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Outlaw Innovators

The Myth of the Intrapreneur

Andrew Corbett, Babson CollegeJune 26, 2018August 31, 2018
Sections
  • Business
  • Technology
Topics
  • Business Strategy
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Innovation
  • Organizational Theory
  • Startups

The Post-It note. Facebook’s “like” button. The Sony PlayStation. These products are all held up as legendary examples of the power of intrapreneurship – entrepreneurial creativity and innovation within large, established organizations. Since the term was first coined in the 1980s, intrapreneurship has been sold to companies as a catch-all solution for fostering innovation. It’s been promoted to workers as a way to capture the creativity and excitement of entrepreneurship, but with more resources and less risk.

Intrapreneurs are supposed to be rebels, breaking the rules and swimming against the corporate tide. While this vision of the intrapreneurial maverick is certainly alluring, in truth it’s a terribly ineffective way to drive innovation. After more than twenty years researching innovation in large companies, it’s clear to me that the successful intrapreneur is often more myth than reality…

Read the full article online at Harvard Business Review.

This article was produced by Footnote in partnership with Babson Executive Education.

 

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Contributed by

Andrew Corbett

Andrew Corbett

Paul T. Babson Chair, Entrepreneurial Studies
Babson College

Andrew Corbett is the Paul T. Babson Chair of Entrepreneurship at Babson College and an instructor at Babson Executive Education. The Journal of Business Management recently named him one of the Top 25 Entrepreneurship Researchers in the World. Dr. Corbett's primary areas of study are corporate entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial learning and cognition, and entrepreneurship education. He is the co-author of Beyond the Champion: Institutionalizing Innovation Innovation Through People (2018).

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