An individual-level perspective on intrapreneurship: a review and ways forward

Abstract

Intrapreneurship as a sub-field of entrepreneurship has increased in importance. Due to the crucial role of entrepreneurial employees with regard to innovation and competitive advantage, research has increased and various concepts have emerged. Despite the growing interest in the field, intrapreneurship is still lacking a clear classification of the related concepts as research has thus far been based on diverse theoretical approaches. Indeed, contributions in the field are fragmented, using various definitions. There is no systematic review providing an overview of the field. By distinguishing between corporate entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial orientation and intrapreneurship, this paper clearly positions intrapreneurship as individual-level concept. Most prior research has been done at the organizational level, focusing on concepts such as corporate entrepreneurship, but research concentrating on individual intrapreneurial employees is rare. Therefore, this paper closes the gap by performing a systematic literature review and using a narrow focus to present the current state of research with regard to the individual-level perspective on intrapreneurship. The results of the review make it possible to identify five different research streams based on the analytical levels applied. The research streams examined used various lenses and cover business, technological and academic contexts. In a final step, the findings and possible research agendas are integrated in a model that serves as the basis for future research initiatives. Hence the paper offers the possibility of a clearer justification for future research and is a first step towards a holistic research model related to intrapreneurship.

Organizational Culture and Intrapreneurship Growth in Nigeria: Evidence from Selected Manufacturing Firms

“…Pinchot also stated that, intrapreneurs turn ideas into realities inside an organisation. Baruah and Ward (2015) Kuz (2010) Teamwork is frequently utilized as a tool in improving organization-wide cooperation, facilitating idea sharing and thus creating a favourable environment for intrapreneurship to thrive (Eesley and Longenecker, 2006;Blanka, 2018).…”

“…Scholars, such as Blanka (2018), Odor (2018), McDowells (2017), Otsu (2016), Moriano, Molero, Topa and Levy (2014), Witzell (2014) and Webb (2013) studied the concepts of organizational culture and intrapreneurship growth in isolation. In their findings, they revealed that organizational culture is important to an organizational performance and that intrapreneurship is of great importance to how innovative an organization would be.…”

Intrapreneurship concepts for engineers: a systematic review of the literature on its theoretical foundations and agenda for future research

“…New venture creation, the transformation of activities, and up-gradation of strategy are the organisational functions of intrapreneurship or CE (Stopford & Baden-Fuller, 1994). Differing roles of engineering firms from other corporations have effects on the intrapreneurial capacities of employees (Blanka, 2018). The nature of engineering jobs sometimes restricts risk-taking by employees due to fear of failure.…”

Need for Achievement of the Entrepreneur, Intrapreneurship, and the Growth of Companies in Tourism and Trade

“…Intrapreneurship (entrepreneurship in existing companies) in small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) is based on the decisions of entrepreneurs and is also important for the business performance of enterprises. Intrapreneurship may be seen as a concept at the individual level [9]. To engage or not to engage in intrapreneurship (entrepreneurial behavior) is a personal decision [19], [23].…”