The framework defines the task of intrapreneurship as a combination of the three situations for innovation management and the learning-related concepts of exploitation and exploration ndash the latter being closely related to single and double loop learning Furthermore the framework provides an attempt to describe the content of intrapreneurship in the six subtasks resulting from outlining the framework This is done by defining the complexity of the knowledge that the intrapreneur needs to manipulate in each instance and the corresponding type of learning involved In all this yields the framework proposed in Table 1
118 A Drejer KS Christensen and JP Ulhoslashi
Obviously this framework is merely a first step The framework needs to be researched in greater detail both empirically and theoretically The boundaries of time and space prevent us from doing so in this paper but we look forward to contributing to the effort
References
1 Drucker PF (1958) The Practice of Management Harper and Row
2 Kumpe T and Bolwijn PT (1994) lsquoTowards the innovative firm ndash a challenge for RampD managementrsquo Reseach-Technology Management JanndashFeb Issue pp38ndash44
3 Tidd J Bessant J and Pavitt K (1997) Managing Innovation Wiley
4 Drejer A (2001) The Innovative Firm (In Danish) Boslashrsens Forlag
5 Rosenkopf L and Tushman ML (1994) lsquoThe co-evolution of technology and organisationrsquo in Joel et al (Eds) Evolutionary Dynamics of Organisations Oxford University Press pp403ndash424
6 Porter ME (1996) lsquoWhat is strategyrsquo Harvard Business Review Vol 17 NovemberndashDecember pp33ndash47
7 March J (1991) lsquoExploration and exploitation in organizational learningrsquo Organization Science Vol 2 No 1
8 Leonard-Barton D (1995) Wellsprings of Knowledge Harvard Business School Press
9 Drucker PF (1993) Post-capitalist Society Oxford Butterworth-Heinemann
10 Drucker PF (1994) lsquoThe theory of the businessrsquo Harvard Business Review SeptemberndashOctober
11 Drejer A (2002) Strategic Management and Core Competencies Quorum Books
12 Roberts EK (1981) Generating Effective Corporate Innovation The Free Press
13 Afuah A (1998) Innovation Management The Free Press
14 Lowe P (1995) The Management of Technology Prentice Hall
15 Gaynor GH (1991) Achieving the Competitive Edge Through Integrated Technology Management McGraw-Hill
16 Miles RE and Snow CC (1978) Organizational Strategy Structure and Process McGraw-Hill
17 Stacy R (1993) Strategic Management and Organizational Dynamics Prentice Hall
18 Galbraith J (1979) Organization Design The Free Press
19 Mintzberg H (1983) Structure In Five ndash Designing Effective Organizations Prentice-Hall
20 Drucker PF (1985) Innovation and Entrepreneurship Harper amp Row
21 Tushman L and Rosenkopf L (1986) lsquoOrganizational determinants of technological changersquo in Staw B and Cummings L (Eds) Research in Organizational Behaviour Vol 14 pp311ndash347
22 Tushman ML and Anderson P (1990) lsquoTechnological discontinuities and organisational environmentsrsquo Administrative Science Quarterly Vol 35 pp1ndash8
23 Voss CA (1988) lsquoImplementation a key issue in manufacturing technology the need for a field of studyrsquo Research Policy
24 Iansiti M (1998) Technology Integration ndash Making Critical Choices in a Dynamic World Harvard Business School Press
25 Cooper (1995) New Product Development The Free Press
26 Bhalla SK (1987) The Effective Management of Technology Batelle Press
27 Drejer A and Riis JO (2000) Competence-based Strategy (In Danish) Boslashrsens Forlag
Understanding intrapreneurship by means of state-of-the-art 119
28 Christensen JC (1998) Innovatorrsquos Dillema Harvard Business School Press
29 Abernathy WJ and Clark KB (1985) lsquoInnovation ndash mapping the winds of creative destructionrsquo Research Policy Vol 14 pp3ndash22
30 Eisenhardt H and Martin JE (2000) lsquoDynamic capabilities what are theyrsquo Strategic Management Journal Vol 21 pp1105ndash1121
31 Edvinsson L and Malone T (1997) Intellectual Capital HarperCollins
32 Latour B (1999) Pandorarsquos Hope Essays on the Reality of Science Studies Cambridge MA Harvard University Press
33 Catasuacutes B (2001) Borders of Management Five Studies of Accounting Organizing and the Environment Doctoral dissertation School of Business Stockholm University
34 Baxter J and Chua FW (1999) lsquoKnowledge management now and the futurersquo Australian Accounting Review Vol 9 No 3 pp3ndash14
35 Lei D Hitt MA and Bettis R (1996) lsquoDynamic core competences through meta-learning and strategic contextrsquo Journal of Management Vol 22 No 4 pp549ndash569
36 Spender JC (1996b) lsquoOrganizational knowledge learning and memoryrsquo Journal of Organizational Change Management No 9 pp63ndash79
37 Stewart TA (1991) lsquoBrainpower how intellectual capital is becoming Americarsquos most valuable assetrsquo Fortune June 3rd pp44ndash60
38 Stewart TA (1994) lsquoYour companyrsquos most valuable asset intellectual capitalrsquo Fortune October 3rd pp68ndash74
39 Nonaka I and Takeuchi H (1995) The Knowledge-creating Company Oxford Oxford University Press
40 Nonaka I (1991) lsquoThe Knowledge-Creating Companyrsquo Harvard Business Review NovemberndashDecember pp96ndash104
41 Christensen KS and Bukh PN (2003) lsquoVidenledelse ndash to perspektiver (trans knowledge management ndash two perspectives)rsquo in Bukh PN Christensen KS and Mouritsen J (Eds) Videnledelse ndash Et praksisfelt under Etablering (trans knowledge Management ndash Establishing a Field of practice) Koslashbenhavn DJOslashF pp65ndash85
42 Von Krogh G Roos J and Kleine D (1998) Knowing in Firms Understanding Managing and Measuring Knowledge London Sage
43 Winter S (1987) lsquoKnowledge and competence as strategic assetsrsquo in Teece DJ (Ed) The Competitive Challenge Ballinger pp159ndash184
44 Spender JC (1996) lsquoMaking knowledge the basis of a dynamic theory of the firmrsquo Strategic Management Journal Vol 17 Winter Issue pp45ndash62
45 Nevis EC DiBella AJ and Gould JM (1995) lsquoUnderstanding organizations as learning systemsrsquo Sloan Management Review Winter Issue pp73ndash85
46 Bukh PN Christensen KS and Mouritsen J (2003) Videnledelse ndash Et praksisfelt under Etablering (trans Knowledge Management ndash Establishing a Field of practice) Koslashbenhavn DJOslashF
47 Dreyfus H and Dreyfus S (1986) Mind over Machine The Power of Human Intuition and Expertise in the Era of the Computer Free Press
48 Duncan Rand Weiss A lsquoOrganisational learning implications for organisation designrsquo in Barry M Staw (Ed) Research in Organisational Behaviour JAI Press
49 Kolb D (1984) Experimental Learning Prentice Hall
50 March J (1994) Management in a Complex World Samfundsvidenskaberne
51 Von Krogh G and J Roos (1996) Managing Knowledge Perspectives on Cooperation and Competition London Sage
52 Argyris C and Schon DA (1998) Organisational Learning II Addison-Wesley
159
CHAPTER 9
Knowledge Management in Perspective(s) An Analysis of Project Management in Two
Companies
Christensen Karina Skovvang Per Nikolaj Bukh amp Heine Kaasgaard Bang 2007
Knowledge Management in Perspective(s) An Analysis of Project Management in
Danish Companies
160
161
August 2007
Knowledge Management in Perspectives An Analysis of Project Management in Two Companies
Assistant professor Karina Skovvang Christensen University of Aarhus Professor Per Nikolaj Bukh Aalborg University
Partner Heine Kaasgaard Bang Conmoto
Abstract
This article analyses project management activities in two companies from a knowledge management perspective It is shown how human competences it-systems and project management systems are integrated and how these knowledge resources reflect strategies for knowledge management The Knowledge Management activities are analysed from two perspectives an artefact oriented and a process oriented perspective From the first perspective project management seems to consist of similar components in the two firms whereas the process oriented perspective identify context dependent differences It is concluded how awareness of different perspectives opens up for more managerial options and better understanding in practice
Keywords Knowledge Management Strategy Project Management Case study Knowledge Management Practice Corresponding author Assistant professor Karina Skovvang Christensen University of Aarhus School of Economics and Management Building 1322 DK-8000 Aarhus C email kschristenseneconaudk The authors are grateful to Allan Krogh Erlandsen BampO and Hanne Buje Jensen FKI Logistex Crisplant for access to the companies and for comments to a previous version of the article
162
1 Introduction
Many different researchers have introduced the concept of knowledge in academic
discussions within varying fields Mouritsen et al (2001) focuses for instance on the
management of intellectual capital whereas Prahalad amp Hamel (1990) describe the
companyrsquos strategic work based on core competencies In other parts of the
management literature both Leonard (1995) and Nonaka (1994) are concerned with
knowledge in relation to innovation whereas Huber (1991) and Lyles amp Schwenk
(1992) focus on organising of information so that it can be collected stored and reused
in other connections A common characteristic of these theories is that knowledge is an
important factor which is structured in ways that ensure the applicability of knowledge
in accordance with the strategies of the company
In relation to projects and project organisations the attention to knowledge management
as well as the role that social processes practises and patterns have in effectively
managing project knowledge is relatively new as Bresnen et al (2003) have pointed out
Knowledge is however a vital resource in project based industries and well working
knowledge management is in project organisations for instance essential for improving
the utilisation of core capabilities and technological platforms and reduce development
time in project (Oshri et al 2005)
The purpose of this paper is to pay attention to how different perspectives on a subject ndash
in this case project management and knowledge management ndash can broaden ones view
and
This article is based on a study of knowledge management in two Danish project based
organisations The article presents knowledge management as a perspective of
management where knowledge and knowledge resources are brought into focus The
empirical part of the article is based on an analysis of knowledge management
initiatives in relation to project management in the development division of the Danish
company Bang amp Olufsen and in the Danish company FKI Logistex Crisplant It is in
the article demonstrated how different perspectives on knowledge and knowledge
management expressed through two different epistemologies the artefact-oriented and
163
the process-oriented epistemology implies different understandings of the nature and
the role of knowledge management
The remainder of the article is structured in the following way Section 2 discusses
briefly the meaning of knowledge management and the two perspectives are introduced
In the following section 3 a short introduction to the method applied as well as a short
description of the two companies are given In section 4 the companiesrsquo different
initiatives in relation to knowledge management will be presented and it is illustrated
how knowledge management may be an integrated part of project management In
section 5 knowledge management is analyzed from the two different perspectives and
finally section 6 discussed how the perspectives may help to show a more balanced
picture of knowledge management by focusing on different parts of knowledge
management
2 Knowledge management in practice
In recent years there has in the management literature been an overwhelming interest in
the concept of knowledge and knowledge based resources This is not only reflected in
the importance of knowledge-intensive companies but also in an interest in how
knowledge based resources interact in the creation of value in companies and how
knowledge can be managed
When managers discuss knowledge different perspectives are often taken The
difference consists in the way in which knowledge is perceived In other words the
basic epistemological perspectives differ In this article a distinction is made between
two different perspectives which will be outlined in more details below
21 The two perspective on knowledge management
The first perspective on knowledge and knowledge management will be termed the
artefact oriented perspective Focus is often on information technology and the ways in
which technology may be applied for the codification of knowledge It is more or less
explicitly assumed that everything can be described and the more data a company
164
collects the more knowledge it possesses Knowledge management is therefore mostly
based on collecting storing and distributing knowledge in the form of eg documents
and specific information (eg Huber 1991 Lyles amp Schwenk 1992) From the artefact-
oriented perspective knowledge management focus for instance on project memory (cf
Kaumlrreman et al 2004) and manuals for organisational processes (Malone et al 1993)
Many authors (eg Blackler 1995 Tsoukas 1996) have indicated that the artefact
oriented perspective has become insufficient when handling management challenges in
relation to the complexity of the knowledge society and has hence criticised the
restricted view of knowledge expressed by the artefact oriented perspective emphasising
instead that knowledge is situated in social and organisational practises as well as
relationships (Tsoukas amp Vladimirou 2001) The problem is not lack of documents
data or access to information The limitation can rather be found in the quality content
and organisation of the material This has given rise to the second perspective which
we term the process oriented perspective
The process oriented perspective is most clearly exemplified by Ikujiro Nonakarsquos
research where knowledge is perceived as a ldquodynamic human process of justifying
personal beliefs as a part of an aspiration for the lsquotruthrsquordquo (Nonaka 1994 p 15 Nonaka
amp Takeuchi 1995) An essential point is that focus is on the process in which knowledge
is created and not on the documents or the rules which are based on the process This
implies that continuous and dynamic adaptation to lsquoreal lifersquo takes place
From the process-oriented epistemology knowledge creation and sharing is considered
as a continuous process where knowledge is transformed between tacit and explicit
knowledge and between people and technology The point of departure is here the so-
called SECI-model (Nonaka amp Takeuchi 1995) which consists of four types of
processes which Nonaka amp Takeuchi (1995) identify as central in relation to
knowledge management Socialization Externalization Combination and
Internalization According to Nonaka amp Takeuchi (1995 pp 70-71) the development of
organizational knowledge are a continuous and dynamic interaction between tacit and
explicit knowledge
165
22 Knowledge Management and the perception of Knowledge
Knowledge is a complex term as it is often not easy to agree on an exact definition The
view of knowledge that pervades much research especially from the artefact oriented
perspective ndash but not limited to that ndash is positivist ie the Platonic view that knowledge
is lsquojustified true beliefrsquo However the more recent knowledge management researchers
eg Nonaka amp Takeuchi (1995) von Krogh amp Roos (1995) Mourisen et al (2001) and
others have initiated a move away from seeing the subject at standing in a static
cognitive relationship of certainty to propositions stating facts about the empirical world
(se also Jackson amp Klobas 2007)
Following this recent tradition we adopt an approach where knowledge neither as an
object to be managed nor as a research object is strictly defined on beforehand Rather
we as the basic idea of simultaneously working with different perspectives on
knowledge as presented above let the nature of knowledge be based on the individuals
set of beliefs or mental models used to interpret actions and events in the world This
opens up for different perceptions of knowledge and knowledge management in an
organisation much like Roos amp von Kroghrsquos (1995 p 1) reflect in their statement that
ldquo[w]hat you see depends on who you arerdquo which implies that knowledge should be
regarded as a subjective term Following this notion it is quite possible that knowledge
can be expressed in many different ways since not only knowledge but also knowledge
about knowledge depends on the context This implies that it is essential to clarify the
background for the various perceptions of knowledge knowledge management concepts
etc
The understanding of the term knowledge or at least what it means to the individual or
the organisation is important because it affects how knowledge enters the managerial
processes According to von Krogh amp Roos (1996) this implies that successful
knowledge management requires that you relate to lsquothe nature of knowledgersquo (von
Krogh amp Roos 1996 p 224) Therefore knowledge management also becomes a
question of epistemological understanding
More effective knowledge management may also result from adapting management
tools that fit the prevailing perception of knowledge This observation is in accordance
with Marr et al (2003) who suggest that knowledge management practises will be
166
perceived as more effective if they match the personal epistemology In relation to an
in-depth study of knowledge management in a project case study in an Australian
industrial engineering organisation Sense (2007 p 17-18) document similarly that the
project members favour knowledge sharing techniques that align with their cognitive
style type and further that they acknowledge the personal bias towards specific modes
of sharing knowledge
23 Strategies for knowledge management
Hansen et al (1999) have associated the understanding of knowledge management that
we have termed the artefact oriented perspective with a so-called codification strategy
which govern companies intend to collect existing knowledge and make it accessible to
the rest of the organization This form of strategy should be seen as an alternative or
more precisely a supplement to the personification strategy which focuses on the
aspects that are difficult to express in a way based on codification Thus the
personification strategy in more in line with the process oriented perspective on
knowledge management outlined above
While the codification strategy is a cornerstone in the bureaucratic organisation the
personification strategy has seen its strength in the knowledge intensive organisations
that rely on the competence of the individuals The two strategies seem according to
Hansen et al (1999) to dominate practice in general which among other things may be
due to the fact that they supplement each other instead of being mutually exclusive
Hansen et al (1999) point out that often one of the strategies normally will have a more
prevailing position in the organizationrsquos consciousness However knowledge
management is multi-faceted and our understanding of current practise has already been
set by our epistemology This illustrates that the more an organisation focuses on
knowledge the more important it becomes to understand the epistemological
implications
167
3 The Two Companies and the methodology
This article is anchored in a case study of how knowledge management takes place in
practice in two organisations The distinct strength of case studies is the ability to deal
with a variety of evidence documents questionnaires interviews and observations in a
flexible manner In particular when exploring the two companiesrsquo practises that are not
on beforehand perceived as knowledge management initiatives in the companies a case
study approach seems appropriate A case study approach offers in this context an
opportunity for observing and describing a complicated research phenomenon in a way
that allows analytical generalisations (Eisenhardt 1989 Tsoukas 1989) of the
observations
The empirical data includes 5 semi-structured interviews in each of the two companies
where the respondents were asked to tell about the companyrsquos history how knowledge
management affects their daily work how knowledge is created and shared as well as
how they work with different tools (eg project models and IT-systems) The interviews
took approx 1frac12 hour on average and they were taped and transcribed for later use The
interviews at BampO were carried through in the period 28-29 August 2003 whereas the
interviews at Crisplant were collected almost two years earlier ie in the period 29
October to 12 December 2001 Moreover data in the form of documents reports and
observations were collected General attitudes are expressed by the company name
whereas the respondentrsquos function is emphasized where it is of importance in
connection with a statement
Bang amp Olufsen (BampO) is known for its distinguished design and quality products
within audio and video which are the companyrsquos core business areas Development of
new products is a decisive competitive parameter to BampO and is ascribed much
attention Development costs thus represent more than 9 per cent of the companyrsquos
turnover This article only addresses knowledge management in the product
development division of BampO
FKI Logistex Crisplant AS (Crisplant) develops produces and installs solutions within
the so-called automatic high-speed transport and sorting systems (ATS) area which
forms a substantial part of operations at airports postal centres libraries mail order
168
businesses distribution centres etc all over the world These systems are developed and
implemented in a close cooperation not only with the customer but with a number of
other companies which supply other parts of the installation of which the sorting system
must be an integrated part
4 Knowledge Management in the two companies
The two organisations were chosen because they represent two different types of project
based organisations both focussing on product development BampO has organised
product development in a department separated from production with products being
manufactured at assembly plants and sold to customers all over the world Crisplant
develops customer specific solutions in projects more like a construction company with
development and installation at the customer site being separate phases of the same
project
Product development as it is undertaken in both companies is often generically
described a knowledge intensive activity (Meyer amp Utterback 1993) where managers
engineers and technicians apply the knowledge they have developed through formal
training and over time form experience while at the same time enhancing their skills and
capabilities through the project Such knowledge-intensive companies are dependent on
their employee based knowledge resources However neither BampO nor Crisplant have a
separate strategy for knowledge management Instead the analysis stresses the
importance of knowledge management being an integrated part of the companiesrsquo
processes and management activities trying to create an organizational culture which
encourages development sharing and anchoring of knowledge to support the main
strategic goal they each have
41 Knowledge management in Bang amp Olufsen
Knowledge management in BampO focus on interactions where employees meet across
departments and enter into a dialogue where creative ideas are being conceived new
knowledge generated and existing knowledge disseminated in the organization BampO is
169
dependent on tacit knowledge or unique competencies such as employees that have ldquoa
pair of good earsrdquo as it was expressed by a project manager which are able to hear
precisely when a loudspeaker or an amplifier sounds correct Such knowledge is very
difficult to transfer as explicit knowledge Instead BampO is committed to the fact that
knowledge transfer takes place through close cooperation where competences are
disseminated in the organization
The development processes are built around key personsrsquo unique knowledge resources
in a way that makes it difficult for competitors to imitate BampOrsquos products To
disseminate the specialist knowledge it is in the interviews stressed that it is important
that it is communicated to the organization that these lsquoknowledge keepersrsquo are available
It must be known who possess specific types of knowledge so that instead of being a
hidden resource the individual key persons become an available resource to be relied on
all over the organization A manager at BampO explains
hellip we have a culture in the development division where everybody walks around and talks to everybody about the problems they encounter hellip when an employee is designing something the person knows that he needs to go and talk to a specific colleague because the colleague knows something special about this And then he does so and they have a chat about it So we sense that in most cases there is free and open access to all the knowledge available via you could say personal contact
In this situation the sharing of knowledge is enabled by the autonomy that employees
are granted by management similarly to what Oshri et al (2005 p 16) found in a case
study of knowledge transfer in a multiple-project environment Further key employeesrsquo
expert knowledge is made available to the organisation by holding a large number of
internal courses at BampO where the employees teach each other
However explicit knowledge is also decisive to BampO because aside from the tacit
knowledge which is being applied in the development processes explicit and codifiable
knowledge is also applied to a great extent in all development projects It may both be
knowledge which is unique to BampO and at the same time it may be knowledge which
in principle is available on the world market To capture knowledge BampO uses the
TOP-model an adopted version of Cooperrsquos (2001) stage gate model in all
170
development projects In practice it means that when the first phases of a development
project (physical proximity and face-to-face contact) is completed only a few people
the quality people are responsible for making sure that knowledge is shared both in the
individual project and across projects
In addition to this BampO has strict documentation requirements during the development
projects due to the companyrsquos ISO-certification the internal strategies for knowledge
sharing and to make it possible to reuse earlier developed elements in future products
similar to what Tsai (2001) demonstrated in a study where transferring knowledge from
one base project to other projects enhances organisational innovation and performance
BampO thus appear to be very conscious about the importance of documentation and it is
attempted to extend the documentation activities further so that the company may reuse
more knowledge and thus reuse more solutions by building up modular products
42 Knowledge Management in Crisplant
All project activities in Crisplant are from development over production to
implementation project-organized and are run according to Crisplantrsquos project
management tool Crisplant Project Management Model (CPMM) which is an adopted
version of a state gate model (cf Cooper 2001) Due to the nature of the customer
specific solutions the context is somewhat similar to the construction industry where
eg Bresnan et al (2003) emphasise that organisations face substantial obstacles to be
overcome in ldquocapturing knowledge and in re-cycling of project based learning that
steam form the relatively self-contained idiosyncratic and finite nature of project tasksrdquo
(ibid p 158)
Crisplant develops solutions with a high degree of customization the individual projects
are very different and the composition of project teams takes place more on the basis of
employeesrsquo competencies than on the basis of specific technical components which
must be included in the project Thus knowledge management has to focus specifically
on employees and as a consequence the development sharing and anchoring of the
accumulated knowledge is an integrated part of the companyrsquos way of working
171
Crisplant says ldquoIt is natural for us to live by having knowledge and trying to give our
customers value through a continuous development and creative use of our knowledgerdquo
Thereby knowledge management becomes an integrated part of the management
activities influencing the organizational culture and supporting the overall main
strategic goals A manager at Crisplant furthermore says ldquoKnowledge management is
about presenting favourable conditions for the creative process of the individual in
cooperation with others and hence set the knowledge resources of the company at playrdquo
But Crisplant also uses a range of IT-tools for supporting the creation and transfer of
knowledge Like many other companies Crisplant has an extensive intranet which may
potentially play a role in codifying explicit knowledge and in lsquostoring and distributingrsquo
knowledge But the intranet is mainly used for the distribution of news creating a
possibility for the employees to be updated with the companyrsquos activities and as such it
does not constitute an essential part of Crisplantrsquos knowledge management
Standardized and codified knowledge is however of importance in relation to
documenting the experience from the separate development phases By codifying and
collecting knowledge in progress reports drawn up by the project leaders each month
Crisplant is however of the opinion that it is the employeesrsquo tacit knowledge which is
essential for the companyrsquos progress and growth Accordingly the Managing Director
explains that the work with eg the companyrsquos intranet is more expressing a wish for a
general IT-competence development among the staff to be able to respond to future
technological requirements from co-operators than it is due to a direct knowledge
management strategy
Crisplant is convinced that the informal knowledge sharing taking place daily as ldquoface-
to-facerdquo contact is by far of greatest strategic importance Crisplantrsquos management thus
attempts to make the frames for knowledge sharing and knowledge creation available by
focusing on teamwork in the project organization and by integrating a dialogue-based
company culture that cultivates trust norms and shared values where projects take the
character of communities of practice (Brown amp Duguid 1991 2001)
The manager responsible for organisational development explains that the day-to-day
knowledge sharing and knowledge creation to a wide extent is expressed through the
work with CPMM as well as a continuous focus on creativity in all processes To
172
improve creativity Crisplant works intensely with a model named internally as the
lsquoCreative Working Modelrsquo (CWM) This model facilitates the process at all levels from
structuring a project over the way a certain meeting is structured to how the individual
employees structure their working day
The CWM consists of five phases A seeing phase which focus on dialogue about
expectations with regard to the final goal and thus which objectives must be obtained to
reach the overall goals for the task or project Following this comes the idea phase
where it is established how the objectives and goal should be obtained The third phase
is the planning phase which is carried through in interaction with Crisplantrsquos Project
Management Model When the planning is done the project participants begin carrying
out the things as the fourth phase and subsequently the project group goes into a seeing
again phase where the course of events is evaluated and the project team learns from its
experiences
43 Knowledge Management as Project Management
BampOrsquos product development division as well as Crisplant are organized as project
organizations Competent efficient and reliable projects implementation is decisive for
business success in BampO as well as Crisplant For several years both companies have
applied a project management model inspired by Cooperrsquos so-called lsquostage gate modelrsquo
(Cooper 2001) The adoption of the model is denoted the Crisplant Project Management
Model and the TOP-model at BampO
At Crisplant the purpose of working with the Stage-Gate model is to establish ldquoa
common set of rules for project control management and execution internally as well as
in cooperation with customers suppliers and other partnersrdquo (Crisplant 1999 p 4) In
the product development division at BampO the Stage-Gate model has a more direct role
as knowledge management tool as it is continuously adjusted according to the
experiences from different product development projects At BampO the Stage-Gate
model thus functions as a dynamic model where knowledge is accumulated and later
disseminated through the application in the individual projects
173
Each phase of the Stage-Gate models ends with a lsquogatersquo In this connection the project
managers of both companies prepare a gate report on the status of the project both with
regard to progress and budget At the same time often major replacement among
employees takes place in between the individual phases and therefore a gate also
represents a critical point in relation to knowledge management as knowledge needs to
be transferred from one team to another
With respect to knowledge creation Crisplant focuses on how knowledge is collected
stored and passed on in each phase of the project through extensive documentation
requirements BampO works with similarly high documentation requirements in its
projects At the same time at BampO the awareness of the value of face-to-face
knowledge transfer along the way are very present the method manager in BampO
expresses it in the following way
hellip it is not such an lsquoover the wallrsquo-transfer taking place at each individual gate It is not the documentation that ensures knowledge transfer in the projects hellip it is only because people talk together and that we agree on how things should look that it works hellip it is not due to our documentation
Furthermore Crisplant emphasizes the metaphorical importance of a gate symbolizing a
door which closes at the completion of a phase while a new one opens to the next phase
and the future However like BampO Crisplant is aware of that not all types of
knowledge can be passed on in written-down documentation
Both companies apply pre-determined checklists which the project manager goes
through and on that basis he prepares a phase report after each individual phase of the
Stage-Gate model These phase reports are saved and used eg when the project
management tool is being updated At the end of a project a project evaluation meeting
is held at both Crisplant and BampO where the projectrsquos experiences good as well as bad
are collected in a final report
174
5 Knowledge Management in Perspective(s)
In the following two subsections project management of the two companies are
analyzed according to the two epistemological perspectives on knowledge management
the artefact oriented and the process oriented Hereby it is illustrated how the
presentation and the perception of knowledge management depend on the
epistemological starting point
51 Artefact-Oriented Epistemology
As a part of BampOrsquos codification strategy artefacts in the form of process
documentation product specifications development documentation etc are pointed out
as an essential element of the knowledge management activities At Crisplant such
documents also form an important part of the knowledge collecting process which the
then Managing Director expressed in this way
hellipAs we work out a concept proposal and a solution to our customer we document the thoughts and ideas we have concerning the solution to a specific project Thus the knowledge stays in the company so to say ndash because it has been taken down in writing
From this perspective knowledge is in both companies about writing and documenting
in order that the company may be capable of leaning on previous project descriptions
etc when new quotations are given and on the whole when working on the projects
Thus the project management systems function as a repository for routine solutions
where explicit knowledge can be reused (cf Markus 2001 p59)
If knowledge management is illustrated based on an artefact-oriented epistemology the
essential elements of the knowledge of both companies would be all the documents and
reports written down concerning the companyrsquos procedures and processes the project
management models and quality control systems in both companies IT-tools used in the
company such as intranet budget control systems databases administrative systems
etc support the collection storage and distribution of the formalized knowledge which
is the focal point of the artefact-oriented epistemology
175
Within the artefact-oriented epistemology knowledge management is thus focused on
the types of knowledge which may be explicated formalized and ultimately codified
Project management in the two companies appear to consist of more or less the same
components From a pure artefact oriented perspective knowledge management is
ensured by having these suitable systems The artefact oriented knowledge management
is about consistent documentation of development activities via Stage-Gate-models
quality management and data collection at both BampO and Crisplant In the artefact
oriented perspective there is much less focus on the context in which the knowledge
was created as the underlying assumption is that the knowledge can be re-used even
though the context in which it was created is less explicit
52 Process Oriented Epistemology
Knowledge management seen through a process-oriented epistemology (with emphasis
on the SECI model) is apparent in both BampO and Crisplant It may be illustrated by the
fact that the companies besides anchoring knowledge through process reports Stage-
Gate models and quality control systems are focusing on the personal relations
Crisplant uses the CWM to support the transfer of knowledge between project phases in
the stage gate model and BampO works with mentor arrangements and works hard on
creating a dialogue-based culture By sharing knowledge across the organizations the
companies attempt to internalize knowledge into more persons
At Crisplant the process-oriented epistemology is predominant in the work with the
CWM which structures the processes and becomes instrumental for creating sharing
and internalizing knowledge At both BampO and Crisplant the socialization phase is also
stressed by attaching importance to project teams meeting physically because this is the
way to share opinions values and knowledge and to obtain a common framework of
understanding
The externalization phase should be understood as the process where the employees
express their ideas Here Nonaka et al (2000) stresses that the use of images
metaphors analogies etc may help the employees to express a point without really
being able to explain it This is what happens in the idea phase of the CWM at
176
Crisplant When all thoughts and ideas have been aired and placed on the boards it is
important that they are combined and reduced in order to make a realistic plan for the
development of the project Therefore the ideas from Crisplantrsquos idea phase and BampOrsquos
development department are both incorporated in the companiesrsquo Stage-Gate models
which structure the development of the projects This is the equivalent of what takes
place in Nonakarsquos combination phase in the SECI-model
The internalization phase is the last phase of the SECI-model where the objective is to
embody common guidelines goals and objectives corresponding to Crisplantrsquos
executing phase in their CWM and the phases in the companiesrsquo Stage-Gate models
where the products are actually developed and installed at the customers site At this
stage experiences are gained from the project in hand and as far as possible these
experiences will also be incorporated in the stage gate model in order to be available for
later project
As knowledge sharing in Crisplant builds mainly on the Creative Working Model the
personification strategy is predominant in Crisplantrsquos knowledge management activities
Although documentation was emphasised by the managing director because knowledge
stays in the organisation when it is written down (see above) this from a process
oriented perspective does not mean that it is the capacity to document and codify that is
the essential feature Rather the project management systems in combination with the
CWM facility interaction
BampOrsquos knowledge management strategy is not as clear as it involves more elements
from both the codification strategy and the personification strategy In the same way as
Crisplant BampO acknowledges the importance of face-to-face communication but in
BampO it is more a question of making the structures and frameworks available to the
organisation thus leaving it to the initiatives of the employees to communicate when
needed Thus the experiences from BampO is in line with Keegan amp Turner (2001) who
in an study of learning across project found that the informal networks within
companies are the most important conduit for transferring knowledge between projects
(cf Sense 2007)
Damodaran amp Olphert (2000) as well as Edwards et al (2005) have argued that in
general a push-strategy ie when information and knowledge are lsquopushedrsquo through to
177
the potential users is less effective than a pull-strategy which is based on creating a
basic organizational culture and context which encourage organizational learning ndash and
where the employees have access to knowledge when needed From this point of view
Crisplant uses a form of push-strategy while similarly BampO uses a pull-strategy to
implement knowledge sharing through physical meetings However it is another form
for push than in Damodaran amp Olphertsrsquo terms when a process oriented epistemology is
adopted as it is the organizational structures and frames that are lsquopushedrsquo to the
employees
The ideal context of knowledge creation and sharing depends on the type of knowledge
For instance both BampO and Crisplant find it important that a project team meets
physically in the initial phases where the objective is to express thoughts and ideas
concerning the project At BampO the product development begins in Idea Land where a
group of designers are seated closely together Later in the construction phases physical
proximity is not imperative to the same degree
Following the process oriented epistemology both tacit and explicit knowledge and not
least the interplay between the two knowledge types are in focus From a process
oriented perspective it is the first two phases of the SECI model (Socialization and
Externalization) which differs the most between the two companies whereas the last
two phases (Combination and Internationalization) are more similar in the two
companies In the Combination phase knowledge management is primarily centred on
working with the Stage-Gate models and in the Internalization phase the specific
development work is conducted Contrary to BampO Crisplant still give priority to
physical proximity in the last phase as Crisplant focuses on a common internalization
phase for the group in preference to the individual
6 Concluding Remarks
Authors like Roos and von Krogh (1995 p1) have argued that the way we understand
knowledge depends on the existing knowledge and the basic assumptions we bring
along This means that whether we are researchers observing knowledge management in
action or practitioners involved in the management of knowledge our understanding of
178
knowledge and knowledge management will be in subjective term This understanding
or at least what knowledge management means to the individual the group or
organization is important because it as argued be von Krogh and Roos (1996) implies
that successful knowledge management requires that you relate to lsquothe nature of
knowledgersquo (von Krogh amp Roos 1996 p 234)
Therefore knowledge management becomes a question of epistemological
understanding By giving a multi-faceted view of knowledge management based on the
two different epistemologies this article illustrates how different epistemological points
of departure are essential to the way we lsquoseersquo and thereby think and act Generally it is
a way of illustrating how we are all more or less limited by our own existing
knowledge We are subconsciously controlled by our framework of reference and
understanding but the more conscious we become of this and the more we acknowledge
it the more we will be able to overcome these limitations and thus achieve a more
nuanced view of existing management activities
The analysis illustrated how the content of knowledge management differs depending
on the underlying epistemology It makes demands on the manager as conscious
reflection in relation to initiatives as the possibility that another departure implies
another decision becomes part of the decision process However in practice an
understanding of different perspectives will give a company a more nuanced picture of
the organization knowledge and management thereby expanding the optics which is
used for identification of potentials or any problems in relation to the management of
knowledge
In the analysis of the knowledge management activities in Crisplant the process oriented
epistemology was clearest The sharing of knowledge is encouraged by initiatives
where the employees physically are seated in relation to the projects to enable lsquoroomrsquo
for communication In addition to this other knowledge management initiatives become
visible eg in relation to collection of data and experiences from the projects when the
departure is the artefact oriented epistemology All this support the personification
strategy (cf Hansen et al 1999) where tacit and human interaction plays a crucial role
Knowledge management in BampOrsquos is also most obvious if departing in the process
oriented epistemology but the concrete initiatives are mainly based on methods which
179
are best understood from the artefact oriented epistemology For instance this is
expressed by the higher priority continuous documenting and updating of the models
are given in BampO compared to Crisplant In practice both tacit and explicit knowledge
are of more or less equal significance in BampO which mean that the company tries to
combine the personification and codification strategy
BampO finds the tacit knowledge which exists in the organization of great strategic
importance and therefore they try to distribute it in the organization through eg
mentoring close relations across departments and dialogue-based culture At the same
time codifiable knowledge is paid considerable attention at BampO which is best
expressed through the work on currently updating the dynamic stage-gate model
It can not generally be stated when a given strategy should be used as it is very
company specific When a companyrsquos competitive advantage are mainly to be found in
reuse of existing solutions which for example are put together in a new way or the
possibility for lsquomass productionrsquo of a new product The more standardized solutions a
company offers the more it points in the direction of the codification strategy and
thereby a knowledge management strategy departuring in the artefact oriented
epistemology or the process oriented epistemology supported by the artefact oriented
Otherwise when a company provides more customized solutions it points in the
direction of the process oriented epistemology and primarily knowledge management
initiatives based on this epistemology and thereby the personification strategy An
important thing is to notice that the epistemologies are supportive and not exclusive
If significant importance is attached to epistemological assumptions heavier demands
are to a certain extent placed on the manager It is no longer sufficient lsquoonlyrsquo to act and
make decisions because conscious reflection in relation to own acts and the opportunity
to take another point of departure involving another decision becomes part of the
decision process The reflective manager must be familiar with different epistemologies
as mentioned by Venzin et al (1998 p 36) as it provides a much larger managing
scope and ensures a better understanding of the limitations to the various sets of
actions More effective knowledge management may result from adapting management
tools that fit the prevailing perception of knowledge The more the organization focuses
180
on knowledge the more important it becomes to understand the epistemological
implications
7 References
Blackler F (1995) Knowledge knowledge work and organizations An overview and
interpretation Organisation Studies 16(6) 1021-1041
Bresnen M Edelman L Newell S Scarbrough H and Swan J (2003) Social practices
and the management of knowledge in project environments International Journal of
Project Management 21(3) 157-166
Brown JS and Duguid P (1991) Organizational learning and communities-of-practice
Towards a unified view of working learning and innovation Organization Science
2(1) 40-55
Brown JS and Duguid P (2001) Knowledge and organisation a social practice
perspective Organization Science 12 198-213
Cooper RG (2001) Winning at new products Perseus Cambridge MA
Crisplant (1999) Crisplant Project Management Model (In Danish Faseplan for
projektgennemfoslashrelse paring Crisplant)
Damodaran L and Olphert W (2000) Barriers and facilitators to the use of knowledge
management systems Behaviour and Information Technology 19(6) 405-413
Edwards JS Shaw D and Collier PM (2005) Knowledge management systems finding
a way with technology Journal of Knowledge Management 9(1) 113-125
Eisenhardt K (1989) Building theories from case study research Academy of
Management Review 14(4) 532-550
Hansen MT Nohria N and Tierney T (1999) Whatrsquos your strategy for managing
knowledge Harvard Business Review 77(2) 106-116
Huber G (1991) Organizational learning the contributing process and the literature
Organization Science 2(1) 88-116
181
Jackon P and Klobas J (2007) Building knowledge in projects A practical application
of social constructivism to information systems development International Journal of
Project Management (fortcoming)
Keegan A and Turner JR (2001) Quantity versus quality in project based learning
practises Management Learning 32(1) 77-98
Kaumlrreman D Alvesson M and M Blom (2004) Knowledge Management and
raquoOrganisational Memorylaquo ndash Remembrance and Recollection In a Management
Consultancy Company In Knowledge management establishing a field of practice
(Bukh PN Christensen KS and Mouritsen J eds) pp 124-148 Palgrave Macmillan
Houndsmill
Leonard D (1995) Wellsprings of Knowledge Building amp Sustaining the Sources of
Innovation Harvard Business School Press Boston MA
Lyles M and Schwenk C (1992) Top management strategy and organizational
knowledge structures Journal of Management Studies 29(2) 155-74
Malone TW Crowston K Lee J and Pentland B (1993) Tools for inventing
organizations toward a handbook of organizational processes In Proceedings of the
2nd IEEE Workshop on Enabling Technologies Infrastructure for Collaborative
Enterprises Morgantown WV
Markus L M 2001 Towards a theory of knowledge reuse Types of knowledge reuse
and factors n reuse success Journal of Management Information Systems Vol 18
No 1 pp 57-93
Marr B Gupta O Pike S and Ross G (2003) Intellectual capital and Knowledge
management effectiveness Management Decision 41(8) 711-781
Meyer MH and Utterback JM (1993) The product family and the dynamic of core
capabilities Sloan Management Review 34(3) 29-38
Mouritsen J Larsen HT and Bukh PN (2001) Intellectual Capital and the Capable
Firm Narrating Visualising and Numbering for Managing Knowledge Accounting
Organisations and Society 26(7) 735-762
Nonaka I (1994) A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation
Organization Science 5(1) 14-37
182
Nonaka I and Takeuchi H (1995) The Knowledge-creating Company Oxford University
Press Oxford
Nonaka I Toyama R and Konno N (2000) SECI Ba and Leadership a Unified Model
of Dynamic Knowledge Creation Long Range Planning 33 5-34
Oshri I Pan SL and Newell S (2005) Trade-offs between knowledge exploitation and
exploration activities Knowledge Management Research amp Practice 3 10-23
Prahalad CK and Hamel G (1990) The Core Competence of the Corporation Harvard
Business Review 68(3) 79-88
Roos J and von Krogh G (1995) What you see depends on who you are Think about
epistemology IMD Perspectives for Managers 7 1-4
Sense AJ (2007) Stimulating situated learning within projects personalizing the flow of
knowledge Knowledge Management Research amp Practice 5 13-21
Tsai W (2001) Knowledge transfer in intraorganizational networks Effects of network
position and absorptive capacity on business unit innovation and performance
Academy of Management Journal 44(5) 996-1004
Tsoukas H (1989) The validity of idiographic research explanations Academy of
Management Review 14(4) 551-61
Tsoukas H (1996) The firm as a distributed knowledge system A constructionist
approach Strategic Management Journal 17 11-25
Tsoukas H and Vladimirou E (2001) What is organizational knowledge Journal of
Management Studies 38 973-993
Venzin M von Krogh G and Roos J (1998) Future research into knowledge
management In Knowing in Firms Understanding managing and measuring
knowledge (von Krogh G Roos J and Klein D eds) Sage London
Von Krogh G and Roos J (1995) Organizational Epistemology Macmillan London
Von Krogh G and Roos J (1996) Managing Knowledge Perspectives on Cooperation
and Competition Sage London
183
PART IV
184
185
CHAPTER 10
Findings and Perspectives
It has been argued in both the media and various reports that intrapreneurship might
be the key to making established organisations more innovative The emphasis on
intrapreneurs and particularly intrapreneurship is a challenge because on the one
hand intrapreneurship is a liberating force that allows individuals to master their
ideas and on the other it is part of a lsquoproduction functionrsquo in corporate life where
individuals are subordinated to the requirements of organisational interests The
practice of intrapreneurship is therefore somewhat paradoxical because in a sense it
requires individuals to subordinate themselves to organisational concerns that they
will have to master reflexively
As this dissertation has shown the concept and tools of intrapreneurship can be used
under a variety of circumstances in the area of management Intrapreneurship can be
applied to the organisation with a focus on corporate ventures internal resources and
internationalisation (Chapter 4) In relation to mergers or acquisitions the conversion
of entrepreneurship to intrapreneurship can be of central concern (Chapter 6)
Intrapreneurship can also be approached from a managerial perspective relating to
how various intrapreneurial mechanisms can be screwed up and down (Chapter 7)
These enablers have been shown to be differ between traditional industrial companies
and knowledge-intensive companies so understanding intrapreneurship from a
knowledge (management) perspective is crucial since it is the knowledge resource
that has been lsquomanipulatedrsquo in modern companies not physical products (Chapter 8)
186
If we look at the activities covered by intrapreneurship in more detail (eg as outlined
in Chapter 4) we can see that intrapreneurship not only provides a set of new
management tools and techniques but also the application of well-known
management techniques in new combinations often facilitated by the use of
innovation management and knowledge-management tools (as illustrated in Chapter
8 and 9)
The focus of this dissertation has been on the entrepreneurial aspects of the
organisation as well as activities processes and projects within organisations rather
than on the individual entrepreneur starting a new firm In this respect the
dissertation has followed Gartnerrsquos (1988 1989) suggestion of a change in focus
from the intrapreneur as a person to intrapreneurship as a process When
intrapreneurship is seen as a process it does not require the implementation or
exploitation of one particular technology or technical instrument Rather it
encourages more elements to work in concert But if intrapreneurship is a process
located within and between people processes and technologies how does
management know that lsquosomethingrsquo is worth exploring and how can it intervene to
enable and support intrapreneurship
However while may be of vital concern to many companies this dissertation has not
tried to answer the question of how management knows when lsquosomethingrsquo is worth
exploring The strategic entrepreneurship literature has touched on this by integrating
company initiatives that research shows to be relevant to the creation of wealth Thus
according to Hitt et al (2002 p 13) ldquostrategic entrepreneurship facilitates firmsrsquo
efforts to identify the best opportunities (matched to their resources and with the
highest potential returns) and to exploit them with the discipline of a strategic
business planrdquo This is definitely an area for further research
187
101 ELEMENTS OF THIS DISSERTATION
The chapters of this dissertation contribute to the mosaic of intrapreneurship as a
developing field The study has explored intrapreneurship from an internal resources
perspective (see Chapter 4) From this point of view the aim of intrapreneurship is to
identify previously undiscovered resources in the organisation or combine existing
resources in new ways that make them valuable innovations and thereby create new
organisational wealth (see for example Ireland et al 2001 Alvarez amp Barney
2002)
The aim of this section is to discuss the results of the five articles in relation to the
research question and their contribution to the intrapreneurial debate The overall
research question is the exploration and exploitation of internal resources with
respect to intrapreneurship while the overall aim of the dissertation is to study the
intrapreneurial potential in its natural settings
The five articles in this dissertation are related in the sense that they study
intrapreneurship intrapreneurial enablers and intrapreneurial management Figure
101 illustrates how the five articles are related to the intrapreneurial framework
developed in the first article (chapter 4)
188
Figure 101 Relation of the articles to intrapreneurship
In the first article intrapreneurship was placed within the wider scope of corporate
entrepreneurship Based on this intrapreneurship has been defined and a framework
for discussing intrapreneurship has been developed The second part of the
dissertation which took a starting point in the internal resource perspective
attempted to identify the mechanisms behind intrapreneurial opportunities in a
company based on its existing resources
The study of intrapreneurship in terms of innovation and enabling factors has been
based on case studies The second article discussed the change from entrepreneurship
to intrapreneurship and how this has influenced innovativeness and related issues in
a specific company The third article examined various factors which can enable
Corporate Entrepreneurship
Intrapreneurship ExopreneurshipEntrepreneurship
CorporateVenture
InternalResources
Internationa-lization
Enablers
1
2
3
Innovation
4
5
Knowledgeresources
189
intrapreneurship across the different organisational perspectives Article four and five
focused on one specific resource the knowledge resource and how it can be
managed with respect to intrapreneurship
102 MAIN POINTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS
This section will discuss the findings and contributions of the dissertation The aim of
the dissertation has been to contribute to the field of intrapreneurship and provide
managers in knowledge-intensive companies with managerial tools to influence the
level of intrapreneurship
The first contribution was the framework for discussing corporate entrepreneurship
presented in article 1 This shows how organisations utilizing corporate
entrepreneurship have to choose between different organisational opportunities
Based on the framework in article 1 the second contribution is that a clear distinction
between corporate entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship has been made These
concepts have been used interchangeably in the literature and still are Although the
basic ideas underlying the two concepts are similar both focusing on innovativeness
in established companies intrapreneurship takes place within the boundaries of the
firm whereas corporate entrepreneurship also takes place across organisational
boundaries This demonstrates the importance of the boundaries of the firm
The third contribution of the dissertation is that it demonstrates how an acquisition
strategy as a way for mature organisations to gain access to innovativeness and new
knowledge resources can easily fail Article 2 shows that the success of an acquisition
not only depends on retaining key employees Even though the competencies of the
acquired organisation are formally intact efforts are also needed to make the energies
of the two organisations act together and create a new intrapreneurial part of the
company Unless managers actively take part in facilitating an intrapreneurial spirit
190
then the acquired entrepreneurial part of the organisation will slowly stifle The
fourth contribution as demonstrated in articles 2 and 3 is that access to end
customers is an important driving force both in relation to innovativeness and to
preserving the entrepreneurial spirit
The fifth contribution in article 3 is an increase in the number of factors ndash from five
to eight ndash that need to be taken into account when enabling intrapreneurship The five
factors most often mentioned in the literature ndash rewards top management support
resources organisational structure and tolerance of risk ndash are not always sufficient to
encourage intrapreneurship in a knowledge-intensive company Employees in
traditional industrial companies and knowledge-intensive companies are likely to be
motivated in different ways This means that the enabling factors are different and
what may be an enabling factor in a traditional industrial company may only be
perceived as a basic or sustaining factor in a knowledge-intensive company
Thus article 3 has argued that communication ie the creation of a common
language culture in a broad sense and processes that support innovativeness should
be added to the original five factors enabling intrapreneurship With respect to
enabling factors a sixth contribution of the dissertation is a distinction between basic
and influencing factors since not all factors directly encourage intrapreneurship
although some are necessary in order to create an intrapreneurial climate
The seventh contribution is the framework for intrapreneurship presented in article 4
The framework defines the task of intrapreneurship as a combination of three
situations involving innovation management ndash exploitation sustainable change and
disruptive change ndash and the learning-related concepts of exploitation and exploration
Six sub-tasks the solution to which are based on the complexity of knowledge and
learning are derived from the framework
191
The eighth contribution of the dissertation appears in article 5 where an analysis of
knowledge management in two companies from the point of view of
intrapreneurship shows different aspects of how activities are practiced It is shown
how the different epistemological starting points of departure are essential to the way
we lsquoseersquo and thereby also how we think and act By applying these perspectives it is
emphasized how intrapreneurship can be enabled from a knowledge-management
perspective The ninth contribution of the dissertation is the indication that a
company should also take epistemological aspects into consideration when designing
organisational structures aimed at enabling intrapreneurship If the aim is to facilitate
intrapreneurship and an intrapreneurial spirit the company should base its activities
on process-oriented initiatives while these should be supplemented by artefact-
oriented initiatives if the aim is to streamline production and explore existing
resources
103 SYNTHESISING THE CONTRIBUTIONS
The dissertation presents two frameworks An overall framework for exploring and
discussing intrapreneurship (article 1) and a framework for exploring
intrapreneurship and innovation in light of knowledge and learning (article 4) Based
on the classification in the overall framework it was decided that the rest of the
dissertation would take a starting point in the internal resource perspective This
section attempts to provide a synthesis of the articles and their contributions to the
literature as described in the previous section This synthesis takes a starting point
especially in the framework developed in article 4
As the case studies showed the classification outlined in the framework was not only
theoretical but was also applicable in practice For instance Danfoss Drives had
actively used the organisational structure to enable intrapreneurship in the form of
corporate ventures internationalisation and formal networks (article 3) Other case
192
companies eg Bang amp Olufsen and Ericsson Telebit also had a similar
organisational structure albeit not as explicit Article 3 also found that the internal
organisation in Danfoss Drives had been organised to encourage innovation and the
creation and dissemination of knowledge which is characteristic of the internal
resource perspective as described in article 1 and which was the focus of article 4
and 5
The classification is applicable in both traditional industrial companies and
knowledge-intensive companies although this dissertation has focused on the latter
As described in chapter 4 the main difference between intrapreneurs in the two types
of companies is that in knowledge organisations they manipulate knowledge rather
than physical products and technologies
These two types of employees are different in nature which means that their
motivation might stem from different factors Managers in knowledge-intensive
companies therefore need other mechanisms to fine-tune the level of intrapreneurship
compared with managers in traditional companies Article 3 examined various
enabling factors with a potential to influence the level of intrapreneurship and found
that although not all factors directly encourage intrapreneurship some are necessary
in order to create an intrapreneurial climate The five enablers ndash rewards top-
management support resources organisational structures and risk ndash which seem to
be significant in traditional industrial companies (Hornsby et al 1993 Kuratko et
al 1990) are found insufficient to fine-tune the level of intrapreneurship in
knowledge-intensive companies
Metaphorically speaking the basic factors can be seen as a thermostat (see article 4)
which is programmed to detect whether the surrounding temperature is above or
below the reference temperature and which responds by simply turning the heat up
or down This means for example that if wages are below minimumaverage wages
193
they can be regulated accordingly Or if insufficient resources are assigned to a
project more resources can be allocated The basic factors can thus be related to
single-loop learning (Argyris and Schoumln 1996) inasmuch as this is mainly a question
of detecting a mismatch and regulating the factors involved until the intrapreneurial
activities are back on track
The intrapreneurial factors found in article 3 are more complex since they require an
active effort and to some extent challenge existing values with regard to innovation
Following the thermostat metaphor and the requirements for entering into a double-
loop learning mode as was also discussed in article 4 the three intrapreneurial
factors take on a new significance For example communication can be seen as an
intrapreneurial factor which encourages the questioning of existing values
Communication can lead to innovation-stimulating discussions and the sharing of
ideas and knowledge resources and can potentially result in a challenge to the
existing values of the organisation which may otherwise be an obstacle to
innovation
Following Argyris and Schoumln (1996) it was further argued in article 4 that single-
loop learning is appropriate for routine and repetitive issues while double-loop
learning seems more relevant for complex and non-programmable tasks This
supports the findings from article 3 that there is a need for other enabling factors in
knowledge-intensive companies than those in industrial companies It also indicates
that basic enablers are easier for managers to use because they can influence them
directly Conversely intrapreneurial enablers can only be influenced indirectly
An insight into these intrapreneurship-enabling factors might be of help to the
managers of an acquiring company eg the acquisition example examined in article
2 While it is often argued that top management should be actively involved in
acquisition processes the factors identified in article 3 show more specifically what it
194
takes to avoid stifling the entrepreneurial spirit in the acquired company One of the
employees from the case company Ericsson Telebit expressed this clearly with
respect to the acquisition of innovativeness ldquoIt is an illusion to believe that you can
take a small creative and innovative company and integrate it into a larger one ndash it is
uphill most of the timerdquo (article 2) It was also shown in article 2 that managers can
be the biggest obstacle to intrapreneurs since a single wrong decision can kill a
project before it gets started Furthermore the interviews reported in article 2 also
indicated that managers can be the worst enemy of ongoing projects too
New ideas and innovative activities will at some point normally acquire the nature
of a project Thus the management of projects and the sharing of knowledge through
the various phases of a project is just as crucial to intrapreneurship as it is to project
management Projects thus often serve as a ldquoframerdquo for innovative activities which
makes project management an important issue in intrapreneurship Article 5 showed
how knowledge management can be a significant managerial tool in project
management It also showed how the use of additional perspectives can enable
knowledge management to advance mutual understanding in the organisation and
make it easier to create and share knowledge Article 5 thus also shows how
intrapreneurship is best enabled in the specific situation
However in the light of the framework in article 4 it also depends on the complexity
of knowledge that intrapreneurs need to manipulate Again this is supported by the
findings in article 3 which showed that enabling factors in industrial companies are
insufficient to encourage intrapreneurship in a knowledge-intensive company
Finally returning to the research questions outlined in section 232 as explained
above article 1 addressed the first research question by clarifying the difference
between corporate entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship and by defining
intrapreneurship as entrepreneurship within the boundaries of the firm The
195
classification offers three organisational perspectives through which intrapreneurship
can be explored starting up a corporate venture using existing internal resources
and internationalisation This theoretical classification is supported by the
organisational structure in Danfoss Drives which is outlined in Chapter 7
The second research question is concerned with how intrapreneurship is influenced
by various factors and crucially if and how it can be influenced by management and
the rest of the organisation Question 2a was discussed in article 2 which showed that
acquiring innovativeness requires the active effort of management both to maintain
innovativeness and to overcome organisational inertia which are often characteristic
of mature organisations The active use of both extrinsic and intrinsic factors is
needed if an entrepreneurial spirit is to be converted into an intrapreneurial spirit
Research question 2b which was addressed in article 3 deals with factors that are
likely to influence intrapreneurship It was suggested that factors known to be
influential in traditional industrial companies ie rewards management support
resources organisational structure and risk are perceived as basic factors only in
knowledge-intensive companies whereas communication culture and processes are
perceived as intrapreneurial factors In general therefore in knowledge-intensive
companies extrinsic factors can be said to be basic factors while intrinsic factors are
more intrapreneurial Article 2 and 3 have offered two different views of how internal
resources can be influence by different extrinsic and intrinsic factors
The third research question is concerned with the relation between intrapreneurship
and the knowledge resources (article 4) Question 3a looked at how intrapreneurship
can be understood in light of knowledge management and article 4 developed a
framework for understanding the relation between intrapreneurship and knowledge
and the knowledge issues that should be taken into account ndash level of articulation and
the depth location and diffusion of knowledge ndash which together define the
complexity of knowledge Question 3b deals with the way in which the knowledge
196
resource can be managed with respect to intrapreneurship Article 5 demonstrated
how intrapreneurship can be enabled by taking a starting point in the process-oriented
knowledge-management perspective Together article 4 and 5 have showed that the
knowledge resource is of importance for intrapreneurship in knowledge-intensive
companies and that it should be addressed and managed based on its complexity
104 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The overall aim of the five articles has been to provide some answers to both the
overall research question ie exploration and exploitation of internal resources with
respect to intrapreneurship and how this has been influenced by the specific
organisation management managerial initiatives and employees of the organisation
the sub- questions in the three parts of the dissertation and the main question in each
article However due to the methodological choices made and the specific focus of
each article a number of limitations have to be taken into account if the synthesis
presented in the previous section is to be regarded as an overall conclusion
The obvious question is whether it is at all possible to say anything in general about
organisations management managerial initiatives and employees based on
literature reviews and a few case studies The immediate answer is probably not
However intrapreneurship is still a relatively young and unexplored field and the
purpose of this dissertation is just as much to identify areas that need further research
Of course the literature review only includes literature published before the article
was published in 2004 The body of knowledge is rapidly increasing with many new
studies being carried out and more articles and books being published This material
has not been taken into consideration when developing the framework in article 1
Furthermore the case-based articles are of course limited in the sense that they only
consider some of the relevant actors Only a few employees and managers have been
197
interviewed the interviews have not been carried out at multiple sites within the
organisation and the studies are snapshots in time Nor have customers or other
stakeholders been interviewed Doing so might have altered the conclusions in ways
that would not have been possible to control for in these articles and would have
necessitated another research setup
Specifically article 2 is subject to the limitation that it only focuses on employees
who have stayed with the acquired company Given the importance of the integration
phase new insights could be gained from following an acquisition more closely
regarding the attitudes both of those who stay and those who leave as well as of
employees at the acquiring company
Similarly article 3 only investigates one division of Danfoss The significance of the
factors that enable intrapreneurship could therefore gain from extending the study ndash
both to the whole company and to more companies both within the same industry
and in other industries In addition an expansion of the study in article 5 would
definitely increase generalisability
Besides these specific limitations of the articles a more general limitation is that it
was realised early in the research process that there were limited possibilities for
studying cross-sectional longitudinal phenomena since the companies included in
the KNORI project were so different and because changes within the companies also
meant changes in the research opportunities In retrospect more interviews over a
longer period might have given a more balanced view since it would have given
more room for longitudinal aspects of the research themes However it can only be
speculated what such interviews might have added In principle more comprehensive
data could have strengthened the conclusions by improving reliability On the other
hand more factors could be changing over time thus weakening the conclusions
198
With respect to possible generalisations the results would still be based on the same
number of observations represented by the companies in the KNORI project Thus I
have tried to make the most of the available possibilities given the context of the
project and my own absence due to two stays abroad and two maternal leaves I have
therefore framed the research issues in the specific articles without any attempt at
overall generalisation
105 REFERENCES
Alvarez SA amp JB Barney 2002 Resource-Based Theory and the Entrepreneurial
Firm In MA Hitt RD Ireland SM Camp and DL Sexton (eds) Strategic
Entrepreneurship Creating a New Mindset Oxford Blackwell Publishings pp 89-
105
Argyris C amp DA Schoumln 1996 Organisational Learning II Theory Method and
Practice Addison-Wesley Publishing Company
Gartner WB (1988) Who is an entrepreneur Is the wrong question American
Journal of Small Business Vol 12 pp 11-32
Gartner WB (1989) Some suggestions for research on entrepreneurial traits and
characteristics Entrepreneurship Theory amp Practice Vol 14 No 1 pp 27-38
Hitt MA RD Ireland SM Camp amp DL Sexton 2002 Strategic
Entrepreneurship Integrating Entrepreneurial and Strategic Management
Perspectives In MA Hitt RD Ireland SM Camp and DL Sexton (eds)
Strategic Entrepreneurship Creating a New Mindset Oxford Blackwell
Publishings pp 1-16
199
Hornsby JS DW Naffziger DF Kuratko amp RV Montagno 1993 An interactive
model of the corporate entrepreneurship process Entrepreneurship Theory amp
Practice Vol 17 No 2 pp 29-37
Ireland DR MA Hitt CM Camp amp DL Sexton 2001 Integrating
entrepreneurship and strategic management thinking to create firm wealth Academy
of Management Executive Vol 15 No 1 pp 49-63
Kuratko DF RV Montagno amp JS Hornsby 1990 Developing an intrapreneurial
assessment instrument for an effective corporate entrepreneurial environment
Strategic Management Journal Vol 11 No 1 pp 49-58
200
201
APPENDIX I
Case companies
In this appendix the case companies are described as they appeared at the time of
data collection ie in 2003 Since then some of the companies have gone through
major changes including reorganisations and different ownership and key employees
have left etc The companies would therefore look somewhat different today and
from a practical point of view access to them would also be different now In view of
this it was decided that a 2007-description of the companies would not be relevant to
this study
Below each of the companies is given a brief historic and financial description
followed by a short presentation of the different business models used One of the
main selection criteria for the study was to include a number of heterogeneous
companies Thus the first company is a subsidiary of a major electronics firm which
specialises in specific development projects while the second is a division of a large
industrial corporation The third company develops produces and sells electronic
goods while the fourth is a producer of large-scale sorting solutions for airports
postal services and industry The fifth is a network intermediator which specialises in
wireless solutions for the Internet Before going on to describe companies
individually a framework characterising five cases will be briefly presented
The cases for the study were selected on the basis of figure 31 (page 40) according
to which the companies obtain and improve knowledge internally and where renewal
was predicted to occur as described in the figure Another way used to categorise the
202
companies was Greinerrsquos (1972) life cycle model which was chosen for its wide
application especially in studies of company structures and strategies in a non-static
world A simplification of the model is shown in figure A1
Size of organi-zation
Large
Small
Age of organization
PHASE 1 PHASE 2 PHASE 3 PHASE 4 PHASE 5
Evolution stages
Revolution stages
1 Crisis of LEADERSHIP
5 Crisis of
2 Crisis of AUTONOMY
3 Crisis of CONTROL
4 Crisis of RED TAPE
1 Growth through CREATIVITY
2 Growth through DIRECTION
3 Growth through DELEGATION
4 Growth through COORDINATION
5 Growth through COLLABORATION
Young Mature
Figure A1 The five phases of growth (Greiner 1972 p 41)
Greinerrsquos life cycle characteristics were used as an overall framework to help
understand the different organisational challenges facing the companies in the study
This follows the hypothesis that age and history have a number of implications for
the innovation process The big difference in age and history ndash the youngest firm
having existed for only three years and the oldest for 88 years ndash was thus an
important factor in the study of innovation activities in the five companies
Since a company can be characterised by the products it makes theories about product
life cycles formed another important part of understanding a companyrsquos innovative
activities Tushman amp Nadler (1996) argue that the product life cycle has implications
for the type of innovation activities that dominates in certain periods This is illustrated
in figure A2
203
Emergence
Dominant Design
Growth
Mature
Major product Minor process
Major process Minor product
Minor product Minor process
Major product Minor process
Low High
Dominant Innovation Types
High HighLearning Requirement
ProductProcess Substitution
Figure A2 Types of innovation over product life cycle
(Tushman amp Nadler 1996 p 139)
Based on the position of their products in the life cycle therefore an analysis of the
companiesrsquo innovative activities was able to conclude whether they focused on product
or process innovation (Abernathy amp Utterback 1978) Grant (2002) argues that the
type of innovation can also be seen as an indicator of the rate of innovation as
illustrated in figure A3
Based on figure A3 product innovation is characterised by the highest rate of
innovation and process innovation the lowest Grant (2002 p 373) introduces a third
type of innovation strategic innovation which involves new combinations of markets
and products According to Grant this type of innovation can be seen as a medium
rate of innovation Figure A3 illustrates the importance of evolution over time where
strategic innovations form an important part of future innovations because of market
saturation and the lack of possible product innovations
204
Figure A3 Innovation over the life cycle from technological to strategic innovation
(Grant 2002 p 373)
A1 ERICSSON TELEBIT
Telebit was established in 1992 and employed 13 people In 1999 the firm merged
with the Swedish corporation LM Ericsson (Ericsson) when it acquired its current
name Ericsson Telebit (TED is the internal abbreviation for Ericsson Telebit) In the
process the number of employees grew from approximately 70 to 140 within twelve
months In 2003 TED was a local design centre mainly concentrating on software
development for Ericssonrsquos mobile and fixed Internet products
In 1995 TED became the first company to introduce a commercial router for Internet
Protocol version 6 (IPv6) and was a leading provider of software based on IPv6
technology working continuously to improve the application and development of this
IP-platform After joining Ericsson the company became a separate design centre for
long-term projects for different product units in the Ericsson organisation whereas
Rat
e o
f in
no
vati
on
Time
Productinnovation
Processinnovation
Strategicinnovation
205
previously it had developed customer products directly Since the company only had
one overall customer Ericsson the various product units became known as sponsors
The longer duration of projects and the move down the value chain had a number of
implications for organisational structure and put a strain on the companyrsquos
entrepreneurial culture Work was structured around two major projects instead of a
large number of smaller projects of short duration One project called SoftWare for
Internet Protocol for Ericsson (SWIPE) focused on software development for
routers while the other focused on IP solutions for mobile terminals and was named
Terminal Internet Protocol (TIP) Ericsson Telebit is represented by the middle arrow
in figure 31 which shows that an organisation based on a number of large projects
often acquires new knowledge through these projects even though the end product is
produced in another (production) process
The age and size of the organisation together with the focus on building an
appropriate structure for the running of the two large projects led to the conclusion
that Ericsson Telebit had reached the Coordination phase Since its owner was its
only customer Ericsson Telebit was forced to run an efficient and cost-minimising
organisation as well as nurturing creativity and opportunity The crisis which
followed the need to control costs in a creative environment had led to a new
structure where employees were more closely connected with specific projects
replacing the more organic structure there before the company joined Ericsson
Since all products were to be used in the mobile terminals and Internet of tomorrow
the rate of innovation was as high as it could be in the twenty-first century This is
illustrated by the fact that all the applications developed by Ericsson Telebit up to
now had not yet reached the market
206
A2 DANFOSS DRIVES
Danfoss Drives is the largest division of the Motion Control segment of Danfoss
Group one of Denmarkrsquos largest industrial corporations The Motion Controls
segment was established ultimo 2000 and apart from Danfoss Drives it also
includes two other divisions Gearmotors and Marine Systems In 2001 the turnover
of the Motion Control Segment was almost DKK 3 billion with customers all over
the world
Activities at Danfoss Drives can be dated back to 1968 with the introduction of the
first mass-produced frequency converter Heating Ventilation and Air-Condition
applications (HVAC) were introduced in 1990 and after the acquisition of Bauer a
gear motor manufacturer in 1999 the Motion Controls Segment was marketed as a
one-stop shop for the industry Apart from its headquarters in Graasten Denmark
Danfoss Drives had three production sites established via acquisitions in America
and the founding of a company in Germany In 2003 the company served a wide
range of customers across different industries eg chemicals and consumer goods
metals and mining pulp and paper refrigeration and the automotive industry
With its emphasis on the continuous introduction of new and improved products
Danfoss Drives has attached a lot of importance to technological innovation The
development of new products for the Drives division was the responsibility of a
Product Development manager has responsibility for The development process was
organised in a matrix structure with technology centres serving the different projects
which again were organised in a ldquocore teamrdquo and a number of ldquosub-teamsrdquo In
managing the development process the Product Development manager was assisted
by the Strategic Product Development Unit The Danfoss Group had a number of
cross-unit project groups which were set up to co-ordinate and assist in different areas
such as sales amp marketing production and ITfinance As with Ericsson Telebit
207
Danfoss Drives is represented by the middle arrow in figure 31 Although the general
organisational structure of Danfoss Drives was very different from Ericsson Telebit
the two companies were similar with regard to the organisation of the development
projects where projects were the main source of innovation and adoption of new
knowledge
With nearly 40 yearsrsquo experience of developing high-tech products for a broad range
of industries Danfoss Drives remains committed to continuous innovation Given its
size and number of markets and it was argued based on its actions and
organisational structure they had reached the collaboration stage The company had
formed a matrix structure to enable it to combine technological inventions with
market demands and the use of headquarter staff also followed the characteristics of
the collaboration stage inasmuch as they worked in interdisciplinary teams which
consult with rather than manage field units
It is difficult to precisely describe Danfoss Driversquos rate of innovation since they
focus on both product and strategic innovations And this was made even more
complicated by the fact that the companyrsquos products also provided process
innovations to its customers However based on the companyrsquos historical product
development the first mass-produced frequency converter developed in 1968 and the
HVAC technology developed in 1990 represent the main radical innovations All
subsequent innovations were incremental Danfoss Drivesrsquo future rate of innovation
was thus characterised as medium-high implying that they would continue to be at
the cutting edge of their technological platforms
A3 BANG amp OLUFSEN
Bang amp Olufsen (BampO) the best-known Danish company in the niche market for
electronic consumer goods was established in 1925 as a producer of radios By 2003
208
it had become a globally recognised niche producer of audio television and telephone
products at the high end of the market with a turnover in the financial year
20012002 of DKK 42 billion and after-tax profits of DKK 147 million The
company employs 2800 people and its main activities are located in Struer
Product development costs of DKK 333 million reflect the fact that innovation
through new product launches are an important part of the companyrsquos strategy as a
high-end producer BampO has divided its activities in two main groups branded and
non-branded businesses The branded businesses include activities in the audiovisual
and telephone markets while the non-branded businesses covered a number of
diversified activities
Branded businesses are by far the largest part of BampO accounting for more than 90
percent of turnover BampO Telecom is operated as a separate division and sells its
products through both BampO shops and telecom companies As a leading producer of
high-end audio products BampO is forced to continuously introduce new products
which in 2003 led to the presentation of ldquoa major acoustic productrdquo The telecom
division was established in 1986 in collaboration with the former Jysk Telefon Its
main product in 2003 was wireless telephones which account for more than 75
percent of turnover
BampO Medical AS is the largest of the non-branded businesses with an annual
turnover of DKK 250-300 million and 290 employees Products are developed in
collaboration with leading companies in the medical industry including Novo
Nordisk Another example was the partnership with 3M which led to the
development of the worldrsquos first digital stethoscope
BampO ICEpower AS was established by BampO and the inventor of a new technology
for digital amplifiers While initially experiencing significant growth in turnover
recent major investments in technology and product development had led to a loss of
209
more than 50 percent of turnover BampO has high hopes for the future potential of the
technology since it can be implemented in a large number of products
Under the name New Businesses 35 employees were involved in testing the potential
of developing and launching new products in new or existing markets Up to now the
company had identified opportunities in the market for car audio systems including
the further development of loudspeakers to be sold through existing distribution
channels
Apart from the divisions set up to develop and sell products BampO had also
established BampO Operations a division focusing on process-optimising the
production of products developed in the other divisions As part of this optimisation
BampO Operations had decided to outsource part of the production of telephones
BampOrsquos innovative activities were concentrated in a separate department with around
300 employees Apart from the joint activities with the medical industry in BampO
Medical all product innovation was carried out in this department BampO is thus an
example of a company that tries to benefit from ideas and knowledge generated in the
RampD department This was represented by the right-hand side of figure 31
As a more than 75-year-old company employing 2800 people in a complex
organisational structure BampO had reached the red-tape crisis because of the need to
move from the Coordination phase to the Collaboration stage To address this the
company began a process of reconfiguring those business activities where there was a
need for a more spontaneous way of working The lsquonewrsquo structure of the RampD
department can be seen in this perspective In 2003 BampO started on a restructuring
of the organisation from being ldquoproduct-project-orientedrdquo to combining all activities
in one central RampD department Prior to this BampO had RampD departments in all
product lines (except medical)
210
Even though innovation activities in the branded businesses were focused on product
development the rate of innovation was low because it involved a minor degree of
traditional product innovation This conclusion was based on the fact that from a
generic point of view all the products were late in their life cycle and the innovations
were mostly focused on design attributes and the addition of some new
functionalities BampO Medical and the New businessesrsquo focus on strategic innovation
was based on identifying new markets for launching products made using BampOrsquos
core competencies which is the main reason for the conclusion that BampOrsquos
innovation activities mainly involved a low rate of innovation
A4 CRISPLANT
Crisplant founded in 1951 by a Danish entrepreneur had had a number of different
owners since the beginning of the 1970rsquos In 2003 after a short period as an
independent company on the Danish stock exchange Crisplant AS became part of
the British engineering company FKI Group which had more than 17000 employees
and a total turnover of euro 2790 million Organisationally Crisplant AS was part of
FKI Logistex a division specialising in automated material flow solutions and
employed more than 900 employees with an annual turnover of approximately euro 160
million
As a project-oriented company Crisplant AS made customised sorting systems for
airport baggage-handling parcel carriers retailers mail-order companies internet
trading and manufacturersrsquo distribution In 2003 Crisplant had built more than 600
sorting systems around the world and was continuously looking for new markets
Software development was crucial to Crisplantrsquos product innovation and in 2001 it
therefore acquired Dator one of its main suppliers of operating systems at the same
time changing its name to Dator-Crisplant One of the reasons for acquiring Dator
was that the companyrsquos financial problems made its future uncertain Since this could
211
have interrupted Crisplantsrsquo supply of operating systems it seemed strategically
sound to secure the existence of one of its main suppliers by buying it In 2003 all
software development was carried out in Dator-Crisplant and this resulted in a
number of competitive advantages since Crisplant could now offer its customers a
more integrated software solution One example of this was the fully automated mini
post office Parcel Matetrade which enabled easy access to postal services either as a
single product or as an integrated solution
Project management was a cornerstone of Crisplantrsquos business model and the
company had therefore developed its own project management model based on the
identification of eight phases each characterised by a set of specific targets Before
moving to the next phase a ldquogaterdquo needed to be crossed which included a number of
evaluations and the preparation of plans and budgets for the next phase The use of a
common project model ensured that agreements time schedules and budgets were
kept and also made it easier to accumulate experience and knowledge for future
projects The model is illustrated in figure A4
Figure A4 Crisplantrsquos project management model
Although Crisplant was mainly structured around its three main business units the
company also had an RampD department which carried out basic research in relation to
Automatic High-Speed Transport and Sorting Systems which formed a substantial
part of operations In Crisplant therefore innovative activities were basically
represented by the lsquoright arrowrsquo in figure 31 similar to BampO ndash at least as regards the
more radical innovations The customer-oriented projects which had the character of
212
production processes also needed to be innovative although the innovations which
took place here were more incremental in nature All in all therefore major parts of
the companyrsquos knowledge generation took place in the projects as reflected by the
middle part of figure 31
A5 END2END
End2End was founded in 1999 by a group of executives from mobile network
operators with venture capital from Deutsche Bank Capital Venture Partners
Hewlett-Packard and Cisco Systems After the latest round of financing in August
2002 the total amount of invested capital including debt and equity was euro 654
million The company which was situated in both Denmark and the United Kingdom
had about 40 employees with the Headquarters and Network Operating Centre
(NOP) in Aalborg and the so-called Data Centre in Copenhagen
All management of the data centre was controlled electronically from Aalborg and
the company had no official address in Copenhagen As the first international Point-
of-Presence (POP) the company had a sales office in Bracknell UK and depending
on demand planned to open POPs in a number of locations around the world (See
figure A5)
213
Figure A5 Diagram of End2Endrsquos operations
The company was a managed service provider and contentapplication aggregator for
mobile data services and was a leader in its field in Europe End2End offered its
customers lower up-front investments and increased data speed enabling mobile
operators to take up opportunities as they arose End2End provided these benefits to
customers in the form of turnkey services via its infrastructure in Denmark and the
UK The actual software solutions were delivered in a partnership with third-party
software developers the solutions being based on open standards that complement
mobile operatorsrsquo existing offerings and capabilities End2End service delivery
infrastructure manages the complex network between end customer mobile operator
and software developer Apart from managing mobile data services End2End consults
its customers on opportunities tests and evaluations of profitable mobile data
services
Customers include mobile operators Internet portals providers of mobile service
applications network providers and brand owners looking for a quick flexible and
low-cost access to mobile infrastructure
214
With a management team of seven End2End mobile had reached the delegation
phase where all major areas had their own manager Tage Rasmussen who was CEO
in 2003 was responsible for the transition of the company from a technically led
company to a more commercially focused organisation while founder and president
Peter Langkilde was responsible for funding and overall business development
Apart from these two executives who also served on the board of directors End2End
had appointed five managers responsible for Sales Marketing Network Operations
Customer Operations and Finance With only 40 employees the company was not
expected to have reached the crisis of co-ordination but management seemed to be
concerned about the transition to a more commercially and effective organisation that
was focused on developing products and services to meet real market needs
The role of intermediator involved strategic innovation since End2End was creating
new combinations of services in the value chain which again created process
innovations for its customers Advising and consulting customers in the building and
outsourcing of digital infrastructures was part of its offerings and this clearly
underlined the importance of strategic considerations Because of the relatively new
and undeveloped market for the outsourcing of IT infrastructures the rate of
innovation was considered to be high This is based on the impact of strategic
innovations on the value chains of the future and in this respect the fact that
End2Endrsquos products and services created process innovation for its customers could
be seen as a valuable by-product
Based on the framework in figure 31 End2End can be seen as an example of a
company where innovation takes place in the production processes (software
development) Thus production was the main way of acquiring new knowledge and
ideas which is represented by the left-hand side of figure 31
215
A6 REFERENCES
Grant RM 2002 Contemporary Strategy Analysis Concepts Techniques
Applications Oxford Blackwell Publishing
Greiner LE 1972 Evolution and revolution as organizations grow Harvard
Business Rerview July-August pp 37-46
Tushman M amp D Nadler 1996 Organizing for innovation In Ken Starkey (ed)
How Organizations Learn A Critical Reader pp 135-155
216
217
APPENDIX II
English Summary
Intrapreneurship is a developing field which it is the purpose of this dissertation to
contribute to The study is primarily concerned with intrapreneurship from an internal
resources perspective The aim of intrapreneurship from this perspective is to identify
previously undiscovered organisational resources with respect to innovation or
combine existing resources in ways that enable these to become valuable innovations
The dissertation is comprised of five articles all of which are related to the overall
research theme exploration and exploitation of internal resources with respect to
intrapreneurship The overall agenda of the dissertation is to study the intrapreneurial
potential in its natural settings Based on data from the five case companies it was
decided to let the articles develop from the most interesting data and observations
This means that the articles are not part of a step-by-step research strategy leading to
a final conclusion but are discussions of different subtopics within the overall topic
drawing on different theories and different methodologies
The first article introduces the concept of corporate entrepreneurship This has been
used to explain various organisational phenomena ranging from strategy through
management in general to innovation and the abundant use of labels and
perspectives has consequently led to a lack of clarity Based on a literature review a
framework for corporate entrepreneurship has developed including intrapreneurship
exopreneurship and four organisational perspectives corporate venturing internal
resources internationalisation and external networks
218
The aim of the second article is to explore how innovativeness and creativity in a
small high-tech company changes after the company is acquired by a larger company
The empirical part of the article is based on interview and questionnaire data with a
focus on employeesrsquo perception of innovativeness and creativity including their own
innovativeness in relation to the possibilities offered within the organisational
structure The results indicate that entrepreneurial spirit innovativeness and
creativity in the case company were related to the lack of boundaries to and contact
with customers These driving forces could not be sustained when the organisation
matured and was acquired by a larger company
The aim of the third article is to provide an understanding of the various factors that
enable intrapreneurship in established companies The article reports on a case study
of intrapreneurship in a large knowledge-intensive industrial company Based on the
existing literature it is suggested that the use of different factors can either enable or
inhibit intrapreneurship and five enabling factors are identified Based on interviews
on-site observations and documents and reports the five factors are examined and
alternative factors considered The five enabling factors that are identified in the
literature are not sufficient to enable intrapreneurship in knowledge-intensive
companies and it is concluded that three additional factors ndash communication culture
and processes ndash should also be taken into account
The emergence of knowledge-based organisations and the increased importance of
knowledge as the key to competitive advantage poses new challenges for managers
and researchers alike The fourth article attempts to enlighten theories of
intrapreneurship and innovation by means of state-of-the-art knowledge management
theory and organisational learning theory
The fifth article analyses project management activities in two companies from a
knowledge management perspective It is shown how human competencies it-
219
systems and project management systems are analysed from two perspectives an
artefact-oriented and a process-oriented perspective From the first perspective
project management seems to consist of similar components in the two companies
whereas the process-oriented perspective identifies context-dependent differences It
is concluded that awareness of different perspectives opens up the possibilities for
more managerial options and better understanding in practice
220
221
APPENDIX III
Dansk resume
Intraprenoslashrskab er et felt under udvikling hvor mange brikker mangler at falde paring
plads for at opnaring en forstaringelse for hvorledes fornyelse og skabelse af nye
virksomheder kan ske inden for rammerne af etablerede virksomheder Formaringlet med
afhandlingen er at bidrage til dette puslespil Afhandling omhandler primaeligrt
intraprenoslashrskab fra et internt ressource perspektiv hvilket betyder at intraprenoslashrskab
belyses ved at fokusere paring udnyttelsen af interne organisatoriske ressourcer eller ved
at kombinere virksomhedens eksisterende ressourcer paring nye maringder som kan goslashre
dem vaeligrdifulde med henblik paring innovation
Afhandlingen bestaringr af fem artikler som alle er relateret til det overordnede emne
udvikling og udnyttelse af interne ressourcer med henblik paring intraprenoslashrskab
Afhandlingen studerer det intraprenante potentiale i dets naturlige omgivelser og
artiklerne er baseret paring de mest interessante data og observationer fra de fem case
virksomheder der har medvirket i projektet Det betyder at artiklerne ikke foslashlger en
skridtvis forskningsstrategi frem mod eacuten samlet konklusion men fremstaringr som
forskellige artikler der indenfor den overordnede problemstilling traeligkker paring
forskellige teorier og baseres paring forskellige metoder
Den foslashrste artikel introducerer begrebet corporate entreprenoslashrskab som er blevet
anvendt til at forklare forskellige organisatoriske faelignomener Fra strategi over ledelse
i al almindelighed til innovation Dette har medfoslashrt en mangfoldighed af begreber og
perspektiver som har skabt stor uklarhed omkring corporate entreprenoslashrskab Med
222
henblik paring at etablere et fundamentet for de foslashlgende artikler redegoslashres der i den
foslashrste artikel for corporate entreprenoslashrskabsbegrebet ud fra forskellige perspektiver
Der praeligsenteres i artiklen endvidere et overblik ved hjaeliglp af en model der
indeholder intraprenoslashrskab og exoprenoslashrskab samt fire organisatoriske perspektiver
corporate venturing interne ressourcer internationalisering og eksterne netvaeligrk
Den anden artikel belyser hvordan innovation og kreativitet i en lille virksomhed
aeligndrer sig naringr virksomheden opkoslashbes af en stoslashrre virksomhed Den empiriske del af
artiklen er baseret paring interviews og sposlashrgeskemadata med fokus paring medarbejdernes
opfattelse af innovation og kreativitet inklusiv deres egen innovationsevne i relation
til de muligheder der findes inden for organisationen Resultaterne indikerer at den
entreprenante aringnd innovationsevne og kreativitet i case-virksomheden isaeligr var
relateret til den uformelle organisationsstruktur og taeligtte kundekontakt Disse
drivkraeligfter kunne ikke fastholdes da organisationen blev opkoslashbt af en stoslashrre og mere
etableret virksomhed
Den tredje artikel har til formaringl at skabe en forstaringelse for de forskellige faktorer der
kan fremme intraprenoslashrskab i etablerede virksomheder Med udgangspunkt i et
litteraturstudie identificeres fem faktorer der enten kan fremme eller haeligmme
intraprenoslashrskab Betydningen af de fem faktorer undersoslashges i et casestudie i en stor
videnintensiv industrivirksomhed De fem faktorer findes ikke tilstraeligkkelige til at
fremme intraprenoslashrskab og alternative faktorer foreslarings Det resulterer i at yderligere
tre faktorer ndash kommunikation kultur og processer ndash foreslarings som intraprenante
faktorer i videnintensive virksomheder
Den oslashgede forskningsmaeligssige og erhvervspolitiske interesse for videnintensive
virksomheder og stigende betydning af viden som noslashglen til konkurrencemaeligssige
fordele stiller ledere og forskere overfor nye udfordringer Derfor belyser den fjerde
artikel intraprenoslashrskabs- og innovationsteori ved hjaeliglp af videnledelsesteori og
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organisatorisk laeligringsteori Paring baggrund af et litteraturstudie udvikles en model der
belyser intraprenoslashrskab ud fra tre forskellige situationer for innovationsledelse Den
teknologiudnyttende situation den stabilt forandrende situation og den omvaeligltende
forandringssituation og to laeligringsrelaterede koncepter udnyttelse og udvikling
Modellen beskriver hvorledes intraprenoslashrskab vil fremstaring i hver af de seks
undergrupper
Den femte artikel analyserer projektledelsesaktiviteter i to virksomheder fra et
videnledelsesperspektiv Det vises hvordan menneskelige kompetencer it-systemer
og projektledelsessystemer kan analyseres ud fra to perspektiver et artefaktorienteret
og et procesorienteret perspektiv Med udgangspunkt i det foslashrste perspektiv fremstaringr
projektledelsen i de to virksomheder nogenlunde ens mens det procesorienterede
perspektiv identificerer kontekstafhaeligngige forskelle Det konkluderes at bevidsthed
om forskellige perspektiver giver flere ledelsesmaeligssige muligheder og en bedre
forstaringelse i praksis og af praksis
Det konkluderes at denne afhandling primaeligrt har bidraget med brikker til den del af
intraprenoslashrskabspuslespillet som vedroslashrer virksomheders eksisterende
organisatoriske ressourcer Den foslashrste artikel viste hvordan intraprenoslashrskab kan
gribes an fra forskellige perspektiver Mens artikel to og tre praeligsenterede to
forskellige syn paring hvordan interne ressourcer kan paringvirkes af forskellige indre og
ydre faktorer Artikel fire og fem pegede paring at videnressourcer er af afgoslashrende
betydning for intraprenoslashrskab i videnintensive virksomheder og at de derfor boslashr
adresseres og ledelses med udgangspunkt i deres kompleksitet