Page 171 - Grow from Within Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation

158 grow from within

priate resources be applied. (Again, the Opportunist Model is
the default when no choice is made.)
With respect to resources, the Enabler Model can generally
be maintained in a much leaner fashion than either the Advo-
cate or the Producer Model. Simple processes for project selec-
tion, communicated firmwide and arbitrated by a senior team,
and with limited staff (sometimes just a single person), can suf-
fice. If your company is fortunate enough to have lots of entre-
preneurial staff and a culture that supports risk taking, then
relatively few additional resources need to be devoted to cor-
porate entrepreneurship. The key support required for the
Enabler Model is well-defined senior executive attention, so
that promising concepts can be moved forward expeditiously.
Well-designed and executed Enabler processes have the added
benefit of exposing top executives to rising talent in the com-
pany, so that they can be moved into high-growth, strategic
areas of the business.
Implementing an Advocate Model, which focuses on bring-
ing innovative thinking to established lines of business, does
not require a large budget. What is essential for an Advocate
Model to work, as mentioned earlier in the chapter, is to have
individuals with the instincts and access to navigate your cor-
porate culture and facilitate change. However, some funding
is required to develop and implement methodologies, create
new business design tools, and, most important, build and
maintain internal and external networks.
As companies increasingly look outside for technologies and
business development partners, the networking element of cor-
porate entrepreneurship is being recognized as a new kind of
competency, one that can benefit from explicit, dedicated man-
agement. Active network development can greatly facilitate
concept development; absent such a network, significant time
and energy will be required to identify and mobilize expertise