The Qualities of a Successful Intrapreneur
As part of the series of short insights from faculty members of the Intrapreneur Lab, we spoke to Professor David Grayson CBE, Director of Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility, Cranfield School of Management. The Intrapreneur Lab: ‘What is an Intrapreneur’? David: Well I think social intrapreneurs are people working inside large businesses who develop ideas, […]
Lessons for Aspiring Intrapreneurs
The past 12–months have been a whirlwind of growth for The Intrapreneur Lab – the accelerator programme for social innovations inside large companies conceived by Leadership Laboratories, Accenture and Business Fight Poverty and now held in business schools across the world. The pace of growth is to us a clear indicator that intrapreneurship is a […]
Emerge 2014 – Living with Purpose, and Other Highlights
Great minds from all reaches of the social entrepreneurship realm came together at Said Business School this weekend for an intensive, 2-day conference to discuss some of the arena’s most pressing insights, developments and issues. Lead by Oxford’s Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, in conjunction with Student Hubs, this year’s Emerge Conference saw several major […]
New Corporate Volunteering Hub to Fight Poverty
At the recent Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF, the UK Development Minister Justine Greening announced that she is backing a new volunteering initiative for businesses and the development community. The Hub, set to launch in early 2015, will be run by Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). Speaking during Economic Development day alongside World […]
Barclays, Intrapreneurship and The Intrapreneur Lab
On 16 September, Milan Samani, Director of the Intrapreneur Lab, interviewed Mark Thain, Vice President, Social Innovation, Barclays, and Damian Payiatakis, Director of Strategic Development, Barclays Wealth and Investment Management. The conversation covered Barclay’s approach to supporting intrapreneurship and innovation, and their experience with The Intrapreneur Lab – a collaboration between Business Fights Poverty, Accenture […]
Collaboration: The Essential Key to Intrapreneurism
Today I interviewed Darian Stibbe, Executive Director, The Partnering Initiative, and Milan Samani, Director, The Intrapraneur Lab, about the connection between partnership and intrapreneurship. Listen to the full audio below. Some of the questions we talked about were: What is it about partnerships that can be so important to intrapreneurs? What are the main challenges […]
Take a Breather with a Quartet of Social Intrapreneurs
It all started with four hands on a piano. I met Melody McLaren, an Associate at the Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility in London, during a duet we improvised based on Charlie Parker’s “Now’s the Time”. OK, I doubt we would have rocked the charts with our recording, but our interests in jazz sparked off […]
Inspiring a New Generation of Intrapreneurs
Photo Credit*: Tim Maynard/VSO July 7th 2014: Public debate on the role of the private sector in poverty alleviation is longstanding, but there is no doubt that the lines between the private, public and non-profit sectors are becoming more blurred. Recently, Gib Bulloch, Executive Director of Accenture Development Partnerships, blogged on the Huffington Post about […]
Profit Follows Purpose
“There is considerable potential for business and social impact goals to align.” That sentiment was heard repeatedly at the 2nd TA Initiative Summit, held May 5-7 in Nairobi, Kenya. Organized by Acumen, the 3-day event brought together intrapreneurs from global corporations and social entrepreneurs from throughout East and West Africa to explore the potential for […]
My First 100 Days as an Intrapreneur
As an intrapreneur, I’m developing a new concept that I hope will enable Barclays to support our communities and contribute to growth by funding social enterprises. I like to think it harkens back to the original role that banks have always played in local communities. It could ultimately transform the “impact investing” market and build […]
Are Intrapreneurs the New Rock-Stars?
The past few years has seen the emergence of the ‘cult of the entrepreneur’ with growing visibility of entrepreneurs in the media; ‘celebrity’ entrepreneurs such as Sir Richard Branson and stars from shows such as Dragon’s Den in the UK (Shark Tank in the US) are receiving recognition which, in the past, may have been […]
Big Business, Bigger Impact
“Let us bring the invisible heart of markets to those the invisible hand of markets has left behind,” said Sir Ronald Cohen during the Skoll World Forum opening plenary on Wednesday night, stressing that business and social good go hand-in-hand. Of particular interest to me within that paradigm was a session called “Big Business, Bigger […]
Intrapreneurship to Develop Talent
Intra-what…? Intrapreneurship is the emerging phenomenon of entrepreneurial employees within large companies working on a profitable innovations that create social impact. These often start as ‘side-of desk’ projects and don’t sit neatly within the established corporate structure. David Grayson of Cranfield School of Management & one of the world’s leading thinkers on this trend speaks […]
A Manifesto for Social Intrapreneurs
We define social intrapreneurs as ‘people within a large corporation who take direct initiative for innovations that address social or environmental challenges while also creating commercial value for the company’. Social intrapreneurs are typically, “going against the grain,” challenging their organisation, questioning the status quo to develop and implement commercially attractive sustainability solutions. Hence another […]
Why Does Healthcare Need ‘Intrapreneurs’?
When most of us think about entrepreneurs, a certain image springs to mind. It is of an individual pursuing their big idea outside of the confines of a large business; of an intrepid individual heading into the ‘Dragon’s Den’ or making their fortune in Silicon Valley. But, that kind of disruptive innovation is not limited […]
Launching The Intrapreneur Lab 2014
Zeitgeist. The ‘spirit of the time’ which like a favourable wind, if you catch carries you to a far shore. Intrapreneurship is individuals pursuing profitable innovations that make a difference…inside their companies. And we think it’s in the zeitgeist. It seems to resonate with our generation. A generation whose ambition is satisfied by the corporate […]
The Intrapreneur Lab
What is the best way for proven, innovative ideas to achieve sustainable expansion and scale? For many social intrapreneurs, this is the Holy Grail of their business. The successful intrapreneur operates in a supportive environment that includes a combination of innovative and risk-taking corporate culture, strong personal relationships and the ability to tap into the […]
Growing Changemaking Communities In Your Company
Recently, I’ve been thinking about the power of entourage. Not the Hollywood bros kind, not the rapper’s crew, but the often invisible communities of support that exist behind every great person. What I’ve come to notice is that the most successful social entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs have masterfully gone about creating communities of support for their […]
CSR is Dead – Long Live Social Intrapreneurship
Action speaks louder than words. It’s an age-old piece of wisdom that seems to be more true than ever in times where people don’t trust the promises of companies and their leaders anymore. Too many companies failed to deliver upon their promise of being socially responsible. They published beautifully designed Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports, […]
To Change A Company, You Need Intrapreneurs
It can be hard to get a big, slow company to change its ways. It’s the efforts of courageous intrapreneurs that can change their trajectory. The key is to make your company a place where intrapreneurs can thrive. Multinational corporations aren’t always known for their agility. Organizational change, product evolution, or rebranding–just some of the […]