Page 61 - Grow from Within Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation

48 grow from within

investors. Common pitfalls of corporate entrepreneurial ini-
tiatives include

• Too narrow: the efficiency constraint, internal bias, and
concept myopia
• Too broad: lacking or losing focus and the culture change
trap
• Misaligned: insulation versus isolation, changes in strategic
priorities, and the pure-play challenge

Notes
1. Skunk works has come to be understood as generically
describing a separate R&D group with dedicated funding that is
protected from the rest of the company. Lockheed set up the
original Skunk Works, originally known as Advanced
Development Projects, to lead the development of advanced
projects during World War II. It continued quite successfully for
many years. The Skunk Works got its name from a family of
skunks that had nested near the facility.
2. Companies that have directly applied the Horizons approach
range from technology and industrial companies like IBM and
DuPont to services firms like McKinsey & Company. Many others
use their own version of Horizons, but the point remains the
same: match the management to the maturity of the opportunity.
We direct the reader in particular to IBM’s Emerging Business
Opportunities model, “Emerging Business Opportunities at IBM
(A)”(2004).