Potentials and limitations of corporate intrapreneurship in a sustainability context – a conceptual model

Abstract: Entrepreneurship in organizations is defined from different perspectives and subjects, leading to a fragmented body of knowledge when it comes to defining its key characteristics. Moreover, a holistic connection [sa1] between entrepreneurship within organizations and sustainability is yet to be made. This thesis aims at clearing up the numerous definitions of entrepreneurship within organizations and at exploring the relationship between entrepreneurship within organizations and sustainability. The thesis departs from considering the bottom-up approach of intrapreneurship and the top-down perspective of corporate entrepreneurship with their connection to a sustainability context. Methodologically, we [sa2] combine an exploratory research design with an abductive way of reasoning, where we analyze an in-depth case study of a well-established Swedish manufacturing company with the help of intrapreneurship- and corporate entrepreneurship literature. Our result is that, in a sustainability context, corporate entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship are complexly intertwined and dependent on each other. Both concepts are also deeply and mutually connected to the industry environment, organizational issues and sustainability challenges. This leads to the conclusion that corporate entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship in a sustainability context cannot be sensibly divided. Therefore, we contribute to theory by developing a conceptual model that promotes the term “corporate intrapreneurship” to reflect the complex and intertwined nature of entrepreneurship within organizations answering to sustainability challenges.