Creating Corporate Entrepreneurship

Assesses the performance of ten European firms in four mature industries that responded to adversity by introducing corporate entrepreneurship. Previous research on entrepreneurship, innovation and change suggests the following five bundles of attributes common to all types of entrepreneurship: (1) team orientation; (2) aspirations beyond current resources; (3) pro-activeness; (4) learning capability; and (5) capability to resolve dilemmas. Together these bundles of attributes provide indicators of managerial orientations and organizational capabilities. Data were collected between 1985 and 1990 from internal reports and interviews of the chief executives and top teams of ten manufacturing firms. Findings show that all the firms built or attempted to build all the attributes of corporate entrepreneurship over a period of many years, not in a single event. Individual entrepreneurial behavior among top managers typically precedes broader organizational renewal and entrepreneurship. In addition, it was found that all five attributes appeared in all developmental stages, but each changed dramatically over time and at different rates. Finally, it is demonstrated that troubled firms in hostile environments can shed past behaviors, adopt policies which foster entrepreneurship, and gather innovative resources that can provide a platform on which industry leadership can be built. (SFL)