Page - 241 - in Digital Entrepreneurship - Impact on Business and Society

Of course, the idea that the intrapreneur wants to pursue is also part of the evaluation process; however, a good idea without a good intrapreneurial team to implement it is of very little value. Too often, in corporate decision-making, the quality of an intrapreneurial teamand their commitment to an idea take aback seat to the analysis of the idea. Even worse, sometimes, passionate intrapreneurs are replaced with bureaucrats who lack both the passion for the idea and the intra- preneurial mindset necessary for innovative success. 3.4 ACulture SupportingDigital Intrapreneurship The fourth factor contributing to effective digital innovation, in addition to intra- preneurs, sponsors, and organisational competence in digital technologies, is a supportive culture.Creating andnurturing a culturewhere digital intrapreneurs can Table 1 (continued) Criteria Characteristics Optimistic, inspirational leadership Intrapreneurs donot have the resources tomaterialise their vision. Hence, theymust inspire others to volunteer and help them construct their dream. Eventually, when they face a big setback (which is almost inevitable in every innovation), theymay not claim that they know the solution but rather express their genuine belief that their teamwill find away around the issue. If they cannot maintain that optimism, theywill lose their followers Do they attract proactive and inspired followers? Persistence A predominant characteristic of both intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs is a deep persistence. If a senior executive puts a stop to their idea, a promoter will simply switch to another idea to get back in the executives’ good graces. Real intrapreneurs are not interested in pleasing executives, so they do not give up. Instead, they find support elsewhereorbuildaplan tochange theexecutives’ mind Treat persistence as a positive indicator Teambuilding Intrapreneurship, particularly digital intrapreneurship, is not a solo sport.Most innovations require a team. For instance, most digital innovations require a team that contains at least a system architect and a codingmanager. Most teams also need a sales andmarketing person, and that is just the beginning Can the intrapreneur attract a teamand run it effectively? Technical capabilities A digital intrapreneur does not have to be a star technical talent. In fact,many intrapreneurswill havebalanced skills andwill usuallybecomfortablewithnew technologies and capable of understanding andworkingwith thosewho excel in detailed tasks Does the team have the necessary technical skill set? 248 G. Pinchot III andM. Soltanifar