An analysis of internal organisational factors that support intrapreneurship in BoP business units

Abstract

The Base of the Pyramid (BoP), the world’s four billion poorest people, represents an opportunity for large companies to grow their revenue. However, the challenges in the BoP require organisations to adopt an entrepreneurial orientation in order to be successful. Entrepreneurship within an existing organisation, known as intrapreneurship, requires the prevalence of certain internal organisational factors. This study sought to establish if the internal organisation factors that support intrapreneurship were prevalent in BoP business units; to establish the limitations/ shortcomings in this regard and to establish the changes required to further support intrapreneurship. A review of the intrapreneurship literature highlighted three prominent internal organisational factors that support intrapreneurship, management support, autonomy/work discretion and reward/reinforcement, which formed the scope of the study. A list of characteristics describing the three internal organisational factors was developed from literature. Expert interviews were conducted to obtain perspective on how the three internal organisation factors exhibit themselves in BoP business units. The results of the study confirmed the prevalence of the three internal organisational factors in BoP business units, highlighted the limitations/ shortcomings in terms of supporting intrapreneurship and the changes required to the internal organisational factors to further support intrapreneurship.