Published on: November 2nd, 2024 / Update from: November 2nd, 2024 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein
Intrapreneurship – New ways in market development – Image: Xpert.Digital
Intrapreneurship – New ways in market development
At a time when innovation and adaptability are crucial to a company's success, the concept of intrapreneurship has established itself as an effective method to open up new market opportunities and transform existing business models. Intrapreneurship describes the entrepreneurial activity of employees within a company who use their creativity and innovative spirit to develop new products, services or processes. This form of internal innovation enables companies to fully exploit the potential of their employees while maintaining competitive advantage.
What is Intrapreneurship?
The term intrapreneurship is made up of the words entrepreneurship and intra. While an entrepreneur starts and runs his own company, an intrapreneur acts like an entrepreneur within an existing company. Intrapreneurs take responsibility for projects that often fall outside of their regular tasks and drive them forward with the same passion and dedication as a founder would. The difference is that they don't have to bear the financial risk that is usually associated with starting a new business.
A key advantage of intrapreneurship is that this form of innovation allows companies to react more flexibly to changes in the market. Employees know the company's internal structures and processes well and can therefore make targeted suggestions for improvement or develop new ideas that will advance the company.
Successful examples of intrapreneurship
Many large companies have already recognized how valuable it is to give their employees space for entrepreneurial activity. Some of the best-known examples come from global corporations such as Google, 3M and Airbus.
One of the most famous examples of intrapreneurship is Google’s “20% time” rule. This rule allows employees to spend 20% of their working time on projects unrelated to their regular tasks. This initiative has resulted in some of the company's most successful products, including Gmail and Google AdSense. These projects began as employee side projects and grew into important pillars of the company.
3M
Similar to Google, 3M has fostered a culture of internal innovation. The so-called “15% rule” allows employees to use 15% of their working time for their own projects. A famous example is the Post-it®, which was originally developed as a side project by a 3M employee.
airbus
With its “BizLab”, Airbus has created a platform on which employees can further develop their ideas. This innovation lab provides participants with resources and support to transform their ideas into marketable products. Another example is the crowdsourcing project “Crowdcraft,” in which Airbus invites external innovators to collaborate on internal challenges.
These examples clearly show that intrapreneurship can not only produce innovative products, but also help create a corporate culture that promotes creativity and personal responsibility.
The importance of intrapreneurship for market development
In an increasingly competitive global economy, it is no longer enough to rely on existing business models. Companies must constantly look for new ways to strengthen their market position and stand out from the competition. This is where intrapreneurship comes into play: It offers companies the opportunity to develop new markets internally or to reshape existing markets through innovative approaches.
A good example of this is the Indian company ITC, which revolutionized its agricultural supply chain through the e-Choupal initiative. This platform enables farmers in rural India to trade ITC directly, cutting out middlemen. The idea was developed by an ITC employee and has since become an important part of the company's business model.
The potential of intrapreneurship is also evident in other industries. For example, Vimeo has achieved enormous success by switching its business model to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). This transformation was initiated by Anjali Sud, who started as a marketing director and eventually rose to become the company's CEO. Through their intrapreneurial initiative, Vimeo was able to significantly increase its sales and assert itself in a highly competitive market.
How companies can promote intrapreneurship
For intrapreneurship to be successful, companies must create an environment where employees are encouraged to think creatively and take risks. This requires a culture of trust and openness as well as clear structures to support innovative ideas.
Some measures to promote intrapreneurship are:
Temporal freedom
Like Google or 3M, companies can give their employees certain periods of time in which they can work on their own projects.
Innovation labs
Many companies have set up special innovation laboratories or incubators where employees can further develop their ideas. These labs often provide access to resources such as mentors or funding opportunities.
Training and workshops
In order to promote the spirit of innovation in the company, regular training courses should be offered. These can include topics such as design thinking or lean startup.
Support from managers
Leaders play a crucial role in promoting intrapreneurship. They should act as mentors and help employees overcome obstacles.
A good example of such a support program is Deutsche Telekom's UQBATE program. This three-month accelerator program offers employees the opportunity to further develop their ideas and learn entrepreneurial skills. Participants receive training in the area of lean startups as well as regular coaching from experienced mentors.
Bureaucracy and intrapreneurship
Despite the many benefits, there are also challenges to building a successful intrapreneurship culture. One of the biggest hurdles is often the internal bureaucracy of large companies. Many organizations have complex decision-making processes and rigid structures that can hinder innovation.
In addition, there is always the risk of failure - not every idea will be successful. However, it is important that companies create a culture where mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities rather than failures.
Another problem can be the so-called “corporate immune system” – the tendency of established organizations to resist change and stick to the status quo. To overcome this, managers must actively work to promote an open culture of innovation and reduce resistance.
Further development and adaptation
Intrapreneurship offers companies a unique opportunity to develop and adapt to constantly changing markets. By promoting entrepreneurial thinking within your own workforce, new products can be created, processes can be improved and even completely new business areas can be opened up.
Companies like Google, 3M and ITC have shown that intrapreneurship can not only bring short-term success – it also contributes to long-term competitiveness. What is crucial, however, is a corporate culture that promotes innovation and encourages the courage to take risks.
In the future, it will be increasingly important for many organizations to adapt internal structures so that they offer space for creative development - because the best ideas often do not come from outside, but from within their own ranks.
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