Intrapreneurship | A-Level & IB Business

Summary

This video explains intrapreneurship—entrepreneurial activity that happens inside a company for the firm’s benefit. It contrasts intrapreneurship with entrepreneurship by showing how risk and rewards shift from individual founders to the employer. Famous examples include Gmail and the PlayStation, both born from employees’ experimental work. The speaker outlines ways companies can foster intrapreneurship: granting creative time (e.g., Google’s 20% rule), cross-functional teams, secondments to startups, and hackathons. Common barriers are complacent culture, bureaucracy, misaligned rewards, and short-term thinking. Practical remedies include building an innovation culture, sharing rewards, and funding employee ideas.

Takeaways

• 😀 Intrapreneurship is similar to entrepreneurship but focuses on innovative activity within a company, benefiting the business rather than the individual.
• 😀 Google and Sony are prime examples of intrapreneurship, where employees were given time to work on personal projects that led to innovations like Gmail and PlayStation.
• 😀 The key difference between entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship is who takes the risk and who reaps the rewards: entrepreneurs take personal risk, while intrapreneurs' risks are covered by the company.
• 😀 Businesses can encourage intrapreneurship by offering structured time (like Google's 20% policy) for employees to work on innovative projects outside their regular tasks.
• 😀 Collaboration across different functions, teams, and even countries can be an effective way to facilitate intrapreneurial activities and innovation.
• 😀 Sending staff to smaller businesses or startups can expose them to entrepreneurial environments, helping them learn new ways of innovation.
• 😀 Specific competitions or innovation-focused days, like hackathons, can stimulate creative problem-solving and new ideas within a company.
• 😀 Cultural barriers such as complacency, bureaucracy, and rigid reward systems can prevent large businesses from adopting an entrepreneurial mindset.
• 😀 Short-term thinking and a focus on immediate results may hinder long-term innovation, which is essential for fostering intrapreneurship.
• 😀 To encourage intrapreneurship, businesses need a supportive culture that celebrates creativity and innovation, rewarding employees for their innovative contributions.
• 😀 Reward systems, like profit-sharing or offering financial resources for innovative ideas, can motivate employees to engage in intrapreneurial activities.

Q & A

What is the main difference between entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship?

Entrepreneurship involves individuals starting and taking risks for their own ventures, while intrapreneurship involves employees demonstrating entrepreneurial behavior within a company for the benefit of the employer.

Who takes the risks and receives the rewards in entrepreneurship compared to intrapreneurship?

In entrepreneurship, the individual entrepreneur takes the risks and earns the rewards. In intrapreneurship, the company takes the risks and receives most of the rewards, although the employee may gain recognition or bonuses.

What is a well-known example of intrapreneurship from Google?

Gmail is a famous example of intrapreneurship at Google. It was developed by an employee as part of Google’s policy allowing staff to use up to 20% of their work time on personal innovative projects.

How is the Sony PlayStation an example of intrapreneurship?

The PlayStation was created by a Sony employee experimenting with his daughter's Nintendo to improve it. Sony later supported and developed the idea into a successful commercial product.

What are some ways businesses can encourage intrapreneurship?

Businesses can encourage intrapreneurship by providing structured time for innovation, promoting cross-functional collaboration, seconding staff to startups, and hosting innovation events such as hackathons.

Why might large companies struggle to encourage intrapreneurship?

Large companies may struggle due to cultural barriers such as complacency, bureaucracy, rigid reward systems, and short-term thinking that discourages risk-taking and innovation.

What role does company culture play in fostering intrapreneurship?

Company culture is crucial; it must encourage creativity, support experimentation, and celebrate innovative activities to make intrapreneurship part of everyday work life.

How can reward systems promote intrapreneurial behavior?

Reward systems can promote intrapreneurship by offering employees profit-sharing, bonuses, or recognition for innovative contributions that lead to new products or services.

What is the connection between intrapreneurship and short-termism?

Short-termism, or focusing only on immediate business results, can hinder intrapreneurship because innovation usually requires a longer-term perspective and investment in future growth.

What financial or structural support can companies provide to intrapreneurs?

Companies can offer investment funds, grants, or resources to support employee ideas, demonstrating their willingness to invest in creativity and innovation.

Why is intrapreneurship valuable for a company?

Intrapreneurship helps companies stay innovative, adapt to market changes, and leverage internal talent to develop new products or services that drive long-term growth.