Page 161 - Grow from Within Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation

148 grow from within

ditional R&D organization would adopt it or it was spun out
as part of a joint development venture. An NTRI Review Board
was formed, with business development, R&D, marketing, or
strategy people from each division, as well as some key cor-
porate stakeholders, such as the CFO.
Around the same time as the Non-Traditional Research and
Innovation group began its operations, Baxter formed a core
technical competencies team to identify and monitor strategi-
cally important technology areas, out of which Baxter could
create high-margin new products. In 2002, Kraemer named
senior Baxter R&D executive Norbert Riedel as corporate chief
scientific officer (CSO) with the charge of overseeing these
efforts and NTRI at the top executive level.
Soon after her appointment, Hunt discussed the challenge
of her new position. “We know innovation outside our busi-
ness units is critical, but will we have the courage to commit
over the long term, especially if the economy becomes a chal-
lenge?” Her fear was prescient. The creation of top-level over-
sight and attention from senior executives was critical in 2004
when, just as the incubator hit its stride, Baxter’s performance
tumbled and budgets were slashed, putting the incubator’s
future at risk. If it hadn’t been for Hunt’s extensive networks
throughout the company, not to mention the CEO’s and CSO’s
commitment to the team and its mission, NTRI would have
become a casualty. After Baxter CEO Henry Kraemer left the
company in 2004, Riedel remained the senior executive spon-
sor who kept NTRI alive.

Corporate Context, Abstracted
The Baxter case illustrates the organic process of developing a
corporate entrepreneurship competency, combining internal
business improvement efforts with external demands for