A health audit for corporate entrepreneurship: innovation at all levels: part I Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • PurposeIdentifies issues to consider when designing a corporate entrepreneurship strategy, discuss the triggers of corporate entrepreneurship, and describe an internal work environment that supports corporate entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approachBased on the extant literature, case studies, and the authors' experiences with a diverse mix of companies, the nature and importance of a corporate entrepreneurship strategy is described, together with insights into the internal and external factors that facilitate corporate entrepreneurship and a strategy used to support it.FindingsThe ability to foster high levels of entrepreneurial intensity and formulate effective corporate entrepreneurship strategy is associated with key elements of the organizational climate. Four major climate variables are assessed. Conclusions are drawn regarding the value an entrepreneurial mindset creates when used in established firms.Research implicationsRaises a number of questions regarding the role of strategic versus nonstrategic approaches to encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation in larger, established companies, as well as the relative importance of differing triggering events and various climate variables in influencing a successful corporate entrepreneurship strategy.Practical implicationsDemonstrates to managers how to strategically approach the concept of entrepreneurship within a larger organization, including how to design an internal work environment that is conducive to encouraging employees to act on their innate entrepreneurial potential.Originality/valueFulfills a missing gap in terms of how established firms can make entrepreneurship a core element of their approaches to strategic management and offers practical insights into some of the more vital factors that contribute to sustainable levels of entrepreneurship in established firms.

published proceedings

  • Journal of Business Strategy

author list (cited authors)

  • Ireland, R. D., Kuratko, D. F., & Morris, M. H.

citation count

  • 103

complete list of authors

  • Ireland, R Duane||Kuratko, Donald F||Morris, Michael H

publication date

  • January 2006