Page 242 - Grow from Within Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Learn from E very where 227

So, what is one to do? As we’ve emphasized throughout this
book, think carefully about your long-term strategy before ini-
tiating a corporate entrepreneurship program, and then “keep
it sold” through ongoing networking and communication. In
good times and bad, always make sure that your team
achieves, documents, and communicates smaller, quantifiable
wins as well as the triumphs. You can’t be assured that home
runs will occur soon enough or often enough to maintain sen-
ior management’s dedication. Make sure your portfolio can
always answer the question, “What have you done for me
lately?” In hard times, it will be especially important that you
keep even the board of directors involved and aligned with the
long-term promise.
Kellogg School of Management professor Andrew Razeghi
recently outlined in a 2008 working paper (“Innovating
through Recession: When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get
Creative”) some of the advantageous opportunities that arise
during a downturn. The unmet needs of the market are easier
to discern during a period when customers are thinking harder
about their spending. Engagement with the market in new and
creative ways is possible. Downturns also provide an oppor-
tunity to deepen your relationships with existing customers.
Staying in front of customers keeps your brand relevant in their
lives. This is particularly true if you use the opportunity to
deliver new kinds of value. (Conversely, cutting prices or
reducing advertising and other communications can backfire,
compromising customers’ perception of the value of your
brand.) Finally, as many observers have noted, recessions pro-
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vide an opportunity for strong and brave companies to grab
market share. In a 2002 study of 1,000 companies from 1982 to
1999, McKinsey & Company researchers Richard F. Dobbs,
Toman Karakolev, and Francis Malige found that those that
invested in strategic acquisitions and new opportunities (con-