Sharma and Chrisman 1999
Sharma and Chrisman 1999
50
                            Copyright 1999 by
                            Baylor University
                            Toward a Reconciliation
E                           of the Definitional Issues
                            in the Field of Corporate
                            Entrepreneurship
                            Pramodita Sharma
                            James J. Chrisman
Although authors generally agree on the nature of entrepreneurial activities within existing
firms, differences in the terminology used to describe those activities have created confu-
sion. This article discusses existing definitions in the field of corporate entrepreneurship,
reconciles these definitions, and provides criteria for classifying and understanding the
activities associated with corporate venturing.
Spring, 1999                                                                               11
interesting. Therefore, starting broad makes it less likely that the definitions will become
outmoded and in need of revision as new issue.s are discovered. Furthermore, broad
definitions are more amenable, and more resilient, to the discovery and classification of
unique populations and subpopulations of firms and events since they avoid premature
or arbitrary decisions about the variables that delineate one group from another. Broad
definitions make it possible for the natures of different organizations and events to
emerge through empirical research and theories of differences. Finally, broad definitions
are more likely to be acceptable to most scholars since most will find a place for the topic
or sites of research that are of interest to them. In sum, broad definitions better reflect the
early stage of development of the field, avoid the need for excessive retrenchment as new
knowledge becomes available, and provide considerable latitude for a theoretical and
empirical process to emerge that will eventually permit the unique parts of the whole to
be classified, defined, and understood in relation to that whole.
     After we have presented our framework of definitions pertaining to corporate en-
trepreneurship, we then proceed to discuss some of the critical constructs by which
internal corporate venturing efforts might be classified to illustrate the possibilities of the
approach taken. We focus on internal corporate venturing because it is the sub-area that
has been perhaps the most thoroughly studied thus far and is. therefore, the most ame-
nable to further classificatory efforts.
EXISTING DEFINITIONS
Entrepreneurship
      Before discussing existing definitions in the field of corporate entrepreneurship, we
 briefiy turn our attention to the term "entrepreneurship." Entrepreneurship has meant
 different things to different people {Gartner, 1990; McMullan & Long, 1990). The
 historical development of the term has been documented by various authors (e.g., Gart-
 ner, 1988; Hisrich, 1986; Livesay, 1982; McMullan & Long, 1983). The earliest refer-
ence of the term has been traced to Richard Cantillon's work (1734). To him, entrepre-
 neurship was self-employment with an uncertain return (McMullan & Long, 1990).
      In a recent study, Gartner (1990) identified two distinct clusters of thought on the
meaning of entrepreneurship. The first group of scholars focused on the characteristics
of entrepreneurship (e.g., innovation, growth, uniqueness, etc.) while the second group
focused on the outcomes of entrepreneurship (e.g., creation of value). Scholars who
subscribe to the notion that entrepreneurship should be defined by its characteristic
attributes appear to be the largest group, accounting for 79% of Gartner's sample.
Among members of this group, most seem to rely on variations of one of two definitions
of entrepreneurship: Schumpeter's (1934) or Gartner's (1988).
     To Schumpeter (1934), an entrepreneur is a person who carries out new combina-
tions, which may take the form of new products, processes, markets, organizational
forms, or sources of supply. Entrepreneurship is, then, the process of carrying out new
combinations. In contrast, Gartner states that "'Entrepreneurship is the creation of orga-
nizations" (1988, p. 26). Gartner was careful to specify that this was not offered as a
definition but rather as "an attempt to change a long held and tenacious viewpoint in the
entrepreneurship field" toward "what the entrepreneur does, not who the entrepreneur is"
(p. 26). Nevertheless, it is clear from the literature that a large number of researchers in
entrepreneurship have employed this definition, including Gartner himself (e.g., By-
grave, 1993; Gartner, Bird, & Starr, 1991; Learned, 1992).
     Whereas both these definitions have merit, it should be clear that despite their
Deflnitionai Ambignities
     A careful examination of Table 1 reveals that the same term is sometimes used
differently by different authors, and some authors use different terms to describe the
same phenomenon. Examples of these definitional ambiguities are provided below and
highlighted in Table 2.
Spring, 1999                                                                              13
Table 1
Existing Definitions
Author/s & Yr.                                              Definition suggested
                                                    CORPORATE ENTREFRENEURSHIP
Burgelman            Corporate entrepreneurship refers to the process whereby thi.- l"irms engage in diversification
  (1983)                 through inlemal developmeni. Such diversiricalion requires new resource combinations lo
                        extend ihe nrm's activities in areas unrelated, or marginally related, to its current domain of
                        competence and corresponding opportunity sel (p. 1349).
Chung &              Corporate entrepreneurship is an organizational process for transforming individual ideas into
  Gibbons (1997)        colleciive actions through the management of uncertainties (p. 14).
Covin & Sievin       Corporate entrepreneurship involves extending the firni's domain of competence and
  (1991)                corresponding opportunity set through internally generated new resource combinationK (p. 7.
                        quoting Burgelman, 1984. p. 154).
Guth &               Corporate entrepreneurship encompasses two types of phenomena and the processes
  Ginsberg (1990)       surrounding them: (1) the birth of new businesse.s within existing organizations, i.e.. internal
                        innovation or venturing; and (2) the transformation of organizations through renewal of the
                        key ideas on which they are built, i.e. strategic renewal (p. 5),
Jennings &           Corporate entrepreneurship is defined as the extent to which new products and/or new markets
   Lumpkin (1989)       are developed. An organization is enUepreneurial if it develops a higher than average
                        number of new products and/or new markets (p. 489).
Schendel (1990)      Corporate entrepreneurship involves the notion of birth of new businesses within on-going
                        businesses, and . . . the transformation of stagnant, on-going businesses in need of revival
                        or transformation (p. 2).
Spann, Adams,        Corporate entrepreneurship is the establishment of a separate corporate organi/uiion (often in
  & Wortman             the form of a profit center, strategic business unit, division, or subsidiary) to introduce a
  (1988)                new product, serve or create a new market, or utilize a new technology (p. 149).
Vesper (1984)        Corporate entrepreneurship involves employee initiative from below in the organization lo
                        undertake something new. An innovation whieh is created by subordinates without being
                        asked, expected, or perhaps even given permission by higher management to do so (p. 295).
Zahra (1993)         Corporate entrepreneurship is a process of organizational renewal that has two distinct but
                        related dimensions: innovation and venturing, and strategic renewal (p. 321).
Zahra (1995. 1996)   Corporate entrepreneurship — the sum of a company's innovation, renewal, and venturing
                        efforts. Innovation involves creating and introducing products, production processes, and
                        organizational systems. Renewal means revitalizing the company's operations by changing
                        the scope of its business, its competitive approaches or both. It also mean.s building or
                        acquiring new capabilities and then creatively leveraging them to add value for
                        shareholders. Venturing means that the firm will enter new businesses by expanding
                        operations in existing or new markets (1995, p. 227; 1996, p.l715).
                                             INTERNAL CORPORATE ENTREPRENBURSHIP
Jones & Buller       Internal Corporate Entrepreneurship refers to entrepreneurial behavior within one firm (p,
  (1992)               734).
Sehollhammer         Internal (or intra-corporate) entrepreneurship refers to all formalized entrepreneurial activities
  (1982J                within existing business organizations. Formalized internal entrepreneurial activities are
                        those which receive explicit organizational sanction and resource commitment for the
                        purpose of innovative corporate endeavors — new product developments, product
                        improvements, new methods or procedures (p. 21 I).
                                                        CORPORATE VENTURING
Biggadike            A Corporate venture is defined as a business marketing a product or service that the parent
  (1979)                company has not previously marketed and that requires the parent company to obtain new
                        equipment or new people or new knowledge (p. 104).
Block & MacMillan    A project is a Corporate venture when it (a) involves an activity new to the organization, (b)
  (1993)                is initiated or conducted internally, (c) involves significantly higher risk of failure or large
                        losses than the organization's ba.se business, (d) is characterized by greater uncertainty than
                       the base business, (e) will be managed separately at some time during its life, (f) is
                       undertaken for the purpose of increasing sales, profit, productivity, or quality (p, 14).
Ellis & Taylor       Corporate venturing was postulated to pursue a strategy of unrelatedness to present activities,
  < 1987)                to adopt the structure of an independent unit and to involve a process of assembling and
                       configuring novel resources (p, 528).
von Hippel           Corporate venturing is an activity which seeks to generate new businesses for the corporation
  (1977)               in which it resides through the establishment of external or internal corporate ventures (p.
                        163).
Continued
 Author/s & Yr.                                           IX-finiUon suggested
Spring, 1999
Table 2
Extent ol innoviilion   a.ssembling & configuring         requires new resource           requires obtaining new
                           novel resources                  combinations                     equipmenl. or people, or
                                                                                             knowledge lo introduce a
                                                                                             new product or service
Relatedness to          unrelated to present activities   activilies in areas unrelated
  existing businesses                                        or marginally related lo
                                                             current domain of
                                                             conipetence
Structural autonomy     independent unit
CE - Corporate Entrepreneurship
CV - Corporate Venturing
      It is observed that all three definitions describe the creation of a new business in an
 area that requires innovative resource combinations. A clo.ser observation of these defi-
 nitions, however, also reveals differences in the degree of restrictivene.ss. Burgelman
restricts corporate entrepreneurship to diversification into activities unrelated or mar-
ginally related to a firm's area of competence. Biggadike's (definition, on the other hand,
does not necessarily limit the venturing effort In this way. Thus, an existing competence
could still come into play as long as the venture extended that competence in some
manner, that is, through the need for new equipment, people, or knowledge. The dif-
ference in restrictiveness suggests that Burgelman's corporate entrepreneurship is a
subset of Biggadike's corporate venturing.
      Ellis and Taylor agree with the requirement of unique resources and with Burgel-
man's conception of an unrelated activity but add another level of restrictiveness into the
defmition by specifying the structural arrangement of the venture in relation to the
corporation. Their definition would include only those venturing efforts that involved the
creation of a new venture division as a setting for such efforts. Thus, fiiTns that engaged
in venturing within a pre-existing corporate structure would fall outside Ellis and Tay-
lor's defmition. As a consequence, the firms that fit Ellis and Taylor's (1987) definition
of corporate venturing constitute a subset of the firms that would fit Burgelman's
definition of corporate entrepreneurship. In turn, Burgelman's corporate entrepreneur-
ship appears to be a subset of Biggadike's (1979) concept of corporate venturing.
     Perhaps the most widely accepted definition of corporate entrepreneurship was pro-
posed by Guth and Ginsberg (1990). They say that corporate entrepreneurship encom-
passes the birth of new businesses within existing businesses and the transformation (or
rebirth) of organizations through a renewal of their key ideas. Their definition of cor-
porate entrepreneurship not only contains Biggadike's definition of corporate venturing
(which contains Burgelman's, etc.), it also introduces, in a different context, the interplay
of the idea of new organizations and new combinations that characterizes the debate
found in the literature on entrepreneurship. While we follow Guth and Ginsberg (1990)
in this article, it is important to illustrate the inconsistencies in these definitions because
A DEFINITIONAL FRAMEWORK
    Although organization creation and innovation" are generally regarded as key factors
in entrepreneurship (Stopford & Baden-Fuller, 1994), the challenges that entrepreneurs
face vary according to whether they are operating independently or as a part of an
existing organization. This necessitates two things: first, a need to clarify the definition
of entrepreneurship; and second, a need to differentiate between the settings in which
entrepreneurship takes place.
Entrepreneurship
     For the sake of clarification in terminology and in recognition of the entrepreneurial
efforts of individuals working in a corporate setup, the following definitions of entre-
preneurship and entrepreneurs are proposed (Gartner, 1988; Schumpeter. 1934; Stopford
& Baden-Fuller, 1994; Zahra, 1993, 1995, 1996).
     The conditions that define entrepreneurship are related to newness in the sense of
strategy or structure.'' Thus, the creation of an organization as defined by Gartner (1988)
is entrepreneurial since it entails fundamental strategic and structural decisions (Cooper,
 1979). Likewise, the renewal or rebirth of an existing organization is entrepreneurial in
the sense that it represents a radical departure from predominant and historic strategic or
structural patterns. Innovation is also an entrepreneurial activity since it involves new
combinations that may dramatically alter the bases of competition in an industry, or lead
Spring, 1999                                                                                               17
to the creation of a new industry (Schumpeter, 1934; Stopford & Baden-Fuller, 1994),
even though it may not be immediately manifested in organizational creation or renewal.
However, while the above definition recognizes the centrality of innovation to entrepre-
neurship, it doe.s not require that the birth or rebirth of an organization be accompanied
by a Schumpeterian innovation (Stopford & Baden-Fuller, 1994). only that it consist of
actions that materially affect the nature of the organization (Schollhammer, 1982). Put
differently, both creation and renewal would subject the organization in question to the
"liability of newness" as put forth by Stinchcombe (1965). The extent of this liability for
an organization will vary according to the extent of its departure from its existing
strategy or structural patterns, as well as the extent of newness of the product, service,
technology, processes, etc., in a particular marketplace.
     Thus, the presence of an innovation is viewed as a sufficient condition for entrepre-
neurship but not a necessary one, because organizational creation or renewal can occur
in the absence of innovation. Newness or uniqueness of an innovation is a matter of
degree both in terms of the tangible characteristics and in terms of the relevant market.
Furthermore, new to the marketplace does not necessarily mean that the innovation is
sold or consumed, as in the case of a new organizational form or a new process devel-
opment. Since innovation may vary in its amount and impact, it is very difficult and.
indeed, counterproductive to attempt to specify the precise level of innovation necessary
for entrepreneurship. Therefore, we take the position that for the purpose of defining
entrepreneurship, it is preferable to treat innovation as an entrepreneurial act rather than
as the only act that makes the occurrence of entrepreneurship possible.
     It should be apparent that despite the breadth of this defmition it is highly consistent
with the prevalent views of entrepreneurship (Gartner, 1990; Schumpeter, 1934) and
corporate entrepreneurship (e.g., Zahra, 1995). Furthermore, the defmition of entrepre-
neurship proposed allows for further distinctions between independent and corporate
entrepreneurship to be made in a manner that is internally consistent.
4. Since organizational renewal obviously involved major strategic or structural changes to an existing
organization, il cannot be considered independent enlrepreneurship. by detlnition. Furlhennore, organiza-
tional creation can occur in (he presence or absence of innovation, as discussed above. Therefore, to include
innovation in this definition would be redundant.
    Strategic renewal refers to the corporate entrepreneurial efforts that result in sig-
    nificant changes to an organization's business or corporate level strategy or structure.
    These changes alter pre-existing relationships within the organization or between the
    organization and its external environment and in most cases will involve .some sort
    of innovation. Renewal activities reside within an existing organization and are not
    treated as new businesses by the organization.
    Corporate venturing refers to corporate entrepreneurial efforts that lead to the cre-
    ation of new business organizations within the corporate organization. They may
    follow from or lead to innovations that exploit new markets, or new product offer-
    ings, or both. These venturing efforts may or may not lead to the formation of new
    organizational units that are distinct from existing organizational units in a structural
    sense (e.g., a new division).
     Thus, both strategic renewal and corporate venturing suggest changes in either the
strategy or structure of an existing corporation, which may involve innovation. The
principle difference between the two is that corporate venturing involves the creation of
new businesses whereas strategic renewal leads to the reconfiguration of existing busi-
nesses within a corporate setting."^
    External corporate venturing refers to corporate venturing activities that result in the
    creation of semi-autonomous or autonomous organizational entities that reside out-
    side the existing organizational domain.
    Some examples of extemal corporate ventures are those formed as a result of joint
ventures, spin-offs, and venture capital initiatives. Although these may vary in their
5. However, as our previous discussion has suggested, there may be instances where innovation occurs in
an existing organization in the absence of either corporate venturing or strategic renewal efforts. Although
these instances may be rare it is important to clarify the nature of these innovations for the purpose of
completeness. To be entrepreneurial in the absence of organizational creation or renewal the innovation must
be of the Schumpetcrian (1934) variety or, in other words, involve the introduction of an original invention
or idea into a commercially usable form that is new lo the marketplace and has the potential to transform
the competitive environment as well as the organization (Stopford Baden-Fuller, 1994).
Spring, 1999                                                                                             19
degree of separateness from the parent company, their common feature is that they reside
outside the domain or boundaries of the existing organization.
     hiternal corporate venturing refers to the corporate venturing activities that result in
     the creation of organizational entities that reside within an existing organizational
     domain.
Figure 1
Hierarchy of Terminology in Corporate Entrepreneurship
                                   ENTREPRENEURSHIP
   INDEPENDENT                                            CORPORATE
 ENTREPRENEURSHIP                                      ENTREPRENEURSHIP
                              CORPORATE                                         STRATEGIC
                              VENTURING               INNOVATION                 RENEWAL
             INTERNAL                               EXTERNAL
            CORPORATE                              CORPORATE
            VENTURING                              VENTURING
Spring, 1999                                                                                                           21
Structural Autonomy
     This refers to the extent to which the intemal corporate venturing activities of a
corporation are embedded within its existing organizational units. Put differently, this
dimension addresses the crucial decision of where to locate the venture within an orga-
nization. The options vary from totally embedding the venture within the ongoing
operations of an existing division to creating a separate new-venture division isolated
from the rest of the organization and reporting directly to top management (Block &
MacMillan, 1993; Kanter. Richardson, North, & Morgan. 1991). Block and MacMillan
(1993) suggest that the ideal place to locate a venture will depend on its needs for
managerial attention, resources, learning opportunities, and protection from corporate
antagonism.
     Different authors have focused on intemal corporate ventures with different levels of
structural autonomy, and these differences have influenced their definitions of terms as
well as their descriptions of the phenomenon. For example, Burgelman and Sayles
(1986) studied new venture divisions. This choice of setting may have influenced their
restrictive definition of corporate entrepreneurship and may also explain the nature of the
model by which they seek to describe the venturing process. However, Pinchot's (1985)
work indicates that relationships among the critical components of the process may vary
somewhat for ventures initiated within the structure of an existing division. Overall, this
suggests that differences in the stmctural autonomy of internal corporate ventures may
have a material effect on the venturing process.
Extent of Innovation
    While the degree of relatedness to existing businesses refers to the degree of newness
of the venture to the organization, the extent of innovation refers to the degree of
newness of a venture in the marketplace. This dimension may vary from ventures that are
simply imitative entries to those innovative entries that are potentially "frame-breaking"
(Stopford & Badcn-FuUer, 1994). Although imitative ventures will require considerable
learning on the part of an organization, some lessons may be leamed from experiences
of pioneering competitors. For the ventures that are completely new to the marketplace,
and perhaps even create new markets, the firm in question is the pioneer and faces
considerably greater challenges as a consequence.
Nature of Sponsorship
    This dimension is related to the degree of formal authorization for the venture. Zahra
(1993) has suggested that ventures may vary from being formal or induced (sponsored
by an organization) to informal or autonomous (entrepreneurial efforts based on em-
ployees' initiative without formal organizational sponsorship). This view has been ex-
tended by Day (1994), whose research supported the existence of'*top-down." "bottom-
Reconciliation of Definitions
     Based on the discussion presented in this article it is now possible to clarify the
relationships between the definitions of Biggadike (1979), Burgelman (1983), Ellis and
Taylor (1987), and Guth and Ginsberg (1990). First, it should be clear that we follow
Guth and Ginsberg (1990) in defining coporate entrepreneurship as an activity compris-
ing corporate venturing, strategic renewal, and innovation. Second, it should also be
clear that Biggadike's (1979), Burgelman's (1983), and Ellis and Taylor's (1987) defi-
nitions all involve internal corporate venturing efforts but that each defines somewhat
different types of internal corporate venturing. Thus, Biggadike's (1979) definition com-
prises all those internal corporate ventures that involve some amount of innovation
regardless of the venture's degree of relatedness to the parent, structural autonomy, or
sponsorship. Burgelman (1983), on the other hand, does not specify the degree of
structural autonomy or sponsorship but makes it plain that the venture must be innova-
tive and unrelated to the parent's existing businesses. Finally, Ellis and Taylor (1987)
specifically exclude any venture that is not structurally autonomous, innovative, and
unrelated to the parent, although either a formally or informally sponsored venture that
possesses those characteristics would qualify.
     As shown in Table 4, if we assume that each of the four dimensions by which
internal corporate ventures might be classified can take one of two states, Biggadike's
(1979) definition encompasses eight of the 16 possible types of internal corporate ven-
tures. Burgelman's (1983) contains four of those types, and Ellis and Taylor's (1987)
consists of two.^ This reconcilation not only illustrates the consistency of the definitional
framework proposed in this article, but also illustrates how it might be utilized by
researchers to reconcile the findings of those and other studies.
     For example, all else held equal, Biggadike's (1979) findings are generalizable to the
most situations. However, because his study does not distinguish between different types
of innovative internal corporate ventures, generalizations must be made with the greatest
caution; the averages across types may not apply strongly to any single type. Conversely,
Ellis and Taylor's (1987) work is the least generalizable across internal corporate ven-
tures because of the restrictiveness of their definition. On the other hand, this restric-
tiveness also means that one can have a higher degree of confidence in the generaliza-
tions that can be made. Of course, Burgelman's (1983) definition and study falls some-
where in-between in terms of the extent and reliability of the generalizations that can be
made from his research.
     Admittedly, not all of the definitions previously used will fit as neatly into the
framework proposed in this article as the ones discussed above. Nevertheless, the frame-
6. The classificalion scheme shown in Table 4 is meant for illustrative purposes. Thus, while it might be a
good starting point for clarifying internal corporate ventures, it is not our intention to suggest that this is how
intetTial corporate ventures should be classified.
Spring, 1999                                                                                                    23
Table 4
A Tentative Classification of Internal Corporate Ventures and
a Reconciliation of Previous Definitions
Kxtent of      Relatedness     Structural       Nature of
innovation      to parent      autonomy        sponsorship                  DeFinitions used
                Related
                               Embedded
                               Autonomous
                                                Formal
                                                Informal
                                                Formal
                                                                                i
                                                Informal
                               Embedded         Fonnal
                                                Informal
[mitative       Unrelated      Autonomous       Formal
                                                Informal
                               Embedded         Formal
                                                Informal
                Related        Autonomous       Formal
                                                Informal
                               Embedded         Fonnal
                                                Informal
work does provide a standard term of reference by which definitions and research
findings can be compared and harmonized.
CONCLUSION
     A review of the literature of corporate entrepreneurship reveals an ambiguity in
terminology used. Although various authors agree on the features that are unique in
corporate entrepreneurship, they often use different terms to express themselves. While
this is not uncommon in behavioral sciences in general, and in new emerging disciplines
in particular, an acceptance of a common set of terminology is necessary for scientific
progress. This article represents one effort to systematize the terminology in corporate
entrepreneurship.
     A framework for the clarification and reconcilation of definitions was developed
with the aim of providing a set of criteria for each descriptor. Moreover, a hierarchy of
criteria was developed for the different terms. Finally, the basis for developing a system
of classification for internal corporate ventures was proposed. While more work needs to
be done, it is hoped that our efforts to put forward a set of internally consistent defini-
tions and specify the criteria that differentiates one descriptor from another will provide
a step toward a common terminology in the field of corporate entrepreneurship. Regard-
less, we believe that the clarification of the various elements that constitute corporate
entrepreneurship should be of immediate value to the field.
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James J. Cbrisman is Associate Dean. Director of Ph.D. and MBA Thesis program and Professor of Venture
Development in the Faculty of Management at the University of Calgary.
The authors are indebted to William D. Guth, W. Ed McMullan, the editors, and two anonymous reviewers
for their comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript.
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 10th annual meeting of the U.S. Association for Small
Business and Entrepreneurship.
Spring, 1999 27