Page 60 - Grow from Within Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Understanding Corporate Entrepreneurship 47

itability in new directions. The most forward-thinking know
that if they don’t take the lead, someone else will. In competi-
tive, global economies, every company runs the risk of obso-
lescence. Consistently and intentionally building new
businesses and paths to growth provides one powerful, emerg-
ing strategy for remaining relevant and prosperous.
As risk and reward are correlated, being a corporate entre-
preneur can also be either a way to the top or a trip to corpo-
rate Siberia, and which path the entrepreneur is on might not
be apparent for a while. Through the stories of a range of expe-
rienced corporate business builders, cases from some of the
world’s leading companies, and a few failed expeditions, we’ll
help to prepare you and your company for a successful jour-
ney. The rest will be up to you.

Summary

The myth of the maverick entrepreneur may be dangerously
misleading, but so too is the contrary notion that there is no
role within a large corporation for the unique type of person
who is motivated by the challenge of creating new things. You
need people who are focused on optimization and process effi-
ciency, honing things that already exist, and extending and
defending the core turf. But you also need people who are
building turfs for the future.
The essence of corporate entrepreneurship is the creation of
new businesses that require substantial and continuous con-
nections to core competencies in order to reach their full poten-
tial. But beware of becoming so narrowly focused that
promising concepts are killed too early, are too broadly ambi-
tious (e.g., try to change the whole corporate culture), or are
misaligned with senior management, strategic priorities, or