A characterization of types and determinant factors for corporate entrepreneurship: a case study based analysis

Resumen

What we present in this paper are the results of a preliminary stage of a study, part of a bigger project of Innobasque, Basque Innovation Agency. Our work uses the integrative model proposed by Narayanan V, Yang Y, Zahra S (2009), to try to identify the characteristics of the new business, activities or ventures created by entrepreneurial companies and explore the cause-effect relationship of some proposed “Context agents” such as: External factors (industry, technological change), Internal organizational factors (capital structure, top management commitment, competitive strategy, organizational structure, human resources policies, use of public funds and policies). We try to identify what are the more relevant factors, so that a systematic process to promote Intrapreneurship actions could be designed and afterwards disseminate the good practices learnt to small and medium enterprises. The methodology proposed for this work is Multiple Case Studies. We have selected, six technology based companies with a medium-high intensity in R+D, either small and medium-high companies from very different industries. All of them are involved in Intrapreneurship. The preliminary results confirm some of the literature thesis: there is by no means an unique type of Corporate Entrepreneurship, decisive influence of top management implication, corporate entrepreneurship is a strategic issue with decisive influence in the company survival, decisive influence of the Intrapreneur. But show a broad set of contingent possibilities and situations for the internal agents: (capital structure, competitive strategy, organizational structure, human resources policies, public funds and policies).