board
• Advisory board includes members from inside and from
outside (entrepreneurs)
• Appointment of one person to be responsible for
entrepreneurial activities (often part time) (+ budget)
• Small advisory boards will eventually be structured around
each project
From Intrapreneurship to Extrapreneurship
•Intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship are forms of leadership
•Intrapreneurs learn what is to be learnt to start a business
•In fact, many intrapreneurs become business unit managers
within existing corporations
•Intrapreneurs will become top managers, entrepreneurs or will
move on to other intrapreneurial challenges
From Intrapreneurship to Spin-offs
•The current trend towards subcontracting is leading
organizations to develop spin-off programs
•Intrapreneurs can become extrapreneurs
•Extrapreneurs are more likely to succeed
•Mentors and coaches can remain the same
•Advisory boards can sometimes remain the same
Intrapreneuring as a Strategic Option
• Corporations are opting for intrepreneuring to sustain growth
instead of achieving it through external acquisitions
• Intrapreneuring can be done at all levels of organizations
Conclusion (1)
•Organizations need intrapreneurs as much as societies need
entrepreneurs
•Intrapreneurial systems can be developed in the same way
entrepreneurial systems
•Intrapreneurship leads to sector leadership
•Intrapreneurship remains one of the best remedies to fight the
morphine effects
Conclusion (2)
• To be successful, intrapreneurial activities have to be managed
very rigourously
• There are levels in intrapreneurial expression and we have
reached a point where every manager needs to be able to express
some level of intrapreneuriability
• Most managers and strategists can benefit from intrapreneurial
training
Conclusion (3)
• Organizations need to engage in corporate entrepreneurship
practice to benefit from the intrapreneurial potential of their
employees
• Corporate entrepreneurship facilitates intrapreneurial
expression and generates an entrepreneurial culture
Intrapreneurship is a win-win process
Intrapreneurial Culture and Competitivity
Muito obrigado
Many thanks
Merci beaucoup