Overview of the History of the Evolvement and Use of Intrapreneurship (Corporate Entrepreneurship)

Intrapreneurship, which is also known as Corporate Entrepreneurship, has been used around the world by major public companies and private companies. Intrapreneurship is based on the concept of using entrepreneurial skills within an established firm by encouraging innovation by employees, start-up business techniques within a firm (large, medium, or small) to create new products of new products or services by allowing and fostering non traditional thinking and the encouragement and support of using "out of the box thinking" within the firm.

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A wide range of organizations can effectively and successfully utilized Intrapreneurship could include a public as well as private corporations, business partnerships, and non-profit organizations. Intrapreneurship has a proven track record of successfully and profitably being used to create new product and services. Intrapreneurship can create a new profitable subsidiary or a division within the sponsoring firm. Intrapreneurship has been used to help a sponsoring firm to grow faster and even more profitably.

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There are dozens and dozens of existing formal (and informal) Intrapreneurship programs which are being utilized around the world. These enlightened and open minded firm/organizations encourage their employees creativity be allowing the free time to create and then develop their innovative ideas or services for the firm. Some companies sometimes foster the employee creativity by with the creation formal intrapreneurship programs, while others are not structured or formal programs. Intrapreneurship Programs very widely in their used, range, focus, limitations, freedom, structure and nature and amount of the various incentives to employees for successful creation of a product, service or division.

The basic concepts use in corporate entrepreneurship or intrapreneurship has been used by established corporations including the aircraft manufacture Lockheed in creating in the 1950's their "Skunk Works" operation. This brilliant and successful example corporate entrepreneurship (or Intrapreneurship) present and operating for over 20 years before the articles and then the books in 1985. The fundamental concept of Intrapreneurship has been used to create new products, services, and increasing sales (and profits) for many major companies now for nearly fifty years.

The first formal academic case study of Intrapreneurship was done about at the rapidly growing Super Mini Computer firm, PR1ME Computer Inc. from 1977 to 1980, by Haller as his Masters in Management Thesis in June 1982, later published as an academic book. PR1ME successfully and effectively used Intrapreneurship to grow from a small OTC listed company to become the Number 1 performing company listed on the NYSE. Within 4 years PR1ME's sales grew from Million to 0 Million while maintaining strong profit margins.

Two and half years later, "TIME" magazine published and article in the February 4, 1985 issue entitled "Here come the Intrapreneurs." Time's article about Intrapreneur's included, "In 1975 Stephen Wozniak, then a 25-year-old designer at Hewlett-Packard, went to his boss with the idea of a microcomputer that could be hooked up to a home television set. The firm was not interested. Wozniak therefore started his own company with Steven Jobs, a friend working at Atari. The company: Apple Computer. Sales last year: .5 billion."

Then Apple's Chairman, then and now, Steve Jobs, in his own article in "Newsweek" further popularizing the word 'intrapreneurship' in the media. Innovator and entrepreneur Job's, in "Newsweek" article, in the September 30, 1985 issue, in which he said, "The Macintosh team was what is commonly known as Intrapreneurship... a group of people going, in essence, back to the garage, but in a large company."

Professor Dr. Rosabeth Kanter, of the Harvard University School of Business suggested that the concept that using corporate entrepreneurship (Intrapreneurship) within a firm or organization generate revenue and enable the firm to be able to survive in tough economic times. By 1990's, the intrapreneurship was well established in the business literature. Graduate Professor Kanter, emphasized the significant and importance of intrapreneurship, "When Giants Learn to Dance" in 1990. She makes a case that the creation and support by companies of Intrapreneurship programs could be a key or major key factor in ensuring the success of the firm, or even survival of the company.

By the 1990's corporations and organizations began formally encouraging "intrapreneurship" - some firms created specific intrapreneurship programs with time allocations for employees to work on innovative intrapreneurial ideas, products, or services. Recent examples of the successful use of Intrapreneurship techniques can be found in many major corporations, including but not limited to: 3M, Anaconda-Ericsson, Apple Computer, Autodesk, Corona Data Systems, Caribou Coffee, Gateway, GE, Genetech, Google, IBM, INTEL, iRobot, Kodak, Lockheed-Martin, PR1ME Computer, Sony, Sun Microsystems, TeleCommunications, Texas Instruments, Toyota, W. L. Gore, and Yahoo.

Overview of the History of the Evolvement and Use of Intrapreneurship (Corporate Entrepreneurship)

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