Intrapreneurial Behaviour at BI Norwegian Business School : A Qualitative Study on the Success of BI2020 Pilot Program

Abstract

The purpose of this research study was to investigate and shed light on intrapreneurial behaviour at BI Norwegian Business School. This thesis examines in what ways the participants of the BI2020 pilot program experienced it as successful. Three objectives will serve basis for evaluating the successfulness; 1) Employee engagement and experimentation, 2) Evaluation and continuation and 3) Dissemination of pilot results and organisational learning. The sample consists of ten employees, each responsible for their own pilot project. The analysis reveals two overarching themes; employee-driven intrapreneurship within “the hub” and employee-driven intrapreneurship outside “the hub”, where “the hub” refers to the context provided by the pilot program. The findings reveal that the participants experienced objective one as successfully achieved, while objective two and three were not successfully achieved. The participants were generally satisfied with the pilot program and the context it provided for engaging in intrapreneurial behaviour. However, when expanding out of “the hub”, challenges related to incentives, status differences and the organisational system arose. The concept of “corporate immune system” is valuable for understanding why it was difficult to continue with intrapreneurial behaviour after the pilot program, and why it is generally difficult to engage in intrapreneurial behaviour related to pedagogical development at BI.