Intrapreneurship in a Cultural Context

The environment in which intrapreneurs have do to their thing is depending on different cultures. You have at one hand the well known corporate culture, but also the national culture and the professional culture have influence on this environment (Menzel et al., 2006). Obvious, the way to be a succesful intrapreneur is depending on how these cultures look like. What will work in one environment will lead to disasters in another. In the following I will discuss these three different cultures and how they can influence us in "Being an Intrapreneur".

National Culture

National cultures can be investigated under many different aspects, but most frequently Hofstede’s (1980) typology of national cultures is used.

• Low vs. High Power Distance (PDI) refers to how individuals view power differentials within a society.
• Low vs. High Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) refers to how upset people get about ambiguity and future doubt.
• Individualism vs. Collectivism (IND) refers to the degree to which people prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups.
• Masculinity vs. Femininity (MAS) refers to the extent of clarity and distinctiveness of gender roles.
• Long-Term vs. Short-Term Orientation (LTO) – originally labelled Confucian Dynamism – opposes a long-term to a short-term time orientation in life and work.

Just by looking on these list you can imagine that an intrapreneur is Asia has to work different from an intrapreneur in the USA. A very good post on intrapreneurship in an Asian context is written by Brian Ling on his blog Design Sojourn.

The blog Singapore Entrepreneurs contains a post with the title "Singapore should consider Intrapreneurship rather than Entrepreneurship". In this post the national culture of Singapore is linked to intrapreneur- and entrepreneurship.

Corporate Culture

Innovation is carried out and developed by individuals, but the institutional context is provided by organizations. The concept of corporate culture, also labelled organisational culture, has become popular since the early 1980s. There is no consensus about its definition, but most authors will agree that it is something holistic, historically determined, socially constructed, soft, and difficult to change. It is something an organisation has, but can also be seen as something an organisation is. The corporate culture is the organizational and structural context of an intrapreneur.

The corporate culture can differ significantly from an intrapreneurial culture. The guiding directives in a very traditional corporate culture are for example something like this: Adhere to the instructions given, do not make any mistakes, do not fail, do not take the initiative but wait for instructions, stay within your turf, and protect your backside. Such a restrictive environment is, of course, not conductive to creativity, flexibility, independence, ownership, or risk taking. Those being important guiding principles of intrapreneurs.

The goals of an intrapreneurial culture are quite different: to develop visions, goals, and action plans; to be rewarded for actions taken; to suggest, try, and experiment; to create and develop regardless of the area; and to take responsibility and ownership. Probably your companies corporate culture will be somewhere in the middle, and you have to find a way to get the best of it.

Professional Culture

All major professional orientations and functions within organizations –as for instance marketing, research and development, or human resource management – can be distinguished regarding a wide scope of factors, and particularly regarding cultural factors such as specialized knowledge, shared experience, ethical orientation and professional commitment that others do not have (Bloor & Dawson, 1994; Fayolle et al., 2005). In other words, the professional environment you are in has influence on how you should act as an intrapreneur in this environment.

Conclusion

This post contains some information about the influence of cultures on you being a succesful intrapeneur. You have to be aware of the cultures you are living and working in. You have to understand them, and then try to adapt to them in such a way you can be an intrapreneur instead of an employee (see From Employee to Intrapreneur).

Sources

• Menzel, H.C., Krauss, R., Ulijn, J.M., Weggeman M. (2006). Developing characteristics of an intrapreneurship- supportive culture. Working Paper.
• Bloor, G., & Dawson, P. (1994). Understanding professional culture in organizational context. Organization Studies, 15(2), 275-295.
• Hofstede, G. H. (1980). Culture's consequences: International differences in work related values. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.
• Fayolle, A., Ulijn, J. M., & Degeorge, J.-M. (2005). The entrepreneurial and innovative orientation of french, german and dutch engineers: The proposal of a european context based upon some empirical evidence from two studies. In A. Fayolle, P. Kyrö & J. M. Ulijn (Eds.), Entrepreneurship research in europe: Outcomes and perspectives (pp. 227-255).