Innovative corporations cultivate entrepreneurial-minded professionals to become actively engaged in creating new business opportunities within the firm, often called corporate venturing–or intrapreneurship.  Intrapreneurship is also known as corporate entrepreneurship and corporate venturing (Burgelman 1983; Burgelman 1984; MacMillan et. al. 1986).  it is the practice of developing a new venture within an existing organization, to exploit a new opportunity and create economic value (Pinchot 1985).

Entrepreneurship by contrast is the act of developing a new venture outside an existing organization.  The traditional entrepreneur shall now act as an innovation hunter to proactively be able to set up new smart businesses; ideally from the beginning, till the end of any business life cycle.

The term entrepreneur, etymologically originates from the French word entreprendre meaning “to begin something, undertake.” During the medieval times, this word was being used to describe an active working person [4]. However, in the economic theory, it was Richard Cantillon (1759), -an Irish economist of French descent- first, who used the term entrepreneur. According to Cantillon, the entrepreneur is a specialist in taking risk [5]. Risk-taking is one of the famous attributes of entrepreneurs which is also frequently emphasized in the literature. Spiritually, some people are observed to tend to behave extra-ordinarily. As Jobs addresses; “You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever—because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-known path, and that will make all the difference [6].” Taking the risk phenomenon and the spiritual reflections into consideration; it can easily be summed up that entrepreneurship has something to do with inner-journey.

Another emphasis on entrepreneurship is its presentation as a mind-set. “Entrepreneurship is first and foremost a mind-set. To seize an entrepreneurial opportunity, one needs to have a taste for independence and self-realization.” said Olli Rehn, a member of the European Commission [7]. Understanding the entrepreneurial mind-set requires a certain threshold of empathy. First of all, entrepreneurship is the story of ambiguity. An anonymous supporting quote is likely to highlight the gist of entrepreneurship. It’s as follows: “Anyone, (can be an entrepreneur) who wants to experience the deep, dark canyons of uncertainty and ambiguity; and who wants to walk the breathtaking highlands of success. But I caution, do not plan to walk the latter, until you have experienced the former [8].” In this regard, as Schumpeter also points out; entrepreneurs seem to have some heroic vision. Schumpeter focused on high-level entrepreneurship, and larger businesses [9]. On the other hand, Marshall examined smaller businesses, partially [10]. It was Hayek and Kirzner, who examined the entrepreneurs as middlemen hoping to profit by buying cheap and selling expensive [11].

Stopford and Baden-Fuller considered entrepreneurs as opportunists even in chaotic situations, and they also approached to entrepreneurship in a metaphorical way. According to them, entrepreneurs are like Olympic athletes, long-distance runners, symphony orchestra conductors, and top-gun pilots…These metaphors underline the entrepreneurs’ being ambitious, determined, self-challenging and talent of synchronizing [12]. [Source: Mehmet Çağrı Gündoğdu]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya4acTFOzLk]

When it comes to define entrepreneurship; it can easily be discovered that various people have defined entrepreneurship differently. In spite of this fact, the most common classification follows the mainstream of Collins and Moore; who claimed two types of entrepreneurship, differentiating due to the context of entrepreneurial activities undertaken. These are, firstly, independent entrepreneurship and independent entrepreneurs (similar to entrepreneurship/traditional entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs/traditional entrepreneurs in this paper), implying the process whereby an individual or a group of individuals, acting independently of any association with an existing organization, create a new organization [13].

Secondly, corporate entrepreneurship and administrative entrepreneurs (similar to intrapreneurship and Mehmet Çag˘rı Gündog˘du / Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 41 ( 2012 ) 296 – 303 299 intrapreneurs in this paper), implying the process whereby an individual or a group of individuals, in association with an existing organization, create a new organization or instigate renewal or innovation within that organization [14]. A brief definition of an entrepreneur, inspired by Kuratko, can be made as the following: An entrepreneur is an undertaker who notices and seizes opportunities; converts those opportunities into commercial ideas; adds value via processes, effort, capital, or capabilities; and confronts the risks of the competitive market to apply those ideas; and what an entrepreneur accomplishes, is therefore called entrepreneurship [15]. Now, entrepreneurial activities within an existing organization, namely intrapreneurship will be discussed.

Intrapreneurship

The study of intrapreneurship, implying entrepreneurial activities conducted within existing organizations, has expanded over the last three decades [16]. Most research in this field, has focused on the possibility; that managers and individual employees could be inspired to behave entrepreneurially; create innovations, and obtain profit and growth through these innovations [17], [18], [19], [20], [21].

This is about a powerful foresight that managers and their organizations can form an ambiance that fosters to create and manage new businesses within existing organizational framework [22], [23], [24].  Scholars have shown the tendency to divide entrepreneurship into two sub-titles according to its operating context. On one hand, it’s common to use entrepreneurship or independent entrepreneurship to describe entrepreneurial efforts of individuals operating outside the context of an existing organization.

On the other hand, different terms can be seen in the literature implying the entrepreneurial efforts within an existing organization such as corporate entrepreneurship as Burgelman and Zahra used respectively in their separate studies; corporate venturing which Biggadike mentioned; Pinchot’s intrapreneuring; internal corporate entrepreneurship of Jones and Butler; Schollhammer and Vesper’s internal entrepreneurship; Guth and Ginsberg’s strategic renewal and venturing of Hornsby, Naffziger, Kuratko, and Montagno [25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30], [31], [32]. Here, only intrapreneurship is being used for common purpose, referring more likely Pinchot’s view of defining intrapreneurs as the “dreamers who do”; those who take hands-on responsibility for creating innovation of any kind within an existing organization [33]. Innovation is the next topic to be examined.

Entrepreneurs willingly sign up for a wide spectrum of possible outcomes, ranging from big wins on one end to massive losses on the other. Not so with intrapreneurs who have made the conscious decision to receive a paycheck from an organization largely to avoid risk, and they therefore do not have the expectation of huge financial gains.

Entrepreneurs have the luxury of building a company’s culture from scratch, while intrapreneurs often fight against a long history of many deeply held and widely shared beliefs, assumptions, and practices—some of which run counter to intrapreneurship itself. Is innovation infused into the DNA of your organization, or is your culture lethal to innovation?

Innovation

Innovation, has emerged as a headline in the field of business management, recently. Kuratko determines the magic words to describe the new innovation way of our time: Dream, create, explore, invent, pioneer, and imagine [34]. Innovation itself is undergoing change [35]. The etymological roots of innovation stretch to the Latin word innovare, meaning to do something new [36]. Most of the innovation definitions, have focused on similar points with different perspectives. The key common points imply change and renewal for a better situation. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), inside the Oslo Manual—the source of information regarding international technological developments— defines innovation by linking it to technological change.

According to OECD, innovation means “completing products and services by developing them technologically [37]. The European Union (EU) has made a broader definition. To EU, innovation introduces the change in workforce talent, working conditions, managerial and organizational jobs. Also, it’s about renewal and growth in product and service range [38]. In addition to this, a well-known expression about innovation; characterizes it as the process of converting new ideas into value-creating outputs such as new products, methods or services. By the help of innovation; companies acquire the  300 Mehmet Çag˘rı Gündog˘du / Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 41 ( 2012 ) 296 – 303 ability to develop and apply not only new products, processes or designs but also new operation and business models [39].

After having experienced enormous financial crises all over the world in recent years; company survival has emerged as the most crucial issue both for SMEs and even some of large companies [40].  SMEs, as the increasing value of the new economy, are obligatorily undertaken the mission of being innovative. It’s innovative SMEs which will lead the way to economic recovery. Now, the innopreneurial thought will be scrutinized in the light of entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship and innovation.

A Prototype Emerging From the New Economy

The Innopreneur— Beyond the Optimum Synthesis of Entrepreneur, Intrapreneur and Innovation.  It has been long, having dispelled the myth that “the entrepreneurs are born, not made.” Drucker confirms this opinion regarding entrepreneurial thought: “Most of what you hear about entrepreneurship, is all wrong. It’s not magic; it’s not mysterious; and it has nothing to do with genes. It’s a discipline and, like any discipline, it can be learned [41].” Likely, innopreneurship, can be learned via education, training programs, strategy formulation and a well-comprehended strategic management view. Undoubtedly, a certain level of enterprising talent is underlying.It’s not a desired outcome to be thought that the traditional entrepreneurs will totally be eliminated because of the new emerging character, innopreneur. But, it’s true for traditional entrepreneurs, who take the risk and invest the capital in a self-confident manner, that they should remedy themselves by making the necessary adjustments; to become an innopreneur.

Like the organizations being exposed to entropy; traditional entrepreneurs are facing the danger of being pushed to the outside of the system. The concept of entropy implies the tendency which exists in every system; toward the exhaustion of energy, losing the balance, disorder, and finally leading to demise of the system [42]. Besides; negative entropy, which is possible in open systems (biological and social systems which interact with the environment), means preventing the negative effects of entropy with the help of knowledge, energy and materials taken from the environment [42]. In biological systems, entropy may cause death; and in social systems like enterprises, it may cause all the operations to stop, ultimately [42].  In order to make it reverse, and maintain sustainable competitive advantage; traditional entrepreneurs should transform themselves into innopreneurs.

The increasing significance of SMEs as the main constituents of the new economy, was emphasized in the beginning of this paper. Innopreneurs; as the steering leaders of SMEs in this new economic framework, while protecting the traditional values and traits of entrepreneurs; will have to reach beyond. Innopreneurs should constantly enter into positive change and make efforts for innovation. They should continuously update and develop themselves also intra-business, maintaining the aspects of being an intrapreneur.

Innopreneur, prototype for the Artificial Intelligent employee?

Entrepreneurial factors like capital, self-confidence, motivation for the start-up, commitment to business, optimism, managerial skills, leadership characteristics are certainly also valid for innopreneurship. It would be acting unjustly to traditional entrepreneurs by saying that the above-mentioned attributes are unimportant. Indeed, entrepreneurship is at the core. It’s a strong pillar of the business and management discipline, on top of which, innopreneurship is builded. Innopreneurs can be made. Entrepreneurs can learn to become innopreneurs with the help of education and training. An innopreneur has the ability of leading to innovation. So, she/he has the characteristics of an innovative leader in this regard.   She/he is also an effective manager to accomplish the business. It’s not an absolute necessity for an innopreneur, to apply hands-on-management in every step of the business. Whatever the case is; the innopreneur’s leading role stays constant.

It’s noteworthy; that every innopreneur is also an entrepreneur but not every entrepreneur can be classified as an innopreneur.  Every innopreneur is an innovation-oriented entrepreneur. Every innopreneur, has powerful attempts toward innovative new ventures. Not every entrepreneur makes innovation but every innopreneur does. In this sense, the intrapreneur resembles the innopreneur in terms of innovation and orientation. In spite of this, the intrapreneur differs from the innopreneur in performing environment of innovation. The scope of intrapreneurship is constricted to the existing organizational area. On the other hand, the innopreneur, is not subject to such criteria.

The innopreneur performs at a new stage, which is called the new economy. The innopreneur, is a prototype, self-developed to meet the needs of the new economy. The innopreneur is the new evolutionary model, the cumulative advanced type that emerged from this environment. In addition, she/he is the leader who forms the suitable environment; in which the intrapreneurs are empowered, and their ideas and attempts to make innovation are strongly encouraged.  While serving as a catalyst, the innopreneur may also take active role in these efforts. Innopreneurship, for now, is a concept dealing with the ideal rather than what exists. It harmonizes its predecessors  entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship and the popular concept of innovation through an integrative perspective and fulfills the unique requirements of the new economy.

The innopreneur undertakes to manage, and take the risks of a business model. In our time, an innopreneur is interested in research and development and characterized as an innovation hunter who agressively seeks for opportunities; transforms those opportunities into concrete marketable ideas; creates value-added; makes maximum efforts, assesses and undertakes the relevant risks to apply those ideas; and gathers the crops at harvest time.

Bibliographical References:

SBA, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the National Small Business Association, there are a lot of small business statistics

Simon C. Parker: Intrapreneurship or Entrepreneurship?, IZA DP No. 4195, May 2009: http://ftp.iza.org/dp4195.pdf

Mehmet Çağrı Gündoğdu: International Conference on Leadership, Innovation and Technology Management
Re-Thinking Entrepreneurship, Intrapreneurship, and Innovation: A Multi-Concept Perspective: Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 41 ( 2012 ) 296 – 303:  www.sciencedirect.com