Lumpkin and Dess Intrapreneurship model

As depicted in Figure 2.5, Lumpkin and Dess (1996) present an alternative intrapreneurship model which describes intrapreneurial behaviour in terms of five dimensions: autonomy; innovativeness; risk taking; proactiveness; and competitive aggressiveness. According to Lumpkin and Dess (1996), intrapreneurial behaviour refers to the processes, practices and decision-making activities that lead to entering new markets with existing or new goods and services. In this context, a new entry is the idea that underlies the concept of intrapreneurship (Adonisi, 2003: 47). Key dimensions that characterise intrapreneurial behaviour include a propensity to act autonomously, and a willingness to innovate and take opportunities (Lumpkin & Dess, 1996).

Zahra Intrapreneurship model

Zahra (1995: 227; 1996: 1715) sees Intrapreneurship as the combination of all the firm's efforts on innovation, renewal and venturing. Innovation involves creating and introducing new products, organizational processes and systems; venturing encompasses expanding existing operations or entering into new markets; and renewal entails revitalising the organization's business model.

Zahra (1993) essentially revises Covin and Slevin's (1990) model in that he merges the technological environmental factor with the dynamism environmental factor; he adds a new construct called `munificence' to draw attention to a related construct of opportunity seeking; and he defines intrapreneurial behaviour more clearly, by differentiating between constructs such as `intensity of behaviour', `formality of intrapreneurial activities', `types of intrapreneurial behaviour' and `duration of such efforts'.

Zahra (1993) also recognises the possibility that different kinds of intrapreneurial posture may influence different dimensions of performance differently and at different times. Regarding the locus of intrapreneurship, he argues that intrapreneurship occurs at multiple levels within an organization.