Internal entrepreneurialism is one important means of gaining competitive advantage. The literature recognizes that organizations' entrepreneurial orientation can be characterized, but typically addresses associations with strategies (Covin and Slevin, 1989). Missing are the hallmarks of the intent for fostering entrepreneurialism and a methodology for measuring the degree of that entrepreneurialism. In this paper, organizations are characterized by sets of distinct attributes, each associated with being increasingly entrepreneurial, and proposed as a set of four archetypes of gradations of organizational support for entrepreneurialism. The linkages between these archetypes and their strategic and competitive significance are explored. Implications for research and practice are identified.
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