Managing Corporate Culture, Innovation, and Intrapreneurship

Innovation has rapidly assumed a position of prominence in world competition. Today's marketplace is characterized by fast-paced and unremitting competition on a global scale. To compete in this environment, organizations need a level of innovation and intrapreneurship that was unheard of even a decade ago. As competition becomes more global and time-based, corporations must develop and deliver better new products in less time. The challenge for modern organizations is to revitalize themselves so they can successfully and continuously develop new products and new businesses. They must not only improve their procedures for new product and new business development, but must also improve their culture. It is not enough that a company have an effective innovation process; it must also have an innovative culture.

In this book, we will use the term innovation to mean the development of something new from its earliest beginning to it ultimate completion. New product development refers to the development of a product, either a good or service, from its initial idea until it becomes a commercial product available for public use. A venture is a product, market, or process development project that goes all the way from the initial idea to a commercial product, market, or process. A venture refers more to the development project than to the new product itself. The term is also more general in that it can refer to market and process development as well as product development. We will usually use "venture" in lieu of the more lengthy "new product development project." When we discuss the venturing process we are discussing the development process primarily for new products, but possibly for new markets and new processes as well. An intrapreneur is involved in the venturing process, that is, in developing a new business inside a corporation from its initial idea until it becomes a viable business. Entrepreneurship differs from intrapreneurship in that entre

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