Corporate Innovation &
Entrepreneurship
– Donald F. Kuratko, Michael H. Morris and Jeffrey G. Covin
Inhoud
Section 1: Foundations of Corporate Entrepreneurship.........................................................................2
1. The Entrepreneurial Imperative in Established Organizations........................................................2
2. How Corporate Entrepreneurship Differs.......................................................................................3
3. Capturing the Entrepreneurial Orientation of the Firm..................................................................5
4. How Entrepreneurship Takes Different Forms................................................................................7
Section 2: Designing Entrepreneurial Organizations.............................................................................10
6. Corporate Strategy and Entrepreneurship....................................................................................10
7. Structuring the Company for Entrepreneurship...........................................................................12
8. The People Factor I: Fostering Creativity within Organizations....................................................16
9. The People Factor II: Human Resources Management.................................................................17
10. Building Cultures to Support Entrepreneurship..........................................................................18
Section 3: Continuous Entrepreneurial Performance...........................................................................21
11. Designing Entrepreneurial Control Systems...............................................................................21
14. Measuring Entrepreneurial Performance...................................................................................22
CE in practice........................................................................................................................................24
Recap and Exam Q&A...........................................................................................................................29
,Section 1: Foundations of Corporate Entrepreneurship
1. The Entrepreneurial Imperative in Established Organizations
Entrepreneurship is the opportunity-driven process of creating value by bringing together a unique
combination of resources to exploit an opportunity. You have to bring something that is value for the
customers and it needs to be different than what other people are doing. It is about exploiting an opportunity
that an entrepreneur has found. Change, innovation, risk-taking and profit-seeking are important. It is a
phenomenon that can occur in a variety of different organizational contexts. When we talk about external
environment it is about the customer, the economic, the technological and competitive environment. The
internal environment is about the structures, processes and cultures within a company. A change in customers,
technology, competitors or legal, regulatory, and ethical standards can create a need for new management
practices; this is called environmental turbulence (opportunity). External changes forces internal change.
Entrepreneurship is the core sources of sustainable competitive advantage in companies. It is no longer having
lower costs and higher quality than the competition. It is about staying competitive, and reinventing the
company. It derives from five key capabilities;
Adaptability (ability to adjust)
Flexibility
Speed (act on emerging opportunities)
Aggressiveness (focused and proactive approach to eliminate competitors, delighting customers, and
growing employees)
Innovativeness (developing new things)
Zahra (1991); Corporate Entrepreneurship refers to formal and informal activities aimed at creating new
business in established mid-sized or large companies through product and process innovations and market
developments. It is about new ideas and behaviors in a company. It centres on enhancing the company’s ability
to acquire and act upon innovative skills and capabilities. Innovation, strategic renewal and corporate venturing
are all involved. CE is relevant because it has a positive effect on financial and strategic (how they perform in
the market) performances. Organisations that engage in intrapreneurial activities are expected to achieve
higher levels of growth and profitability than organizations that do not. Stages of entrepreneurship from stat-
up till large company differ, the more the company grows, the harder entrepreneurship becomes. It is about
efficiency and effectiveness. Efficiency is about doing things right, while effectiveness is about doing the right
things.
, The organizational life cycle. Each stage poses different strategic challenges, and each requires a very different
managerial approach. With these stages managers can predict future challenges, and prepare strategies before
crises arise.
Start up and early growth. It encompasses the launching of a venture and the initial penetration of the
market. It is a creative stage. There is an informal approach to the company structure and a focus on
making and selling. Managers act entrepreneurial and strive to have ownership.
Growth through direction. Companies fail because they will not formalize. It is about efficiency of the
operations with a centralized and functional approach to company structure. The regards is salary and
merit increases.
Growth through delegation. There are semi-autonomous product divisions and strategic business
units. It is about the expansion of the market through decentralized en geographical approach, there
are individual bonusses.
Growth through coordination; it is about centralizing operations. The is a managerial focus on
consolidation of organization with a line-staff and product groups approach, the top managers are
watchdogs and everything is about profit sharing and stock options.
Growth through collaboration. This is about problem solving and innovation in a matrix of teams
where managers are participative. There is team bonus.
2. How Corporate Entrepreneurship Differs
Myths of entrepreneurs
- Entrepreneurs are born, not made
- Entrepreneurs must be inventors
- There is a standard profile or prototype of entrepreneur -> it is about the entrepreneurial perspective,
there is no checklist
- All you need is luck to be an entrepreneur
- Entrepreneurs are extreme risk takes (gamblers) -> it is about calculated risks
- Entrepreneurial people are academic and social misfits
- All entrepreneurs need is money -> there are also other resources needed
- Ignorance is bliss for entrepreneurs -> it is all about planning
- Most entrepreneurial initiatives fail -> after failure, they succeed
- Entrepreneurship is unstructured an chaotic
Entrepreneurship is a planned activity that can be managed as a process, involves risk and requires
innovation, and can be applied in virtually any organization context. It is an activity requiring
significant dedication, perseverance, and adaptability.
There are six stages for the process of entrepreneurship (in a start-up and in CE)
1. Identifying the opportunity
2. Defining the business concept
3. Assessing the resource requirements
4. Acquiring the necessary resources
5. Implementing and managing the concept
6. Harvesting the venture
Entrepreneurship
– Donald F. Kuratko, Michael H. Morris and Jeffrey G. Covin
Inhoud
Section 1: Foundations of Corporate Entrepreneurship.........................................................................2
1. The Entrepreneurial Imperative in Established Organizations........................................................2
2. How Corporate Entrepreneurship Differs.......................................................................................3
3. Capturing the Entrepreneurial Orientation of the Firm..................................................................5
4. How Entrepreneurship Takes Different Forms................................................................................7
Section 2: Designing Entrepreneurial Organizations.............................................................................10
6. Corporate Strategy and Entrepreneurship....................................................................................10
7. Structuring the Company for Entrepreneurship...........................................................................12
8. The People Factor I: Fostering Creativity within Organizations....................................................16
9. The People Factor II: Human Resources Management.................................................................17
10. Building Cultures to Support Entrepreneurship..........................................................................18
Section 3: Continuous Entrepreneurial Performance...........................................................................21
11. Designing Entrepreneurial Control Systems...............................................................................21
14. Measuring Entrepreneurial Performance...................................................................................22
CE in practice........................................................................................................................................24
Recap and Exam Q&A...........................................................................................................................29
,Section 1: Foundations of Corporate Entrepreneurship
1. The Entrepreneurial Imperative in Established Organizations
Entrepreneurship is the opportunity-driven process of creating value by bringing together a unique
combination of resources to exploit an opportunity. You have to bring something that is value for the
customers and it needs to be different than what other people are doing. It is about exploiting an opportunity
that an entrepreneur has found. Change, innovation, risk-taking and profit-seeking are important. It is a
phenomenon that can occur in a variety of different organizational contexts. When we talk about external
environment it is about the customer, the economic, the technological and competitive environment. The
internal environment is about the structures, processes and cultures within a company. A change in customers,
technology, competitors or legal, regulatory, and ethical standards can create a need for new management
practices; this is called environmental turbulence (opportunity). External changes forces internal change.
Entrepreneurship is the core sources of sustainable competitive advantage in companies. It is no longer having
lower costs and higher quality than the competition. It is about staying competitive, and reinventing the
company. It derives from five key capabilities;
Adaptability (ability to adjust)
Flexibility
Speed (act on emerging opportunities)
Aggressiveness (focused and proactive approach to eliminate competitors, delighting customers, and
growing employees)
Innovativeness (developing new things)
Zahra (1991); Corporate Entrepreneurship refers to formal and informal activities aimed at creating new
business in established mid-sized or large companies through product and process innovations and market
developments. It is about new ideas and behaviors in a company. It centres on enhancing the company’s ability
to acquire and act upon innovative skills and capabilities. Innovation, strategic renewal and corporate venturing
are all involved. CE is relevant because it has a positive effect on financial and strategic (how they perform in
the market) performances. Organisations that engage in intrapreneurial activities are expected to achieve
higher levels of growth and profitability than organizations that do not. Stages of entrepreneurship from stat-
up till large company differ, the more the company grows, the harder entrepreneurship becomes. It is about
efficiency and effectiveness. Efficiency is about doing things right, while effectiveness is about doing the right
things.
, The organizational life cycle. Each stage poses different strategic challenges, and each requires a very different
managerial approach. With these stages managers can predict future challenges, and prepare strategies before
crises arise.
Start up and early growth. It encompasses the launching of a venture and the initial penetration of the
market. It is a creative stage. There is an informal approach to the company structure and a focus on
making and selling. Managers act entrepreneurial and strive to have ownership.
Growth through direction. Companies fail because they will not formalize. It is about efficiency of the
operations with a centralized and functional approach to company structure. The regards is salary and
merit increases.
Growth through delegation. There are semi-autonomous product divisions and strategic business
units. It is about the expansion of the market through decentralized en geographical approach, there
are individual bonusses.
Growth through coordination; it is about centralizing operations. The is a managerial focus on
consolidation of organization with a line-staff and product groups approach, the top managers are
watchdogs and everything is about profit sharing and stock options.
Growth through collaboration. This is about problem solving and innovation in a matrix of teams
where managers are participative. There is team bonus.
2. How Corporate Entrepreneurship Differs
Myths of entrepreneurs
- Entrepreneurs are born, not made
- Entrepreneurs must be inventors
- There is a standard profile or prototype of entrepreneur -> it is about the entrepreneurial perspective,
there is no checklist
- All you need is luck to be an entrepreneur
- Entrepreneurs are extreme risk takes (gamblers) -> it is about calculated risks
- Entrepreneurial people are academic and social misfits
- All entrepreneurs need is money -> there are also other resources needed
- Ignorance is bliss for entrepreneurs -> it is all about planning
- Most entrepreneurial initiatives fail -> after failure, they succeed
- Entrepreneurship is unstructured an chaotic
Entrepreneurship is a planned activity that can be managed as a process, involves risk and requires
innovation, and can be applied in virtually any organization context. It is an activity requiring
significant dedication, perseverance, and adaptability.
There are six stages for the process of entrepreneurship (in a start-up and in CE)
1. Identifying the opportunity
2. Defining the business concept
3. Assessing the resource requirements
4. Acquiring the necessary resources
5. Implementing and managing the concept
6. Harvesting the venture
