what is intrapreneurship

it is pretty much the same as entrepreneurship, except that it occurs within an existing biz structure. entrepreneurship refers to a start-up, a new venture, whereas intrapreneurship refers to restructuring existing biz as a survival strategy. the organization takes the initiative and commits resources to create and empower a team which will think and behave like entrepreneurs (meaning as if it is their own company as opposed to them working 'for' a company).

The upside of this is that it is already an up and running existing biz with its own biz momentum, its own market, its own product mix and of course its own infrastructure, so intrapreneurial effort is focused on creating an empowered 'intraprise'. as with enterprise, ideas are the starting point of all intraprises too.

the downside of this is that because it is an existing biz, battling the entrenched dogmas ('this is the way we have always run the biz; it worked well for us in the past, so why should we change it now?") tends to be highly energy-consuming. and sometimes, thwarting. and most times, frustrating.

it is not true that companies look at intrapreneurship when they start doing badly. good organizations are those that are good change managers. and good change managers are not just those who 'react' to change; they also pre-empt and prepare for change. so intrapreneurship becomes an integral part of an organization's DNA, pretty much like its vision and mission statements.