This course cannot be combined with the course Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology (LUISS Guido Carli).
In the quest for sustainable competitive advantage, companies are increasingly finding that lower costs, higher quality and better customer service are not enough. In times of increasing globalization and tremendous market and technological change, they must be faster, more flexible, more aggressive and more innovative in order to maintain their competitive edge – in short, they must be more entrepreneurial.
Entrepreneurial processes are not limited to the domain of independent new ventures, increasingly also being recognized as essential to the long-term viability of existing organizations. Corporate entrepreneurship (CE, often also referred to as intrapreneurship) involves the study of entrepreneurial processes and principles as applied in established organizations. It denotes the ability to stimulate the attributes of the small enterprise into the large, established organization, i.e. to import the logic of individual entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial spirit. CE characterizes a new management philosophy that promotes strategic agility, flexibility, creativity, and continuous innovation with the aim of transforming administrative-oriented employees into “intrapreneurs”.
This course explores the practices and challenges involved when established companies initiate CE. It reviews how companies can rely on strategic innovation to reinvigorate and renew themselves, their markets, or their industries. As the link between innovation, entrepreneurship and strategic growth has become centrally proclaimed and emphasized, this course is further designed to provide the student with a basic understanding of how innovative activities of a company are managed. Since new products based on innovation in a Schumpeterian sense are essential for growth and increased profitability, companies must manage these activities.
The course deals with both the conceptual and practical meaning of CE. Several theoretical perspectives will be introduced, emphasizing both the capabilities for CE and the constraints working against entrepreneurial behavior. The course is characterized by a multidisciplinary approach and combines insights from economics, entrepreneurship research, sociology, psychology, and strategic management. Selected course topics are:
- Building blocks of CE (e.g. definition, differences between CE and independent entrepreneurship, forms of CE, process of CE);
- Degree and frequency of entrepreneurship in organizations (i.e. entrepreneurial intensity);
- Creating an entrepreneurial organization (e.g. HRM, personality traits of corporate entrepreneurs, motivations for entrepreneurial behavior, strategic entrepreneurship, elements and development of an entrepreneurial culture).
Learning objectives
This course will give the student an understanding of the concept of CE, including corporate venturing, innovation, transformation, rejuvenation, and strategic renewal, as well as mindsets and tools to foster CE in practice.
At the end of the course the student is better able to:
- Understand and explain the core theories and models in the field of CE
- Evaluate the operations of existing companies with regard to CE
- Evaluate organizational characteristics and processes on how much they enable or constrain CE
- Identify ways to overcome obstacles to CE
Academic skills
This course focuses on the following academic skills:
-
Academic reasoning
- For independent large economic and multidisciplinary problems/questions:
- Thinking conceptually, thinking in terms of theory.
- Asking critical questions, having a curiosity-driven and critical attitude.
- Analysing questions from different perspectives.
- Identifying links between problems.
Format
The course will be offered as a combination of the following teaching methods:
- Lectures (including guest and video lectures)
- Tutorials
Assessment method
- Assignments (in pairs): 40%
- Presentation (in pairs): 10%
- Exam (individually, open ended questions): 50%
Effort requirements
Attendance and active participation is compulsory for at least 80% of the tutorials and guest lectures.
Language of instruction
English
Place of the course within the curriculum
This course builds upon the knowledge and insights gained in the following courses:
- Strategy and Organisation (ECB1SO);
- Introduction to Strategy and Organisation Theory (ECB2SO);
- Essentials of Business and Entrepreneurship (EC2EBE1/2/3/4).
Approximate study costs
75 euro (eBook: 55 euro).
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