Intrapreneur Concept and Development of Intrapreneurship

An Intrapreneurship is the system wherein the principles of entrepreneurship are practiced within the boundaries of the firm. An intrapreneur is a person who takes on the responsibility to innovate new ideas, products and processes or any new invention within the organization.

Intrapreneurship is the act of behaving like an entrepreneur while working within a large organization. Intrapreneurship is known as the practice of a corporate management style that integrates risk-taking and innovation approaches, as well as the reward and motivational techniques, that are more traditionally thought of as being the province of entrepreneurship.

An intrapreneur is the individual who thinks out of the box and possesses the leadership skills and does not fear from risk. Thus, an intrapreneur possesses the same traits as that of an entrepreneur.

The concept of an Intrapreneurship can be well understood in contrast to the entrepreneurship.

1. Intrapreneurship is restorative in nature, i.e. an organization encourages the employees to practice the entrepreneurial principles to counter stagnation within the firm or transform the slow growth of the company into a high-growth. Whereas the entrepreneurship is developmental in nature, i.e. an individual creates something that has never existed before, such as a new product, process or a new venture itself.
2. In intrapreneurship, the major challenge that individual faces are from the company’s culture Sometimes, the corporate relationships and the mindsets of employees acts as a hurdle in the path of an intrapreneur. Whereas, in the case of entrepreneurship, the market is the only enemy. An entrepreneur has to scrutinize the market conditions thoroughly to cross the hurdles coming in his way.
3. An intrapreneur has an access to firm’s resources such as funds, manufacturing setups, marketing facilities, and other supporting activities to give shape to his dreams. Whereas an entrepreneur has to arrange his own resources such as own funds or the borrowed funds, manufacturing facilities, marketing facilities, etc.
4. An intrapreneur does not have the ownership of a new venture and is not even independent to take decisions, whereas an entrepreneur is the whole sole owner of the new venture established by him. Also, he is independent to take any decisions with respect to his setup.

Thus, an Intrapreneurship is a practice of creating the entrepreneurial environment within the organization, thereby enabling the employees to apply their entrepreneurial skills in the job roles; they are assigned to.

Entrepreneur	Intrapreneur
An entrepreneur is independent in his operations	An intraprenuer is dependent on the entrepreneur i.e. the owner.
An entrepreneur himself raises funds required for the enterprise.	The Intrapreneur does not raise funds.
Entrepreneur bears the risk involved in the business.	An intrapreneur does not fully bear the risk involved in the enterprise.
An entrepreneur operates from outside.	On the contrary, an intrapreneur operates from within the organization itself.
An entrepreneur begins his business with a newly set up enterprise.	An intrapreneur sets up his enterprise after working someone else’s organization.
As an entrepreneur establishes new business, so he does not possess any experience over the business.	An intrapreneur establishes his business after gathering experiences through working in the other organization.
Entrepreneurs may find it difficult to get resources	Intrapreneurs have their resources readily available to them.
Entrepreneurs are found anywhere their vision takes them.	Intrapreneurs work within the confines of an organization.
Entrepreneurs know the business on a macro scale.	Intrapreneurs are highly skilled and specialized.

Benefits and Risks of Intrapreneurship

Many entrepreneurs start out while working for someone else. Being an intrapreneur gives you the benefit of your company’s resources and connections, secure in the knowledge that you’ll still be able to pay the rent while you practice your craft.

Knowing that you’re making a meaningful contribution to your team or organization, while pursuing your own vision at work, can also profoundly improve your job satisfaction, build your credibility, and work wonders for your self-confidence

However, not many companies have formal intrapreneurship programs, and the leaders within your company (managers, executives and the CEO) may not see it as part of their role to support people who tread their own path.

Development of Intrapreneurship

1. Develop the Right Personal Skills

Intrapreneurs share many of the strengths and skills more commonly associated with entrepreneurs. They’re self-confident, creative and tenacious innovators, who excel at problem solving and aren’t afraid of putting their ideas on the line.

Intrapreneurs are willing to take calculated risks, but they understand the difference between good risks and bad ones. Learn how to take calculated, intelligent risks by using Risk Analysis to steer clear of ideas that could prove disastrous.

Intrapreneurs are brave, as success is rarely guaranteed. Instead of allowing your fears to keep you from pursuing your ideas, be comfortable in the knowledge that failure can be a stepping stone to something even better, enriching you with practical experience along the way. Overcome your fear of failure, and, when things don’t go perfectly, pick yourself up, review the situation, and move on.

2. Develop an Idea

Intrapreneurs are always looking for ways to make things better. To them, problems are really just opportunities in disguise.

One of the best ways to get noticed in your organization is to come up with a creative solution to an existing problem. Start by looking at the issues and bottlenecks that affect productivity and cause headaches for other people especially your boss. If you can solve her problems, she’s far more likely to give you the go-ahead on your other ideas.

You can also look at the problems your customers or clients are experiencing. Use problem-solving tools like Root Cause Analysis and The 5 Whys to get to the bottom of them, then use creative-thinking tools like Random Input, The Reframing Matrix or The Simplex Process to come up with innovative solutions.

And discuss your ideas and suggestions with other people who know about different parts of the problem you want to solve. They can help you refine your ideas and develop an even better solution.

3. Pitch Your Idea

Once you have an idea that excites you, it’s time to pitch it to your boss or leadership team. This can be a challenging step, because it means putting yourself, and your idea, on the line.

Prepare by learning how to think on your feet and brush up on your impromptu speaking skills. Staying cool under pressure will help you to think clearly, while you pitch your idea.

Next, use our Bite-Sized Training workbook (Club members only) to think about how to sell your idea, and craft an elevator pitch that explains your idea in two minutes or less. Strengthen your message and make it more persuasive with Monroe’s Motivated Sequence, then use our Presentation Planning Checklist to make sure that you haven’t forgotten anything.

4. Be Persistent

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

Don’t be discouraged if your pitch is unsuccessful. Some of the most successful ideas of all time were rejected the first time around. Correction fluid, folding bicycles, the hovercraft, and even Barbie™ dolls were sidelined in the beginning.

Take careful note of any reservations that your manager or leadership team raise during your pitch. If you still believe that your idea will work, do more research to support your hunch. Make your solution more attractive by refining it in light of what has been said, and stay focused on creating value for other people.

5. Conduct a Pilot Test

The next step is to start putting your ideas into action. It’s unlikely that, at this early stage, your manager will give you the green light to roll out your idea across the whole company. First, he will need to see more evidence that the idea is going to work.

One way to do this is by conducting a Business Experiment to test your ideas on a small scale, before taking big risks or committing significant resources to a larger project. You could also use Deming’s Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle to set up a pilot project, or create a Minimum Viable Product to prove your assumptions and explore your customers’ wants and needs.

6. Wider Implementation

If your pilot study is a success and you and your manager are happy to proceed further, it’s all systems go!

Good Project Management, Risk Management, and Change Management skills will help to keep things running smoothly.