Question

Intrapreneurship is defined as the development of an enterprise culture with an existing (Nandan, 2009). An intrapreneur is referred to as ‘an inside entrepreneur’ who uses the skills of an entrepreneur to advance the company, but without incurring any risks associated with the ‘new’ idea, unlike the entrepreneur (Investopedia, 2019). The term ‘intrapreneur’ first came about when it was first used by Gifford Pinchot, a management consultant, in the 1980s (Investopedia, 2019). Pinchot came to the realization that businesses should create an environment where employees are free to explore and create ideas that can be beneficial to the company rather than waiting for something negative happens (Investopedia, 2019).

An example of an intrapreneurship can be found at 3M, a manufacturing company.it was stated that Dr. Spencer Silver, a scientist at 3M, was attempting to create an extremely strong adhesive to be used in aerospace technology, but ended up with a light adhesive that would stick to surfaces without leaving a residue (Vocoli, 2014). It was only until Art Fry, another 3M scientist, came up with an idea to collaborate with Silver, and thus the Post-It note came into existence (Vocoli, 2014). 3M also has an intrapreneurial program in place called the ‘Genesis Grant’ which finances projects that might not receive the necessary funding which allows their innovators to see through their projects (Shukla, 2018).

By companies allowing their employees to be intrapreneurs they give them the opportunity to let their ideas develop while at the same time benefiting the company. Stifling innovation within the company leaves room for those ideas to be picked up by competitors who will be more than willing to give innovators free reign to be creative. Many companies should take into consideration an intrapreneurship program because in the long run it will be beneficial as well as profitable.

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Answer 1

Intrapreneurship seems to be a very good way of encouraging the employees towards innovation and developing new ideas. If implemented successfully, it can lead a company towards great successes and fame.

However, caution should be taken in order to determine which ideas are well worth the financing and which are not. moreover, employees should be encouraged to do proper research and look at their ideas from all the angles before implementing them. the questions employees should ask before becoming an entrepreneur of new ideas should be

A. Is the cost worth the effort and time it will take for the idea to see the light of the day?

B. Can it be easily imitated by the competition and if yes, how to make it less imitable?

C. To whom will the new product or service or idea help the most?

D. How will it benefit the reputation of the company in the short as well as long term?