Title: Corporate entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship related to innovation behaviour among employees

Authors: Bjorn Willy Amo

Addresses: Bodo Graduate School of Business, Morkvedtrakket 30, 8049 Bodo, Norway

Abstract: Corporate entrepreneurship is recognised as a strategy which organisations can exercise to achieve innovation and growth, likewise intrapreneurship is recognised as a tool for employees who want to realise their entrepreneurial vision. This article compares the definitional issues of these two terms and relates them to innovation behaviour among employees. Terms describing organisational change related to innovation behaviour among employees are used inconsistently and interchangeably. When theoretical terms are broadly defined, they have the tendency to exhibit low internal consistency and researchers have difficulties using them adequately. It is therefore valuable to specify and contrast the used terms with their relatives. This theoretical article utilises three brief case studies to show the implications of the definitions of corporate entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship and employee innovation behaviour. The article argues that the theoretical models that are used in studies of innovation behaviour determine the findings and the explanations possible.

Keywords: corporate entrepreneurship; top-down; strategies; intrapreneurship; bottom-up; traits; innovation behaviour; perceptions; employee innovation; organisational change.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEV.2010.034819

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, 2010 Vol.2 No.2, pp.144 - 158

Published online: 23 Aug 2010 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article