Intrapreneurship

Intrapreneurship

Employees of an organisation who have entrepreneurial talent and are motivated to use their abilities and initiative and do something on their own, but who may not
want to start their own business are known as intrapreneurs.

Thus, intrapreneurship is the term given to the establishment and fostering of entrepreneurial activity in large organizations which either improve the existing products and services or brand new products. Gifford Pinchot (1985) in his book Intrapreneuring gave the term “intrapreneurs”.

Intrapreneurship implies that entrepreneurial activities are explicitly supported within established organizations, provided with organizational resources, and accomplished by company employees. Pinchot describes the intrepreneur, also termed as corporate entrepreneur, as someone who violates policy, ignores the chain of command, defies established procedures, and, perhaps, comes up with a new product for the company in which he is employed. In other words, these innovative employees disrupt the company in constructive ways to instigate new products or services. These corporate entrepreneurs often work independently but they don’t
presume ownership from their employees. If they are unable to adjust within that environment, they leave the jobs to persue their own ideas. Such entrepreneurs who are creating something new within the context of their jobs don’t assume personal risk, no assumption of profit and no assumptions of loss as well. They venture out their ideas but
bear no financial risk. As a result, their rewards are confined as if they are giving birth to new enterprises.

Such intrapreneurs are motivated by money but money is not their primary goal. Intrepreneurship is not everybody’s cup of tea. Intrapreneurs are strategically aware, ideas-driven, creative, flexible, innovative, good networkers and individualistic. They are able to work well in a team with
persistence and courage. According to Pinchot, the key lies in engaging people’s efforts and energy for exploiting new ideas. The organization must give an environment, which is conducive to intrapreneurship. Their ideas need to be taken forward, and necessary internal resources be provided to them. Moreover, corporate entrepreneurship is a volunteer exercise, in which brave organizations permit their employees to experiment with new and unproven ideas.

Intrapreneurs often have the security of large company employment where failures are protected to some extent but the rewards for real success are unlikely to equal to those of
the true entrepreneur. Many times, when initiatives fail, it becomes difficult for the intrapreneur to handle setbacks and disappointments, but it is part of the game. Due to increasing global competition and pressure for innovation,Britain’s large companies are looking for methods to stimulate ideas for new products.