Corporate entrepreneurship and innovation - facing up to the corporate culture

Corporate culture can be a major disincentive for entrepreneurship and innovation in large organisations.

Large businesses by default tend towards a culture of conformity, and entrepreneurship and innovation are often perceived as being counter-intuitive to this culture.

The 3M example of internal efforts at entrepreneurship and innovation are unfortunately only too rare. They obviously exist but are seldom written about.

Another example I read about involved mixing the open plan office. They put the staff from debtors, creditors, stock and sales who serviced the same clients together in mini clusters. This allowed for a greater interaction and flow of ideas and had many positive benefits in all functional areas.

There is no doubt that entrepreneurs and innovators are seen as disruptive forces, as this is exactly what they are. The secret lies in the ability to harness these disruptive forces in a positive manner, and therein lies the challenge.