Several hi-tech companies shifted to decentralized structure in order to create entrepreneurship profit centers within its premises to motivate employees to innovate. These companies believe in the importance of entrepreneurial learning curve in order to revive its strategic business units and improve the competencies of the firm in the cutthroat knowledge-based industry. This will also improve the firm’s value-added chain and help the firm respond faster to macro environmental changes.
Change Agents
Companies intrapreneurial
programs relies heavily on change agent programs that host talented employees
who have a different vision and can propose short-term projects that enhance
the core competencies of the company. Strategic business units that provide
training and initial investments for these projects are highly rewarded by the
headquarters. In addition, the change agent programs allow the intrapreneurs to
acquire business skills and to visit successful entrepreneurship companies such
as Microsoft, Intel and Silicon Graphics.
Intrapreneurship is not just
fashionable but a major component of corporate life and major ingredients of
growth. Yahoo Flicker represents a major example of the importance of intrapreneurship
in established companies. Having lost the competition with Google, Yahoo gained
some of its market share by reshaping its business logic according to the
suggestion of a fellow employee who was acquired with the Flicker project. This
idea would be applied now to the whole Yahoo directory and it is expected that
its revenues from the web directory service to improve by 35% at least in the
coming year (According to Business 2.0-December 2005).
Large organizations corporate
culture does not welcome entrepreneurial spirits usually unless it introduces
disciplined reporting and enhanced communication means. Most large firms are
afraid of allowing innovations within the employees’ body because the risk of
the firm would increase because of the entrepreneurship atmosphere and this
might deteriorate the profitability and share price. In addition, a manager
would loose his promotion chances if he proposed a project and the project
fails. In addition, entrepreneurial thrust can destroy loyalty within the firm
because the manager believing in his project would try to push for his project
instead of applying the firm strategy.
However, companies still
recognize the importance of intrapreneurial spirits and several large companies
such as Google, IBM, and Yahoo still rewards successful entrepreneurs within
their staff. Other companies face difficulties identifying successful projects
or motivating talented employees and they loose high level of chances to
compete in the modern global economy.
