Page 188 - Grow from Within Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Which Model Is Right for You? 173

is consistent with achieving the firm’s strategic objectives. The
second point requires addressing constraints and expanding
capabilities in strategically selected dimensions of the firm’s
business system. Leading companies do both well.
The challenge of selecting and implementing a corporate
entrepreneurship model involves, first, determining which
objectives take priority. This will strongly shape the model of
corporate entrepreneurship that you select. Once you are clear
about your priorities, other requirements become clearer. Who
should be part of the team? What tools should we employ?
What internal and external partners should we cultivate? How
will we make the transition of proven concepts into an exist-
ing or new business unit? Next, identify critical partners
around the company and focus on some near-term quick wins.
Pay special attention to wins that benefit people in positions of
authority, people from around the company who can become
partners for your corporate entrepreneurship initiatives. You’ll
need them to tell your story on your behalf, as well as to help
you understand what will add the most value. Sharing success
stories across the company can contribute to positive change
without engaging the culture change challenge head-on. Cor-
porate entrepreneurship is an intangible concept for many peo-
ple; witnessing it happen in one’s own organization makes it
real. Finally, keep an open mind and evolve. Those early proj-
ects will hold important lessons for what is likely to work on
an ongoing basis, and will prove beneficial in identifying any
possible pitfalls.
Once a corporate entrepreneurship effort has begun in
earnest, keep in mind that the corporate entrepreneurship bot-
tleneck today typically arises at scaling in the marketplace and
finding an organizational home for the new business within
the company. That is the point at which significantly more
resources will need to be devoted, causing internal opponents