A study conducted by Deloitte sometime before the outbreak of pandemic conveys that an intrapreneurial culture mostly brings tangible benefits to a business, including the timely launch of new products and services in the market, a noticeable spike in revenue, cost savings, and improved business processes.
Competition is a catalyst to market, but if it’s driven by crisis, it may even cause survival issues for companies. Today, many businesses are unable to cope with the unprecedented level of competition in the market caused by rapid developments in industrial technologies and COVID-19 breakdown. Innovation is the apt response to competition. And as per the study of McKinsey, prioritizing innovation is the master key to unlocking post-pandemic growth for almost every competitive business in the present time. Around 90 per cent of executives, who have participated in the survey, believe that the crisis is going to make a big impact on the way of doing business in the next five years. And, to foster innovations, businesses are relying upon intrapreneurship culture.
Conspicuous advantages
Most of the time, innovative businesses are led by entrepreneurs but progressed by intrapreneurs. A study conducted by Deloitte sometime before the outbreak of pandemic conveys that an intrapreneurial culture mostly brings tangible benefits to a business, including the timely launch of new products and services in the market, a noticeable spike in revenue, cost savings, and improved business processes. Apple, today’s iconic brand, conceptualised by Steve Jobs and later revived by Tim Cook, is an inspirational example of intrapreneurship culture in the pre-COVID era. Later, this culture is followed by a bevvy of global brands and prominent amongst them are Ford, SAP, Sony, 3M, and Societe Generale.
Instilling innovation
Now, to stay relevant and competent amidst the pandemic, companies required people who have a good knack for innovation. While disruptions are happening in every sector and industry, small as well as large businesses need to test themselves in new markets and better opportunities. According to the Future of Jobs report, presented in the World Economic Forum’s 2020, analytical thinking and innovation are expected to be the most sought-after skills in the year 2025. Entrepreneurs who are willing to accommodate changes are prompt at leveraging intrapreneurial culture in the organisation.
Establishing intrapreneurship culture
To sail across the tides in a red ocean market, an entrepreneur must have intrapreneurs as his co-pilots. They help entrepreneurs and decision-makers in unearthing the possible growth opportunities, diversifying product/service portfolios, and improving traction before all stakeholders, including investors. During the evolution, intrapreneurs help the organisation to accelerate innovations through replacing old systems and strategies with customised solutions. Trust in employees and investment in their skills is quintessential to develop a thriving intrapreneurial culture in the company. Of course, results will vary from team to team, but unequal treatment may totally ruin the efforts. Besides, good communication between C-suite business executives and departmental heads can play an instrumental role while implementing the intrapreneurship culture.
An intrapreneurship culture takes time to flourish as people respond slowly to change. Besides, without top management support, an entrepreneur alone cannot ensure such a massive transformation in the organisation’s culture. S/he must motivate the departmental heads to create an intrapreneurial thinking environment and constantly support it. In fact, for any desired change in the working culture, employees should be induced rather than enforced.
Planned shift
Working according to the plan and following a step-by-step process may lead to an easy and effective cultural transformation. Hereby, the first and foremost step in this direction is the realisation of the need for innovations for making business sustainable and making employees aware of their creative and innovative skills. Secondly, the self-organisation of the employees should be the next big initiative for making them ready to work in cross-functional teams and accepting new projects. Since self-motivation is directly associated with learning, up-skilling and re-skilling should be a regular part of the organisation’s culture. Finally, employees whom the company wants to groom into future intrapreneurs should be kept free from unnecessary pressures and distractions.
Road ahead
At this juncture of the ongoing global pandemic, it will be an exaggeration that intrapreneurship is a perfect antidote for prevailing crises, but in most cases, companies benefitted from intrapreneurship culture. Consolidating previous experiences, a study by Forbes highlights that the most successful innovations in the last few decades were introduced by existing employees, not entrepreneurs. Evidently, an intrapreneurial environment equips employees with creativity, confidence and innovation. After getting the real opportunity to think, they try every bit to prove their mettle and organisation gains in return.
Source: Business World
