Strategic Foundations of Corporate Entrepreneurship: Reframing Innovation within Established Firms
Keywords:
corporate entrepreneurship, strategic renewal, dynamic capabilities, organizational ambidexterity, entrepreneurial orientation, innovation managementAbstract
Established firms increasingly face the dual challenge of sustaining operational efficiency while continuously pursuing innovation in dynamic competitive environments. While entrepreneurial activities have traditionally been associated with startups, contemporary corporations are increasingly required to cultivate entrepreneurial capabilities within existing organizational structures. This article revisits the strategic foundations of corporate entrepreneurship by integrating key theoretical perspectives from strategic management and entrepreneurship research. Drawing on insights from entrepreneurial orientation, organizational ambidexterity, and the dynamic capabilities framework, the study develops an integrated conceptual model explaining how entrepreneurial initiatives emerge and evolve within established firms. The proposed framework identifies three interrelated foundations that enable corporate entrepreneurship: strategic renewal mechanisms, managerial enabling processes, and supportive organizational structures. Strategic renewal provides the directional logic guiding opportunity exploration, managerial mechanisms mobilize resources and legitimize experimentation, and organizational structures create institutional spaces for innovation. By synthesizing these perspectives, the article reframes corporate entrepreneurship as a systemic organizational capability embedded within strategic processes rather than as isolated innovation activities. The study contributes to the literature by offering a mechanism-based explanation of how established firms can sustain innovation while maintaining organizational coherence in increasingly complex business environments.
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