Identifying Barriers to Intrapreneurship

Abstract

Intrapreneurship became a research topic of wide academic interest in recent times. The related subjects studied include its positive impact on organizations, the required working environments and external conditions as well as its impact on employees' behavior, motivation, etc. However, research on the potential barriers and risks related to intrapreneurship remains low. As recent studies tend to focus on single influence factors, there might also be a lack of systematic approaches to study the phenomena, acknowledging the variety of interdependent variables. This paper therefore suggests a systems theory-based approach to assess possible barriers of intrapreneurship in organizations under consideration of risk, systems and organizational behavior. After an outline of previous work on intrapreneurship in general and possible related threads and risk specifically, the sensitivity analysis method of Vester (2000) is adapted to develop a draft model of interconnected influence factors for intrapreneurial activities in organizations. This conceptual model should serve as a basis for further empirical research on the subject and supports the understanding of interdependencies between variables in an organisational system. The application of the model in a single-case study suggests that the influence factors 1) market situation, 2) attitude of employees, 3) skills and creativity, 4) values and goals of the organization, 5) working environment, 6) agility and rule breaking tolerance, 7) managerial processes or management support, 8) communication processes, 9) knowledge and 10) intangible assets could have a high impact on intrapreneurial activities. Future research could make use of this approach and empirically validate the conceptual model. It could be further enhanced through semantic modelling to illustrate the network of interdependencies.

Intrapreneurship to engage employees: role of psychological capital

“…Entrepreneurship has been the buzz word in business since long, with new ventures bringing about different changes in the business scenario (Reuther et al, 2018). It is helping the organizations to foster innovation and enabling them to sustain environmental changes (Palazzeschi et al, 2018).…”

The Role of Intrapreneurship in Portuguese Startups

“…On the other hand, in the case of informal intrapreneurship, entrepreneurship emerges in organisations that do not favour the establishment of a favourable climate for innovation. In these situations, the intrapreneur will need to have a high level of perseverance to overcome bureaucratic obstacles and get their ideas and proposals accepted by the organisation (Reuther et al, 2018). A climate favourable to innovation in startups -as recognised in the studies by Choi et al (2020) and Gundolf et al (2017) can be complemented with other policies, namely through the allocation of time and financial resources for innovation activity.…”

A Story of Serial Mediation: Intrapreneurship Explained through a Combination of Individual and Organisational Factors

“…Intrapreneurship has been linked to increased innovative business performance [1,2] and employee engagement [2,3] as well as to corporate performance [4]. There has been extensive research undertaken concerning the key success factors of intrapreneurship [5][6][7], and to a lesser extent, the barriers to intrapreneurship [8,9]. Research to date has focused primarily on organisational factors, as these are largely within the control of the organization.…”