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, students should be 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.
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Major-related elective. Cannot be combined with Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology (LUISS).
In the quest for sustainable competitive advantage, companies are increasingly finding out that lower costs, higher quality, and better customer service are not sufficient. In times of ongoing globalization and tremendous market and technological change, they must be faster, more agile, and more innovative in order to obtain their competitive edge. In short, companies must be more entrepreneurial.
Entrepreneurial processes are not limited to the domain of independent new ventures, but increasingly also recognized as essential to the long-term viability of already existing organizations. Corporate entrepreneurship (CE, often also referred to as intrapreneurship) involves the study of entrepreneurial processes and principles as applied within established organizations. It denotes the ability to facilitate and to stimulate the positive features of small firms into larger, established organizations. CE characterizes a new management philosophy that promotes strategic flexibility, agility, creativity, and continuous innovation with the aim of transforming routine employees into intrapreneurs.
In this course we will explore the practices and challenges presented to established companies engaging in CE. It reviews how companies can rely on strategic innovation to continuously renew themselves (i.e. their products or services), 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 you with a basic understanding of how innovative activities of a company are managed. Companies must do so, because new products based on innovation in a Schumpeterian sense are essential for increased profitability and growth.
We will deal with both the theoretical and practical meaning of CE. Several theoretical perspectives will be discussed, emphasizing both the necessary antecedents of CE and the constraints working against such entrepreneurial behaviour. On a practical side, the course will provide you with tools to formulate corporate strategies and to create organizational structures that foster CE. The course is characterized by a multidisciplinary approach as it combines insights from economics, entrepreneurship research, strategic management, psychology, and sociology.
In this course, we seek to find answers to, for example, the following questions:
· What is corporate entrepreneurship and how does it differ from independent types of entrepreneurship?
· How can we assess the entrepreneurial intensity of individuals and companies?
· What are typical characteristics and personality traits of individuals engaging in CE?
· How do large established organizations foster entrepreneurial behaviour by employees?
· What kind of corporate strategies and organizational structures enable or constrain CE?
· What is an entrepreneurial culture and how can companies develop such a culture?
Academic skills
This course focuses on the following academic skills:
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 lectures)
• Tutorials
Assessment method
• Assignments (40% of the final grade);
• Digital final exam (50% of the final grade);
• Participation in tutorials (10% of the final grade).
Effort requirements
Attendance (with active participation) is compulsory for at least 80% of the guest lectures. In addition, it is also compulsory to present the assignments in one of the tutorials.
Place of the course within the curriculum
This course builds upon the knowledge and insights gained in the following courses:
• Strategy and Organisation (ECB1SO);
• Market Dynamics and Corporate Innovation (ECB3DSM);
• Essentials of Business and Entrepreneurship (EC2EBE1/2/3/4).
In case online access is required for this course and you are not in the position to buy the access code, you are advised to contact the course coordinator for an alternative solution. Please note that access codes are not re-usable meaning that codes from second hand books do not work, as well as access codes from books with a different ISBN number. Separate or spare codes are usually not available.
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