Intrapreneurship: Corporate Entrepreneurship ◾ 37
2.10 Intrapreneurship in Academia
All forms of academic research are inherently intrapreneurial. Many world-
class universities such as MIT, Stanford, and Harvard, have technology
transfer ofces designed to commercialize worthy academic research.
Unknowingly, the professors who worked on the grants and developed the
technology are intrapreneurs.
Technology Transfer, or Transfer of Technology and Technology
Commercialization, is the process of transferring skills, knowledge, technolo-
gies, methods of manufacturing, and samples of manufacturing and facilities
among universities and other institutions. Such transfer ensures that scien-
tic and technological developments are accessible to a wider range of users
who can then further develop and exploit the technology into new products,
processes, applications, materials, or services.
19
The process of commercially exploiting research varies widely, includ-
ing licensing agreements and establishing joint ventures and partnerships
to share both the risks and rewards of bringing new technologies to
market. Other corporate actions, for example, spin-outs, are used where
the host organization does not have the necessary will, resources, or
skills to develop a new technology. Often these approaches are associ-
ated with raising venture capital (VC) to fund the development process;
VC is more common in the U.S. than in the European Union, which has
a more conservative approach to VC funding.
20
Research spin-off compa-
nies are popular vehicles of commercialization in Canada, where the rate
of licensing of Canadian universities’ research remains far below that of
the U.S.
21
There has been a marked increase in technology transfer intermediaries
specialized in their elds since 1980, stimulated in large part by the Bayh-
Dole Act (and equivalent legislation in other countries), which provided addi-
tional incentives for research exploitation. The U.S. Bayh-Dole Act of 1980
allows universities and non-prot institutions, under specic circumstances,
to retain intellectual property rights to discoveries resulting from federally
funded research (such as SBIR grants). The Act has been credited with stim-
ulating interest in technology transfer activities while generating increased
educational opportunities and commercial development.
For example, MIT “intrapreneurs” have started an average of 20 com-
panies per year, based on licenses to MIT technology. Successful start-
ups include A123, Akamai, Alnylam, Brontes, E Ink, Ember, Luminus
Devices, Momenta Pharmaceuticals, OmniGuide, QD Vision, Xtalic, and Z
38 ◾ The Guide to Entrepreneurship: How to Create Wealth for Your Company
Corporation.
22
Figure2.6 presents the MIT new company startup statistics
since 2001.
A typical university-based technology transfer process is shown in Figure 2.7.
2.11 The Ten Commandments of Intrapreneurship
23, 24
1. Build your team—intrapreneuring is not a solo activity.
2. Share credit widely.
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Fiscal Year
Number of Companies Started
23
26
Companies
23
17
24
202020
21
19
2007 2008 2009 2010
Figure 2.6 Number of companies started—The MIT “intrapreneurs” since 2001.
Intrapreneurship in Academia
Write grant proposal
Initiate research
Methods, Analysis, Procedures
Publications
Societies, thesis, dissertations
Seek licensees
Innovation
Prototypes
Field trials
On site presentations
Technical seminars
Conferences
Figure 2.7 Intrapreneurship in academia—Most academic intrapreneurial activity
leads to licensing.
Intrapreneurship: Corporate Entrepreneurship ◾ 39
3. Ask for advice before you ask for resources.
4. Under-promise and over-deliver—publicity triggers the corporate
immune system.
5. Do any job needed to make your dream work, regardless of your job
description.
6. Remember that it is easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission.
7. Keep the best interests of the company and its customers in mind, espe-
cially when you have to bend the rules or circumvent the bureaucracy.
8. Come to work each day willing to be red.
9. Be true to your goals, but be realistic about how to achieve them.
10. Honor and educate your sponsors.
References
1. Pinchot, Gifford & Pinchot, Elizabeth (Fall 1978). Intra-corporate entrepre-
neurship, Tarrytown School for Entrepreneurs. http://www.intrapreneur.com/
MainPages/History/IntraCorp.html, accessed March 2013.
2. McCrae, Norman (April 17, 1982). Intrapreneurial now. The Economist.
3. Pinchot, Gifford &Pinchot, Elizabeth (1994). The End of Bureaucracy &
the Rise of the Intelligent Organization. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler
Publishers, Inc.
4. Investopedia is a premiere resource for investing education, personal nance,
market analysis, and free trading simulators. www.investopedia.com
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Johnson_(engineer)
6. 3M A Century of Innovation.
7. www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-it_note
8. Hinskey, Daven (Nov. 9, 2011). www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/11/
post-it-notes-were-invented-by-accident, accessed March 27, 2013.
9. Burns, P. (2008). Corporate Entrepreneurship. Building an Entrepreneurial
Organization, 2nd ed. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave
Macmillan, Chapter 8.
10. Forbes, October 9, 1995.
11. Source: Thermo Electron SEC lings.
12. Modied after Thompson, T.A. (2007). Sell offs, spin offs, carve outs and track-
ing stock. http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/thompsnt/htm/d48/
ftp/divest_2001.ppt.
13. Luxenberg S. (April 1999). Prince of Spin-offs. Individual Investor.
14. Lewis, Toby (Apr. 19, 2010). Corporate carve-outs return to the table.
Financial News. http://www.enancialnews.com/story/2010-04-19/
corporate-carve-outs-return-to-the-table.
15. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equity_carve-out
16. Modied after Corporate Restructuring and Divestitures, chapter 11, http://
myweb.clemson.edu/~maloney/855/ch11.ppt.
40 ◾ The Guide to Entrepreneurship: How to Create Wealth for Your Company
17. http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/
Equity_carve-outs_A_new_spin_on_the_corporate_structure_203.
18. http://business.yourdictionary.com/equity-carve-out. The American Heritage
®
Dictionary of Business Terms Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifin
Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifin Harcourt
Publishing Company.
19. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_transfer
20. EU Report on EU/global comparisons in the commercialization of new
technologies.
21. State of the Nation 2008—Canada’s Science, Technology, and Innovation System.
22. An MIT Inventor’s Guide to Startups: for Faculty and Students. http://web.mit.
edu/tlo/www/downloads/pdf/Startup_Guide.pdf.
23. Casnocha, Ben (Nov. 28, 2009). The Intrapreneur’s 10 Commandments. http://
casnocha.com/2009/11/the-intrapreneurs-10-commandments.html.
24. Pinchot, Gifford. Intrapreneur’s 10 Commandments. http://
motivationforultimatesuccess.blogspot.com/2009/07/intrapreneurs-10-com-
mandments-by.html.
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.