Tibor Dőry

Innovation and excellence

Management methods for innovation transformation

Internal ventures, the process of developing a corporate venturing strategy

Many large companies include support for internal ventures and corporate venturing in their innovation strategies in the form of corporate venture capital, proprietary business incubators, accelerator programmes or innovation laboratories. Over the past decade, large international companies such as BP, SAP, Bosch and VW have set up numerous organisational units worldwide to support internal ventures. It is not easy to say which company or group model is worth copying, as the entire process must be carefully implemented in line with the environment and innovation ecosystem of the company in question in order to achieve the expected results.

Based on the literature review of Mes (2011), the process of supporting internal ventures and developing a corporate venturing strategy typically consists of two steps:

defining objectives;
steps to create tools and organisational units to support internal ventures.

Setting goals

Senior management planning to strengthen internal entrepreneurial activities and cooperation with startups must make a strategic decision about the long-term impact they want to achieve before contacting startups. Defining strategic intent in advance can save companies significant time and resources, as they often organise trendy events, pitch competitions, demo days, and encourage internal innovators to develop new solutions. This is particularly problematic and damaging to prestige if the winning innovation projects are not allocated sufficient resources, or if employees are not freed from their day-to-day activities or given time off work. This type of innovation theatre quickly becomes a waste of time and resources for both parties, unless a standardised decision-making schedule is established in advance, specifying the conditions under which the award-winning innovation project initiatives and startup collaborations can continue. Such a strategic plan can prevent months of fruitless pitches or numerous project meetings and management briefings.

Companies planning to exploit the potential of internal ventures to a greater extent must first define a long-term strategy with clear objectives and performance indicators. The objectives may include the following:

discovering new technologies and business models;
cost-effective and rapid resolution of business problems with low risk;
accelerating the company's digital transformation;
expanding into new markets and industries;
renewing the organisational culture and strengthening the entrepreneurial spirit with creative talent;
modifying and transforming the company's image and brand.

It may also be the case that one company wants to achieve only one goal, while others want to achieve several. Management must define the company's long-term strategic objectives, which must be adhered to during the implementation of the innovation strategy, and periodically check whether the predefined performance indicators are being met, and then take appropriate action.

Elements of internal entrepreneurial programmes

There are numerous tools and methods available to companies that wish to encourage internal entrepreneurs and launch radical innovation projects. There is a fairly wide spectrum from which companies can choose in line with their innovation strategy: accelerators, fast-track programmes, corporate incubators, excubators, corporate venture capital, startup acquisitions, hackathons or strategic partnerships. Each method has a different mechanism of action and follows a different path to achieve different goals.

Companies can mix and match different business development methods according to their goals, thereby creating their own unique ecosystem. Figure 28 provides an overview of the most common methods of internal entrepreneurial programmes according to the following four dimensions:

at which stage of the innovation process it is appropriate to use it;
how much resources it requires;
the timeframe in which company-level results can be expected;
the likelihood of integrating the results into the existing company.

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Figure 28. Grouping of internal entrepreneurial programmes

Source: own compilation.

The most important internal entrepreneurial development tools available today are as follows:

1. Activities, events

Sharing resources. Providing startups with access to the company's resources, laboratories, simulation, modelling, measurement and prototyping facilities, or even manufacturing capacity, while bringing them closer to and familiarising them with the partner's entrepreneurial ecosystem, business and administrative processes, and organisational culture.

Business scouting. The company appoints an employee with extensive experience to examine and explore the solutions, technologies and tools available on the market in relation to a specific innovation challenge or the company's innovation strategy, as well as the developments being worked on by leading research institutions or competitor companies.

Strategic partnership. There are many forms of alliances between established companies and startups, including joint development of new, innovative products and services and joint innovation activities aimed at meeting the specific needs of corporate customers.

Innovation challenge. An open competition for employees focusing on a specific, current business problem, offering financial incentives and moral recognition to innovators working in different areas of the company to develop the best solution.

Hackathon. A one- or multi-day innovation idea competition and workshop series where innovation teams with different scientific and professional backgrounds work out innovative solutions to pre-defined challenges. In connection with the event, the teams' work is supported by business and product development mentors, who use their professional knowledge and network of contacts to help the teams if they get stuck, and finally present the solutions they have developed for the problem to a professional jury.

Accelerator or business accelerator programme. A business programme lasting from a few weeks to six months, the aim of which is to help project teams or startups refine and test their business model or further develop their innovative products and services with the support of professional mentors and early-stage angel investors. The most important value of accelerator programmes is that they offer seed investment to project teams and provide them with useful feedback that they can incorporate into the planning and development of their business. The programmes typically conclude with a demo day, where project owners present the progress, results and future plans of their projects to invited experts and potential investors.

2. Investment programmes

Corporate venture capital. This term is used for direct capital investments by companies, targeting startups that are of strategic importance to the investing company. The definition also includes investments in startups founded by the investing company. This category does not include investments that fall under the more general concept of corporate ventures, such as the financing of new internal ventures that, although separate from the company's core business and enjoying a certain degree of organisational autonomy, are still legally part of the company.

Acquisition programme. An acquisition made by companies with significant market influence and capital strength. Typically, this involves the acquisition and integration of startups related to their portfolio in order to gain access to their newly developed innovative products or to eliminate them so that they do not compete with their own existing products and services.

3. Infrastructures

Corporate incubators. These are special corporate units that help new businesses to be created and grow by providing physical resources and other business and technological support and mentoring. An important goal is to seek growth opportunities for the incubator's parent company. They provide a much more flexible and less bureaucratic environment than the traditional corporate structure for incubated project teams and internal ventures, encouraging them to seek and test innovative alternative solutions to the parent company's mindset and organisational models in a protected environment.

Accelerator incubator. A combination of an incubator and an accelerator, which provides critical assistance to incubated startups, as most startups do not survive the first six months after their establishment, one year after completing a few months in a corporate incubator or accelerator programme. Excubators provide six months or more of business and professional support to resident companies, which significantly increases their viability. However, excubators are not free, so startups that move in have to pay for the incubator's services. The ideal excubator tenant has already completed its first round of fundraising and can therefore afford the comprehensive service package that can help accelerate the growth of the new business.

Tartalomjegyzék

Kiadó: Akadémiai Kiadó

Online megjelenés éve: 2026

ISBN: 978 963 664 182 5

Menedzsment

The aim of the book "Innovation and Excellence" is to inspire and encourage company leaders, managers, and experts to initiate and implement innovation transformations with the help of professional literature and corporate case studies. Another important goal is to help develop the innovation capabilities of small and medium-sized enterprises in particular by sharing simple, proven management methods that can be tested in practice.

The first part of the volume reviews the factors of corporate excellence and success, then highlights the possible sources of innovation, with a focus on the role of users and employees. The empirical section presents a detailed description of the supportive role of the workplace environment and creative working conditions based on corporate case studies (AUDI, BOSCH, MELECS). The volume concludes with a description of selected tested practical methods and management techniques that readers can try out in their own businesses.

Hivatkozás: https://mersz.hu/dory-innovation-and-excellence//

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