Date of Conferral

2017

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Management

Advisor

Patricia Fusch

Abstract

Organizations need to constantly innovate to be relevant in a highly competitive market. Intrapreneurship, defined as entrepreneurship within the organization, is one method to bring about this constant innovation. The purpose of this study was to explore intrapreneurship, through a multiple case study, to gain a better understanding of which business strategies can foster successful intrapreneurship initiatives. The theories of Pinchot and Porter on intrapreneurship and organizational competitiveness formed the theoretical lens for this study. The sample for this study consisted of 5 business leaders in Atlanta, Georgia who had demonstrated intrapreneurship in their organization by encouraging their employees to pursue this method of innovation. Interviews took place with the leaders, and their collected narratives were analyzed for recurring themes. Additional pertinent financial data analysis was included for triangulation purposes. Emergent themes included the need for transformational leadership, the need for innovation at all levels of the organization, acceptance of failure and risk, facilitating empowerment, the beneficial link between intrapreneurship and operations management, recognition and rewards for employees expressing their creativity, company culture versus multicultural employees, and the need for creativity and competitiveness. These findings could bring about social change for employees through employee engagement and self-satisfaction. Employees have an opportunity to express their creativity through intrapreneurship initiatives.

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