Intracorporate Entrepreneurs

Abstract

Since the nineteenth century much has been written about the heroic men of science, technology and commerce who have invented and, via their own individual efforts, commercially exploited new products and novel production techniques and processes, and a copious literature is now available describing the characteristics and actions of these courageous and tenacious independent entrepreneurs. However, while it is true that private individuals continue to make a significant contribution to economic growth via invention and the formation of new businesses, it is apparent that the major present‐day source of commercialisable new ideas is the established industrial firm. The encouragement of internal entrepreneurship would, therefore, appear of prime importance to the would‐be innovative firm to enable it to better exploit its ideas. A second factor which underlines the need to encourage internal entrepreneurship is the increasing degree of concentration in industry (particularly in the science‐intensive industries where the need for innovation is greatest) with its concomitant high levels of bureaucracy and red‐tape which tend to stifle individual commitment and entrepreneurial endeavour. Indeed, a recent paper in this journal has discussed a number of novel organisational forms which are currently being tried in industry, both in the UK and the US, with the express purpose of creating an environment that is conducive to internal entrepreneurship and individual commitment to new innovations.