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managed to split themselves into smaller and smaller profit centres that in
turn would need to bee more and more entrepreneurial。
Two years later; in an article headed ‘Intra…Corporate Entrepreneurship
– Some Thoughts Stirred Up by A。。ending Robert Schwartz’s School for
Entrepreneurs’; Gifford Pinchot III and his wife Elizabeth S Pinchot began
the process that would lead to their coining the word ‘intrapreneuring’。
Their organization; Pinchot & pany (pinchot); based around
the proposition that you don’t have to leave the corporation to bee an
entrepreneur; advanced the idea that the way for big business to adapt was
to create an environment where managers could behave as though they
were entrepreneurs; but within the business; using its resources。 By 1992
the term intrapreneur had been added to the third edition of The American
Dictionary of the English Language。 3M’s Post…It Note; a product of an
Entrepreneurship 219
entrepreneurial team ‘bootlegging’ pany resources; is an example from
one of Pinochet’s list of Fortune 500 clients。 Others include Apple; DuPont;
Cable & Wireless; Nabisco and Proctor & Gamble。
Intrapreneurs; unlike entrepreneurs; don’t have ‘doing their own thing’
at the top of their list of motivators。 They feel happier in the fort zone
afforded by a corporate structure and the resources and respectability that
provides。
Corporate venturing entrepreneur
Sinclair Beecham and Julian Metcalfe; who started with a £17;000 loan and a
name borrowed from a boarded…up shop and founded Prêt à Manger; were
not entrepreneurs content with doing their own thing。 They had global
ambitions and it was only by cu。。ing in McDonald’s; the burger giant; that
they could see any realistic way to dominate the world。 They sold a 33 per
cent stake for £25 million in 2001 to McDonald’s Ventures; LLC; a wholly
owned subsidiary of McDonald’s Corporation; the arm of McDonald’s that
looks a。。er its corporate venturing activities。 They joined forces with the
corporate venturing arm of a big firm。 They could also have considered
Cisco; Apple puters; IBM and Microso。。; who also all have corporate
venturing arms。 Other corporate venturers include Deutsche Bank; which
set up DB eVentures to get a window on the ‘Digital Revolution’; Reuters
Greenhouse; which has stakes in 85 panies; and even the late and unlamented
Enron had venture investments (totalling 110m)。 For an entrepreneur
this approach can provide a ‘friendly customer’ and help open
doors。 For the ‘parent’ it provides a privileged ringside seat as a business
grows and so be able to decide if the area is worth plunging into more
deeply; or at the least provides valuable insights into new technologies or
business processes。
Recent research into corporate venturing by Ashridge (ashridge。
org。uk 》 Research and Faculty) Business School concluded that less than
5 per cent of corporate venturing units created new businesses that were
taken up by the parent pany。 Moreover; many failed to make any
positive contribution whatsoever。 There are some success stories; however。
McDonald’s offloaded its Prêt stake to Bridgepoint; a private equity firm。
Bridgepoint bought a majority stake in 2008; including McDonald’s 33 per
cent shareholding; for £345m。 That would suggest that McDonald’s at least
quadrupled the value of its initial stake。 Nokia Venture Partners (NVP);
which makes significant minority investments in start…ups in the wireless
internet space; had as its biggest success to date the initial public offering of
PayPal; in 2002。 At a conference in July 1999; they and Deutsche Bank used
Paypal’s (then called Confinnity) encryption technology to send founders
Peter Thiel and Max Levchin 3 million in venture capital as their initial
stake; via a Palm Pilot。
220 The Thirty…Day MBA
Corporate venturing entrepreneurs think big and are happy to cut others
with cash in on the deal; if it will help make them rich。 Independence for
independence’s sake is not a high priority。
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN PRACTICE
Business schools usually teach entrepreneurship using the ‘Action Learning’
approach。 This generally takes the form of having a handful of inspiring
alumni entrepreneurs back to talk about how they got started。 At
Cranfield the stars would include a couple of big hi。。ers; Karan (now Lord)
Billimoria of Cobra Beer fame; for example。 Cass wheels out Stelios Haji…
Iannou; founder of easyJet; and London Business School has Tony Wheeler
who graduated in 1972 and together with his wife Maureen founded
Lonely Planet Publications。 Then they will invite a cross…section of those
entrepreneurs who have interesting stories to tell; say about raising money;
hiring and firing or selling up; or who are recent leavers that switched career
paths from; say; big corporate lives to small business。 At IMD; in Lausanne
on Lake Geneva in Switzerland; the emphasis is on family businesses; and
Warren Buffe。。; whose son looks set to take over at Berkshire Hathaway; is
typical of the speakers there。
The spirit of the teaching is around preparing a business plan to be presented
to a panel along the lines of Dragons’ Den; o。。en with similar outes
in that the business gets funding。 It would be incorrect to suggest that
droves of MBAs rush off to found ventures straight off; but perhaps three
or four in a hundred do。 Within a decade that will have risen to around
40 per cent according to research carried out for Top MBA (topmba。
)。
Aside from ge。。ing funding and marks towards their MBA grade; the
most successful business plans are usually entered into one of a number
of Business Plan petitions。 These offer prizes such as Nano Challenge
(nanochallenge) offering two prizes of �300;000; promoted by
Veneto Nanotech; the pany managing the Italian Cluster for Nanotechnologies
and PriceWaterhouse Coopers。 Usually more modest awards
of cash; consulting and investment are on offer。 Small Business Notes (
smallbusinessnotes/planning/petitions。html) has a business plan
directory with around 100 petitions around the world。
You don’t have to be in a business school to enter most of these petitions;
though you may find it hard to find out about them if you are not
and you will almost certainly be up against a business school team。 Oxford
Said Business School (sbs。ox。ac。uk/21challenge) will take entries from
individuals; teams; new panies; existing panies creating spin…offs;
students; scientists; academics and entrepreneurs。 Regional; national and
international participation is encouraged。
Ethics and social
responsibility
。 Owners vs directors
。 Stakeholder groupings
。 Ethical and responsible strategies
。 Whistle…blowing
。 Green pays off
Actions for which a person or group of people can be held accountable and
so mended or blamed; disciplined or rewarded; are said to lie within
their sphere of responsibility。 Anything that lies outside our control also
lies beyond the scope of our responsibilities。 Ethics; known in academic
circles as moral philosophy; is concerned with classifying; defending; and