Entrepreneurship is the process by which firms notice opportunities and act (by creatively organizing transactions between factors of production) to create surplus value. Using concepts from information and agency theory, this article examines how agency problems affect the dynamics of internal corporate entrepreneurship and the level of entrepreneurial behavior The relationship between internal corporate and external entrepreneurship is explored, and the organizationalfactors that cause agency problems are examined. Finally, solutions to agency problems are suggested that also promote internal corporate entrepreneurship.
Alchian, A.A.1950. Uncertainty, evolution, and economic theory. Journal of Political Economy, 58: 211-221.
3.
Angle, H., & Van de Ven, A.1989. Suggestions for managing the innovation journey. In A. Van de Ven, H. Angle, & M. Scott Poole (Eds.) Research on the management of innovations: The Minnesota Studies. New York: Harper & Row.
4.
Baumol, W.J.1967. Business behavior, value and growth. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World.
5.
Brockhaus, R.H.1980. The effect of job dissatisfaction on the decision to start a business. Journal of Small Business Management, 18:37-43.
6.
Biggadike, R.1979. The risky business of diversification. Harvard Business Review, May-June: 103-111.
7.
Burgelman, R.A.1983. A process model of internal corporate venturing in a diversified major firm. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28(2): 223-244.
8.
Burgelman, R.A.1985. Managing the new venture division: Research findings and implications for strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 6: 39-54.
9.
Burgelman, R.A., & Sayles, L.R.1986. Inside corporate innovation. New York: The Free Press.
10.
Carland, J.W., Hoy, F., Boulton, W.R., & Carland, J.C.1984. Differentiating entrepreneurs from small business owners: A conceptualization. Academy of Management Review, 9: 354-359.
11.
Casson, M.1982. The entrepreneur: An economic theory. Totowa, NJ: Barnes & Noble Books.
12.
Chandler, A.D.1962. Strategy and structure: Chapters in the history of the American industrial complex. Cambridge MA: MIT Press
13.
Chandler, A.D.1977. The visible hand. Cambridge MA: Belknap Press.
14.
Cooper, A.C.1985. The role of incubator organizations in the founding of growth-orientated firms. Journal of Business Venturing, 1(Winter): 75-86.
15.
Cooper, A.C.1986. Entrepreneurship and high technology. In D.L. Sexton & R.W. Smilor (Eds.), The art and science of entrepreneurship: 153-168. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
16.
Cooper, A.C., & Dunkelberg, W.C.1986. Entrepreneurship and paths to business ownership. Strategic Management Journal, 7:53-68.
17.
Ettlie, J.E.1983. Organization policy and innovation among processors to the food processing sector. Academy of Management Journal, 26: 27-44.
18.
Fama, E.F., & Jensen, M.C.1983. Separation of ownership and control. Journal of Law and Economics, 26: 301-325.
19.
Fast, N.D.1977. The evolution of corporate new venture divisions. Cambridge, MA: Graduate School of Business, Harvard University.
20.
Fast, N.D.1978. The rise and fall of corporate new venture divisions. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press.
21.
Feeser, H.R., & Dugan, K.W.1989. Entrepreneurial motivation: A comparison of high and low growth high tech founders. In R.H. Brockhaus Sr., N.C. Churchill, J.A. Katz, B.A. Kirchoff, K.H. Vesper, & W.E. Wetzel, Jr. (Eds.) Frontiers of entrepreneurial research: 13-27. Wellesley, MA: Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Babson College.
22.
Gartner, W.D.1985. A conceptual framework for describing the phenomenon of new venture creation. Academy of Management Review, 10: 696-705.
23.
Greenberg, J.1982. Approaching equity and avoiding inequity in groups and organizations. In J. Greenberg & R.L. Cohen (Eds.), Equity and justice in social behavior: 389-435. New York: Academic Press.
24.
Greenberg, J., & Folger, R.1983. Procedural justice, participation, and the fair process affect in groups and organizations. In P.B. Paulus (Ed.) Basic group processes: 235-256. New York: Springer-Verlag.
25.
Greiner, L.E.1972. Evolution and revolution as organizations grow. Harvard Business Review, 50(4): 37-46.
26.
Hayek, F.A.1937. Economics and knowledge. Economica, 4(New Series): 33-54.
27.
Hayek, F.A.1945. The use of knowledge in society. American Economic Review, 35: 519-530.
28.
Hornaday, J.A., & Tieken, N.B.1983. Capturing twenty-one heffalumps. In J.A. Hornaday, J.A. Timmons, & K.H. Vesper (Eds.), Frontiers of Entrepreneurial Research: 23-50. Wellesley, MA: Babson College Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.
29.
Hounshell, D.A., & Smith, J.K.1988. Science and corporate strategy: Du Pont R&D, 1902-1980. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
30.
Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W.1983. Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs, and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 11: 5-50.
31.
Jones, G.R.1984. Task visibility, free riding, and shirking: Explaining the effect of structure and technology on employee performance and satisfaction. Academy of Management Review, 9: 684-695.
32.
Harris, M., & Raviv, A.1979. Optimal incentive contracts with imperfect information. Journal of Economic Theory, 20: 231-259.
33.
Kamien, M.I., & Schwartz, N.L.1983. Market structure and innovative activity. Journal of Economic Literature, 13: 1-37.
34.
Kanter, R.M.1983. The change masters. New York: Simon and Schuster.
35.
Kanter, R.M.1989a. Becoming PAL's: Pooling, allying, and linking across companies. Academy of Management Executive, 3: 183-193.
36.
Kanter, R.M.1989b. When giants learn to dance: Mastering the challenges of strategy. New York: Simon & Shuster.
37.
Kanter, R.M., North, J., Richardson, L., Ingols, C., & Zolner, J. (1991). Engines of progress: Designing and running entrepreneurial vehicles in established companies: Raytheon's new product center. Journal of Business Venturing, 6: 145-163.
38.
Kazanjian, R.K.1988. Relation of dominant problems to stages of growth in technology based new ventures. Academy of Management Journal, 31: 257-279.
39.
Kazanjian, R.K., & Drazin, R.1989. An empirical test of a stages of growth model. Management Science, 35:1489-1503.
40.
Kirzner, I.M.1973. Competition and Entrepreneurship. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
41.
Knight, F.H.1921. Risk, uncertainty and profit. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
42.
Latane, B., Williams, K., & Harkins, S.1979. Many hands may lighten work: The causes and consequences of social loafing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37: 822-832.
43.
MacMillan, I.C., Block, Z., & Subbanarsimha, P.N.1984. Obstacles and experience in corporate venturing. In J.A. Hornaday, F Tarplay, J.A. Timmons, & K.H. Vesper (Eds.), Frontiers of entrepreneurial research: 341-363. Wellesley, MA: Babson College Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.
44.
Manne, H.G.1966. Insider trading and the stock market. New York: The Free Press.
45.
Metcalfe, L.1981. Designing precarious partnerships. In P.C. Nystrom & W.H. Starbuck (Eds.), Handbook of organizational design, 1: 503-530. New York: Oxford University Press.
46.
Miller, D.1991. The Icarus paradox. New York: Harper.
47.
Mintzberg, H., & Waters, J.A.1982. Tracking strategy in an entrepreneurial firm. Academy of Management Journal, 25: 465-499.
48.
Peterson, R.A.1981. Entrepreneurship and organization. In P.C. Nystrom & W.H. Starbuck (Eds.), Handbook of organizational design: 1: 65-83. New York: Oxford University Press.
49.
Pinchot, G. III. 1985. Intrapreneuring. New York: Harper & Row.
50.
R-umelt, R.P.1987. Theory, strategy and entrepreneurship. In D.J. Teece (Ed.), The competitive challenge: Strategies for industrial innovation and renewal: 137-158. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
51.
Schendel, D.E., & Hofer, C.W.1979. Strategic management. Boston: Little Brown and Company.
52.
Schumpeter, J.A.1934. The theory of economic development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
53.
Sexton, D.L.1982. Research needs and issues in entrepreneurship. In C.A. Kent, D.L. Sexton, & K.H. Vesper (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship: 383-389, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
54.
Sexton, D.L., & Smilor, R.W.1986. The art and science of entrepreneurship. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
55.
Stewart, A.1990. The bigman metaphor for entrepreneurship: A library tale with morals on alternatives for future research. Organizational Science, 1: 257-279.
56.
Stigler, G.J.1961. The economics of information. The Journal of Political Economy, 66: 213-225.
Strebel, P.1987. Organizing for innovation over an industry life cycle. Strategic Management Journal,8: 117-124.
59.
Thorne, J.R., & Ball, J.G.1981. Entrepreneurs and their companies. In K.H. Vesper (Ed.), Frontiers of entrepreneurial research: 65-83. Wellesley, MA: Babson College, Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.
60.
Weber, M., 1947. The theory of social and economic organization. New York: Oxford University Press.
