Creating Corporate Venturing

Innovation and entrepreneurship are crucial for surviving and prospering in roday's turbulent business climate. A potentially significant way to revitalize established firms is through internal corporate venturing: high-risk activities that generate new businesses and sharpen a company's competitive edge. But once new opportunities are found, how can they be managed to ensure success? Block and MacMillan recognize that an innovative culture cannot be transplanted, but must evolve within each company. Recognizing that traditional management principles are often at odds with innovation, they address the problems of corporations whose policies and procedures discourage entrepreneurial effort. They show managers at all levels how to develop the skills and practices essential to internal venturing success. Only by integrating these skills and practices can a company make the changes necessary to produce ongoing product and market innovations with resulting new business. When managed correctly, corporate venturing can be the key to new growth and revitalization for established companies regardless of size. By providing management with new venture management skills that also contribute to the creation of innovative environments, the authors have increased the likelihood of new venture success.