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The Social Intrapreneur
A Field Guide for Corporate
Changemakers
Shoe-lover
Yachtswoman
Surveyor Nuclear
Artist
nthropologist Lawyer
Community activist
p builder
Yuppie Daughter
Corporate soldier Scientis
HippieForewords 1
Field Notes 4
1 Introduction 8
2 Origins of a Species 12
3 The Market Ecosystem 16
4 The Field Guide 26
5 Strategy of the Beaver 42
6 Wisdom of the Social Intrapreneur 52
7 Future Expeditions 60
Acknowledgements 65
Notes 66
Bookworm
Jack-of-all-trades
Extrovert
r engineer
Adventurer
Friend
Innovator
stThe Social Intrapreneur 1
Foreword
SustainAbility
SustainAbility’s second Skoll Program This is the line of inquiry that we further
report investigates the role of the new breed pursue in this second round of our
of social intrapreneurs working within Skoll Program.
business — and assesses the potential for
collaboration with social entrepreneurs. Who, we ask, are the corporate equivalents
of social entrepreneurs, the people with
Don’t ask for permission, ask for forgiveness. whom entrepreneurs might want to engage
That is the motto of many social entre- to build the high-potential partnerships
preneurs we have come across — and in some with mainstream business that featured so
cases worked with. But I think I owe our high in their wish-list during our Growing
readers a personal word or two of explanation Opportunity survey.4 And how do they see
both on the subject matter of this latest the parallel fields of social entrepreneurship
survey report and on its unusual style. and intrapreneurship? Our research and
When the Skoll Foundation awarded findings are presented in what follows.
SustainAbility a three-year grant in 2006,
the focus was on field-building in relation The Field Guide style is both a signal that
to social entrepreneurship. So why are we we do not claim to have discovered Universal
now haring off into the corporate world of Truths on the basis of our work to date —
social intrapreneurs? and an effort to make a sometimes complex
field more accessible to a wider audience,
Our reasoning runs as follows. Social particularly senior policy-makers and
entrepreneurs are some of the most decision-takers.
extraordinary changemakers (to use Ashoka’s
term) in the world today.1 And, with several In closing, my personal thanks go to Jeff
winning Nobel Peace Prizes and many others Skoll and Sally Osberg and their colleagues
spotlighted by awards from organizations like at the Skoll Foundation, to Maggie Brenneke
Acumen, Ashoka, Echoing Green, Endeavor and Alexa Clay at SustainAbility, who blazed
and the Schwab and Skoll foundations, the our trail through the jungle, and to Rupert
assumption might be that — if the rest of us Bassett for helping us turn the Field Guide
would get out of the way — these people idea into what you hold in your hands.
would save the world. Hardly. We enjoyed this project enormously — and
hope that you find value in this report.
As The Economist put it in reviewing Any comments would be much appreciated.
The Power of Unreasonable People,2 the
book summarizing our work in this field, John Elkington
“The greatest agents for sustainable change Founder
are unlikely to be [social entrepreneurs], SustainAbility
interesting though they are . . . They are elkington@sustainability.com
much more likely to be the entirely
reasonable people, often working for large
companies, who see ways to create better
products or reach new markets, and have
the resources to do so.” 3The Social Intrapreneur 2
Foreword
IDEO
What does an innovator look like? Intrapreneurs are thus a special breed with
rare, often hard-won, skills. Their value
People often think of innovators as crazy- to businesses is incalculable. Indeed, our
haired loners, pipe-chomping professors or business would not exist without them.
charismatic entrepreneurs. As if the very Now they’re poised to become even more
nature of thinking differently requires significant.
innovators to be maverick characters —
outsiders even — who owe their disruptive Within the enlightened boardrooms of the
creativity to a life lived on the fringe. world, a new kind of intrapreneurial activity
is emerging: sustainability and innovation
This is largely a misconception. True have become the subject of overlapping
innovators — the sort who are behind the discussions with a measurable impact on
vast majority of innovations that improve the bottom line. What was once corporate
our lives every year — breeze through the social responsibility (CSR) and marketing
doors of the giant corporations of the world has become R&D, and vice versa.
and choose to make their mark from within.
They are integrators, problem solvers and With this change, a new breed of individual
facilitators. They are likely to have honed is being asked to step up: a social intra-
less celebrated, but perhaps more reliable, preneur — someone who is capable of making
characteristics of innovation such as political a positive impact to their business and for
savvy, tact, teamwork and patience. Further- the world. Identifying the challenges faced
more, rather than getting their way via force by these change agents and finding ways to
of personality or charismatic zeal, these support, scale-up and accelerate their work
innovators learn how to bring projects to are now priorities for us at IDEO.
life through the deft manipulation of the
latent intellectual and financial capital These are exciting times to be in the
inside their organizations. innovation business. Increasingly impassioned
individuals are wrapping business pragmatism
Innovation companies like IDEO are interested around visionary agendas. Understanding the
in this kind of innovator. We call them social intrapreneur is thus a vital ingredient
clients, or marketing execs, or president of in maintaining any future edge. The age of
such and such, but rarely do we celebrate the social intrapreneur has begun.
how unique these individuals are and the
characteristics that make them successful. The IDEO team
Where entrepreneurs choose autonomy or
celebrity, they choose scale and impact.
Where entrepreneurs prefer control, these
individuals have the enviable ability to get
things done from inside massively complex
systems. They are, of course, players every
bit as important as entrepreneurs — but
behind the scenes.The Social Intrapreneur 3
Foreword
Allianz
Social entrepreneurship is changing the Social intrapreneurs are a rare species.
world. Finding solutions for the world’s They may sit anywhere within corporate
most pressing problems is no longer structures and are often hard to find. Their
considered the exclusive business of ideas are likely to be highly unusual and
governments, international organizations often appear in conflict with existing business
or large non-profits. Every day outstanding priorities. Yet, this is a species that must be
social entrepreneurs prove that almost no patiently nurtured. The promise for society
problem is too big to be tackled through and opportunity for business make the task
innovation and business acumen. of identifying and supporting social
Extraordinary examples abound revealing intrapreneurs within large corporations a
that through ingenuity, optimism and hard highly rewarding challenge.
work men and women are developing
effective, scalable solutions for a wide Our strong belief in the potential of social
range of societal challenges such as climate entrepreneurship led Allianz to support
change, poverty alleviation and social SustainAbility’s Growing Opportunity report.
inclusion. We are very pleased to take this cooperation
one step forward by supporting The Social
Within this new scenario, the question Intrapreneur: A Field Guide for Corporate
emerges: what should be the role of Changemakers.
corporations? Is social entrepreneurship
the exclusive terrain of inspired individuals Helping over 80 million customers world-
outside of the mainstream? Is true social or wide plan for a more secure future, social
environmental innovation compatible with innovation is core to our business. Whether
large corporate structures? Is it only about through environmentally friendly insurance
‘doing the right things’ (leadership) or also and investment products, retirement services
about ‘doing things right’ (management)? or microinsurance projects, we strongly
Is it feasible to generate shareholder value believe that identifying solutions that help
while proactively addressing societal issues? address global challenges is key for our
long-term competitiveness. For Allianz,
The following pages point to this opportunity. supporting our social intrapreneurs in this
The social intrapreneurs depicted in this endeavor is not only the right thing to do,
report are early markers of the incredible but it is the smart thing to do.
potential for the alignment of societal need
and business value. No doubt, success in this Paul Achleitner
space is not easily achieved. Yet, the tales Member of the Board of Management
contained herein are not only tales of great Allianz
courage, but also of opportunity — the
opportunity to both do well and do good.The Social Intrapreneur 4 Field Notes A brief word from the field about a newly discovered species — the social intrapreneur Social intrapreneur, n. 1 Someone who works inside major corporations or organizations to develop and promote practical solutions to social or environmental challenges where progress is currently stalled by market failures. 2 Someone who applies the principles of social entrepreneurship inside a major organization. 3 One characterized by an ‘insider-outsider’ mindset and approach. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
The Social Intrapreneur 5
Field Notes
Habitat and habits Pioneering approaches
The social intrapreneur is carving out a Social intrapreneurs are creating and
new niche within the multinational corporate delivering new business models. They compel
habitat of our ecosystem. Their primary their host corporations to look outside their
motivation is to incubate and deliver business comfort zones — to see both the strategic
solutions that add value to both society risks and profound opportunities that exist
and the bottom line. They are hybrid beyond the purview of traditional business
individuals, who draw on values of social units. They are not satisfied with suboptimal
entrepreneurship to persistently champion equilibriums, where markets work well for
a vision of change in the face of frequent some, but not at all for others. Their adept
cynicism and resistance. They cannot turn opposable minds exist to juggle dilemmas and
their backs on the savage global inequities catalyze new visions, products, services and
and environmental degradation in the world, solutions — some of which may fall beneath
or on the profound social and economic value the radar today, but will eventually enable a
to be gained by delivering market solutions. scale of change that delivers value to society
See Chapter 2 and business well into the future.
See Chapter 5
Evolutionary drivers
Related species
Social intrapreneurs are found in established
multinational corporations. They understand Although many social entrepreneurs shun
business process and priorities as well as the corporate habitat of social intrapreneurs,
sustainability imperatives. They flourish they have common traits, particularly when
when multinational business provides them it comes to the motivation to deliver social
with an effective base from which to create change. Intrapreneurs can potentially provide
and leverage innovative societal solutions. social entrepreneurs with a new point of
The emergence of social intrapreneurs is the access to multinational business and all it
result of a series of ‘evolutionary drivers,’ has to offer in terms of investment capital,
including global market failures, shifts in global reach, resource and scale.
personal motivations and increased societal See Chapter 6
expectations of business.
See Chapter 3
Care and protection
Identifying characteristics Intrapreneurs are adept at fighting and
surviving cynicism, caution and the status
Social intrapreneurs are more ambitious quo in large corporations. However, healthy
for social change than for personal wealth corporate curiosity and support (including
and advancement. They are willing and able capital), along with an enabling appetite
to take risks, including moving across and for exploration and experimentation, will
between organizations and sectors to reach definitely encourage this species to thrive.
the locale where they can realize their vision. See Chapter 7
They combine tactical and strategic skill-sets
with qualities of perseverance and strength,
independence and teamwork, far-sightedness
and practicality — all of which enables them
to get the basics right, earn trust and deliver
real results.
See Chapter 4The Social Intrapreneur 6
Field Notes
The Intrapreneurs and their ventures CEMEX
Luis Sota worked with executives at
The following Field Guide draws upon in- CEMEX to develop low-income housing
depth interviews with twenty social intra- solutions for their Mexican consumers.
preneurs from a diverse sample of multi- See p. 39
national corporations. Their work covers
a wide array of environmental and social Citi
challenges and is in varying stages of Bob Annibale launched Citi’s global
development — ranging from incubation to microfinance initiative, which focuses on
market expansion. The characteristic common building commercial relationships with
to all of these individuals is a passion for microfinance institutions and clients,
driving societal change through business enabling access among the underserved to
in a way that generates long-term value credit, savings, insurance and remittance
for both their companies and communities. products.
See pp. 45 and 56–57
Accenture Development Partnerships (ADP) Coca-Cola
Gib Bulloch and his team work with Dan Vermeer at Coca-Cola works on water
corporate, government and NGO sustainability and other environmental
organizations to develop innovative, challenges. His recent focus is to extend
cross-sectoral solutions to global challenges. Coke’s sustainability efforts across the
A recent project with CISCO brought value chain.
e-learning to the Egypt Education Initiative. See pp. 37–38 and 68
See pp. 15 and 48
Dow
Amanco Bo Miller and Scott Noesen champion Dow’s
At leading pipe manufacturer in Latin 2015 sustainability goals, which emphasize
America, Andreas Eggenberg led the green chemistry as well as the development of
development of an irrigation system targeted products to solve societal challenges. They are
at low-income farmers and partnered with currently focused on water quality and access,
citizen sector organizations on distribution, and recently took an equity stake in Water
training and financing. Health International — a social enterprise.
See p. 20 See pp. 54 and 55
Banco Real Ford
Maria Luiza Pinto has worked to mainstream David Berdish has launched a Megacity
sustainability training and development into Mobility project designed to address
the organization’s management. This has transportation needs among swelling
resulted in numerous sustainability initiatives urban populations in South Africa, India
from financing biodiesel manufacturing to and Brazil.
offering microfinance services in the favelas See pp. 11, 32–33 and 47
of Rio de Janeiro.
See pp. 51 and 58 Hindustan Unilever
Vijay Sharma heads up project Shakti,
BP which cultivates women entrepreneurs in
Kerryn Schrank heads up BP’s targetneutral rural villages. In addition to growing markets
campaign, encouraging drivers to ‘reduce’ for Unilever’s products, these women serve
petrol use. In addition to climate benefits, as agents of change, acting as positive role
reducing energy use also benefits energy models in their communities.
security. See p. 40
See pp. 61 and 64The Social Intrapreneur 7
Field Notes
Microsoft Unilever
Orlando Ayala heads up Unlimited Potential Santiago Gowland is driving sustainability
to deliver relevant, accessible and affordable thinking across Unilever’s diverse brands.
technology solutions to the ‘next 5 billion’ He has pioneered an innovative ‘Brand
people around the world. Imprint’ assessment to identify and measure
See pp. 41 and 61 social, economic and environmental impacts.
See pp. 29 and 49
Morgan Stanley
Henry Gonzalez drove Morgan Stanley’s Vodafone
microfinance offer, which seeks to originate Nick Hughes and Susie Lonie have developed
microfinance-related transactions for the a mobile payment offering for Kenyan and
capital markets and to manage Morgan Afghani customers.
Stanley's direct and indirect equity See pp. 35 and 47
involvement in microfinance.
See p. 25
Nike
Sam McCracken launched the company’s
Native American Business, which leverages
the power of the Nike brand to drive athletic
participation among Native American
communities.
See pp. 36, 54 and 57
P&G
Win Sakdinan developed the company’s
Future Friendly initiative, which educates
consumers to save energy, water and
packaging with its brands.
See pp. 55 and 59
Shell
Sachin Kapila is developing models
for biodiversity markets similar to those
established for carbon markets. One initiative,
Project Rainforest, promotes biofuels
sustainability by looking at how their impact
could be offset through a market-based
mechanism directed at the protection of
existing forests.
See p. 46
Starbucks
Sue Mecklenburg is Vice-President of
Sustainable Procurement Practices at
Starbucks. She's pioneering a new approach
to the supply chain, trailblazing opportunities
for livelihood enhancement among key
suppliers in addition to formalizing ‘best
practices' for accountable procurement.
See pp. 45 and 57The Social Intrapreneur 8 Chapter 1 Introduction Inside Out Figure 1.1 Shifting mindsets — or paradigms 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
The Social Intrapreneur 9
Introduction
The world — and agendas — We make no claims to be latter-day
of the social intrapreneur Darwins, but increasingly we find that when
imaginative leaders in the private, public
When we published our first survey of and citizen sectors are briefed on what social
social entrepreneurs, people working and environmental intrapreneurs are doing,
entrepreneurially within corporations a similar switch begins to flip in their brains.
and other organizations said, in effect, Here, they acknowledge, may be critical clues
“Great, but what about the entrepreneurs to how markets, business models and
inside corporations — and inside technologies will evolve in the future.
government?” Given their potential role
as an interface between business and the In keeping with our field guide metaphor,
wider world of social enterprise — and we use biological, zoological and ecological
their experience of driving social and metaphors, concepts and symbols to
environmental change from the inside — illuminate key trends and challenges. The
we decided to focus this second survey on idea was sparked by the social intrapreneurs
social intrapreneurs, at least those inside themselves. During our interview with Win
major corporations. What follows is an early Sakdinan of Procter & Gamble, for example,
attempt at a field guide to their world — he suggested that large corporations can be
its challenges and opportunities. like “elephants, as they take time to change
directions, but when they do, they bring
lots of weight or positive leverage.” And he
The nature of a field guide didn’t stop there. Many of those who advise
business leaders, he argued, are like high-
Because this project is a dip-stick test of flying birds, “dreamers,” seeing the landscape
an emerging hypothesis — that social of risk and opportunity in useful ways, but
intrapreneurs are gaining traction inside their often disconnected from the day-to-day
organizations and, in the process, potentially responsibilities of business. By contrast, he
offering crucial access points for social and concluded, he tries to be more like a giraffe,
environmental entrepreneurs wanting to with “my head in the clouds to inspire
engage business — we have developed this sustainable innovation, but with my feet
report in the style of a field guide or firmly planted on the ground, alongside
explorer’s sketchbook. Suggestive, hopefully. the elephants.”
Full of things observed as we went about
our work. But by no means the definitive Of course, companies can be like gazelles as
work on the subject. well as elephants, like dolphins as well as
manatees, but the thought-train inspired the
There are precedents for this approach. metaphor. And in reviewing much of the
When, for example, Charles Darwin saw the literature on intrapreneurship, innovation
wildly diverse finches of the Galapagos, he and competitiveness, extinction and survival
scribbled down his thoughts in his notebooks. are dominant themes.
Over time, a light began to go on in his brain
— and he came to see how life had evolved
and differentiated over countless generations.
“ Social intrapreneurs are unsung heroes.”
Susie Lonie
VodafoneThe Social Intrapreneur 10
Introduction
Our exploration Our research findings and analysis are
presented in the following chapters:
If history teaches any lessons, it’s that the
long-term survival of today’s corporations Chapter 2 looks at the origin of this species
is by no means guaranteed.5 But, given the of corporate changemaker: the social
scope of innovation required to begin to intrapreneur.
tackle global market failures and sustain-
ability opportunities, social intrapreneurship Chapter 3 explores some of the deep trends
could be one key to shifting away from powerfully shaping the overall ‘ecosystem,’
business as usual to something more or operating environment, in which business
sustainable. For over 20 years, SustainAbility conducts its activities.
has tracked a series of evolutions of the
sustainable development movement. Today Chapter 4 provides a basic field guide to
we see a growing recognition by corporations social intrapreneurship offering up specimens,
of the opportunity for greater alignment case examples, of their work.
of business value and societal need — with
social intrapreneurs as agents of change. Chapter 5 explores how intrapreneurs are
going about transforming their corporate
In the spirit of Ashoka’s ambition of habitats.
‘Everyone a Changemaker,’ 6 we define
corporate changemakers as people — at Chapter 6 offers tips for future explorers and
any level in a company — who are trying to considers some of the ways in which external
drive change through the development and parties, NGOs and social entrepreneurs, can
deployment of entrepreneurial solutions to play a role.
key social and environmental challenges.
Chapter 7 pulls out our key conclusions and
In this work, we explore four primary thoughts for the future of this field.
questions:
— What are the forces driving business
to more proactively address societal
challenges, such as climate change,
health care and human rights?
— What specific business ventures are
emerging?
— Who are the people behind these
initiatives and how do they work?
— What early lessons can be gleaned
for aspiring intrapreneurs and those
looking to support them?
“ You have to work in a corporate minefield!”
Off-the-record commentThe Social Intrapreneur 11
Specimen Eureka moment Opportunity
David Berdish I had experienced life and Reputational advantage,
death when my first wife carbon savings, new
Species died of cancer. Normally revenue stream, competitive
Social intrapreneur people think of business advantage in new markets.
as life and death. It isn’t.
Niche It’s ok to take risks. Ambition
Megacity Mobility Project First, to get this pilot in
Personal South Africa off the ground
Habitat Has worked for Ford for 25 and then to develop more
Ford, Detroit years; studied organizational sustainable approaches to
learning at MIT; majored in mobility in other emerging
poetry and statistics. markets.
Challenge Motto
Finding mobility solutions It’s impossible to design a
that address emerging solution in the usual linear
urbanization/stratification analytic way.
dynamics, and more
specifically, developing
sustainable mobility
solutions in South Africa.
Loving husband
Cool rockin’ daddy
Social intrapreneur
Business development manager
Third generation employee
Poet
CatholicThe Social Intrapreneur 12 Chapter 2 Origins of a Species Is the social intrapreneur a new species — or a rediscovered one? Figure 2.1 Aligning societal impact with business value 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
The Social Intrapreneur 13
Origins of a Species
Even we find ourselves saying entrepreneur They don’t worry overly about that. Indeed,
when we mean intrapreneur, and vice versa. most of the intrapreneurs we interviewed
So let’s define our terms: appear to have cast off traditional notions
of advancement in an organization in pursuit
A social entrepreneur is an entrepreneur of what their colleagues are likely to see
with a social or environmental mission at the as a wild ambition or idea — backed by a
core of their venture. Typically, the societal fundamental belief that business must, and
challenge they are tackling is their mission in can, change. None of the intrapreneurs we
life — with their organization and any profit met are motivated primarily by monetary
generated seen as a means to that end. Social gain; instead, they are inspired by a desire
entrepreneurs are dogged in their pursuit of to drive real transformation. Take Santiago
new models for change, harnessing the power Gowland at Unilever. He gave up a lucrative
of market forces to serve the unmet needs of investment banking job to start two social
society. They come in a number of varieties projects in Argentina. He then returned to the
and work in diverse habitats. business world because, he believed, there
was a greater possibility of achieving societal
Many social entrepreneurs operate outside change on a large scale.
mainstream markets, working directly with
communities to drive change. Consider So social intrapreneurs, arguably, do resemble
Bunker Roy of Barefoot College, who social entrepreneurs in a number of important
empowers India’s poorest citizens — many ways. At their best, social intrapreneurs thrive
of whom are illiterate — by training them to on risk and uncertainty. They readily adapt
become ‘barefoot’ solar and water engineers, to new circumstances — and regularly scan
teachers, doctors and architects. Others, like the horizon for new ways to solve societal
Reed Paget, Founder of Belu Water, drive challenges. Above all, they are innovators,
change through established markets. Belu coming up with key concepts, business
is a non-profit bottled water company that models, products and services that will
invests the profits from its business in clean open out new opportunity spaces.
water projects around the world.
Yet there are differences between social
Yet, in parallel, there is a new breed of intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs as well.
entrepreneur emerging. These people have Though both are inclined towards action,
many of the characteristics of the social intrapreneurs also understand the need to
entrepreneur, yet operate in a very different tie into the processes and business case
habitat — within multinational corporations. elements of the venture. Most intrapreneurs
We call this new breed social intrapreneurs. are comfortable acting as lone wolves for at
Skeptics may argue that as salaried corporate least some of the time, yet uniformly value
employees, these people really should not teamwork as well — understanding the critical
be classified as entrepreneurs. True, most need to engage others to develop buy-in and,
intrapreneurs haven’t re-mortgaged their ultimately, push ownership of new concepts
homes or maxed out their credit cards to fund through their organization. (Chapter 4 takes
their ventures. But, while the financial risks a closer look at the characteristics of a
faced by traditional entrepreneurs are very social intrapreneur.)
real, social intrapreneurs also take on risks
in their own way. Most obviously, they risk
losing out in the race for promotion and for
salary rises. But for some there is also a
serious risk of losing their jobs.
“ As an entrepreneur, I have the freedom to pursue an
individual and/or environmental mission — unconstrained
by the needs of an existing organization.”
Reed Paget
Co-Founder, Belu WaterThe Social Intrapreneur 14
Origins of a Species
In addition to the social intrapreneur, Examples here include Niel Golightly,
however, we must also spotlight another set VP Communications and Sustainable
of critical actors in the evolving ecosystem. Development for Shell Downstream, Maria
These people are catalysts, who come in Luiza (Malu) de Oliveira Pinto, Head of
at least two varieties. There are the senior Corporate Responsibility for Banco Real,
gatekeepers, CEOs, CFOs, board members and Mike Barry, Head of Corporate Social
and so on, who can give permission for new Responsibility at UK retailer Marks & Spencer.
types of initiatives. And then there are the
champions, who may be heads of businesses Sometimes individuals play both roles —
or vice-presidents in relevant areas, who help intrapreneur and catalyst — as in the case of
resource social intrapreneurs — and, critically, Pinto who both incubates new projects and
support their efforts to embed their evolving works to drive change through the entire
initiatives into the mainstream business. organization. What’s important here is to
As one social intrapreneur commented, at understand that two primary types of actors
the very least, “. . . a senior champion of an are playing an increasingly critical role in
initiative provides protection for the social transforming corporations.
intrapreneur from internal nay-sayers.”
The hope must be that these catalysts and
Most catalysts hold a certain level of formal social intrapreneurs are preparing
authority, either at an executive level or corporations for the future. Not all companies
through direct reporting lines to corporate that employ such people will make good use
leadership. Examples of recent top-level of them, clearly, and market conditions mean
catalysts include CEOs such as Jeffrey Immelt that not all those companies that do make
of GE, Lee Scott of Wal-Mart and Franck good use of such talented people will survive,
Riboud of Groupe Danone. Such people let alone thrive. But our working hypothesis
catalyze change by explaining how is that the existence of such people inside
sustainability can drive business value, major companies will increasingly be seen as
communicating their vision and ensuring that a leading indicator of corporate innovation,
changemakers within the organization have resilience and, ultimately, longer term
the resources (staff and funding) they need, sustainability (see Figure 2.1).
as well as formal accountability for results.
From the point of view of the social
Other types of catalysts include vice- entrepreneur, the existence of social
presidents responsible for sustainable intrapreneurs could be seen as some form
development, sustainability or corporate of competitive threat — but is much more
responsibility. While many of these likely to prove to be a crucial gateway into
individuals are not responsible for specific major businesses interested in addressing the
profit and loss performance and generally challenges the entrepreneurs are tackling.
do not incubate new products, services And for the individual in search of ways
or business models, they are important to contribute to the seemingly intractable
champions for change. They work through problems facing society — these individuals
existing systems catalyzing others in the offer a clear message: ‘Make change from
business to take action. where you are.’
“ Intrapreneurs must put the company,
not themselves, first.”
Guy Kawasaki
Venture Capitalist and
Serial EntrepreneurThe Social Intrapreneur 15
Specimen Eureka moment Opportunity
Gib Bulloch Travelling on the London Skills development,
Underground and coming recruitment, retention.
Species across an article on VSO
Social intrapreneur in the FT looking for Ambition
individuals with business Combining Accenture’s
Niche skills to volunteer in convening power in the
Accenture Development developing countries. corporate sector with ADP’s
Partnerships (ADP) I’d thought development in the development sector
was only for doctors, nurses to help broker and integrate
Habitat and teachers. Not business cross-sectoral coalitions
Accenture, London people like me. to help tackle major social,
economic and environmental
Personal challenges.
Spent a year on a VSO
enterprise development Motto
project in the Balkans. Affecting even small change
in large organizations can
Challenge lead to significant positive
Offering quality business social impact.
and technology consultancy
to NGOs and donor
organizations on a
sustainable basis at rates
aligned to development
sector norms.
Determined
Stubborn
Social intrapreneur
Creative
Relationship builderThe Social Intrapreneur 16 Chapter 3 The Market Ecosystem How ‘demand-side pull’ is driving social intrapreneurship Figure 3.1 Three types of driver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
The Social Intrapreneur 17
The Market Ecosystem
Before zeroing in on the intrapreneurs, let’s Just as safety, health and environmental
pull back the focus for a moment to look at units were squeezed in previous downcycles,
the wider ‘ecosystem’ in which they operate. the likelihood — this time round — is that
A key question must be: why does interest in corporate citizenship and corporate social
social intrapreneurship appear to be building? responsibility departments and budgets
In talking to intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs will come under pressure. At the same time,
alike, their answers took three distinct forms. however, the global economic environment
Pretty much everyone we spoke to referred to is likely to favour a new set of actors,
drivers operating at the level of challenges particularly those focused on scalable
and opportunities being faced by society, entrepreneurial solutions.
business and the individual. But they also
stressed that this isn’t a question of ‘either/or,’ This trend was implicit in the 2008 agenda
but ‘all three and . . . ’ of the World Economic Forum annual
meeting in Davos, which closed with a call
The interest in social entrepreneurs and by business, government and civil society
intrapreneurs, we believe, is growing precisely leaders for a new brand of collaborative and
because they are addressing these key innovative leaders to address the challenges
challenges — and doing so in ways that, of globalization, particularly the pressing
potentially at least, offer greater leverage and problems of conflict (especially in the Middle
scalability than much of what has gone East), terrorism, climate change and water
before. conservation.7
That said, the economic climate has been In the following pages, we explore how social
darkening for a while, with implications for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs are working
the work of anyone dependent on corporate together to achieve the sort of change that the
budgets. Since mid-2007, we have argued that world so pressingly needs.
parts of the global economy are headed into
a deeper and more protracted recessionary
period than we have experienced for some
time. If true, the impact on the current
generation of corporate responses to sustain-
ability challenges could be profound.
“ The key challenge is to align the corporation
of the future with societal trends.”
Orlando Ayala
MicrosoftThe Social Intrapreneur 18
The Market Ecosystem
Driver 1 While most societal challenges are not new,
Society globalization has served to exacerbate many
problems — such as wealth disparity and
‘Society’ can be a difficult concept to climate change. (See Figure 3.4 for a list of
pin down, but it is clear that people — ten global divides.) And digitization is driving
as consumers, family members, workers increased awareness about the scope of
and voters — are changing their priorities, societal needs and the lack of progress to
globally, regionally and locally. date by governments and traditional NGOs.
Together, these trends are shifting societal
Recent years have seen a growing range expectations of the role that business has
of economic, social, environmental and to play. SustainAbility has mapped four
governance issues push into the mainstream societal pressure waves (Figure 3.2) that have
of politics and business. The priorities for impacted and shaped the business response
action emerging from a range of summit to sustainability challenges since the 1960s.
meetings — such as the G8, the World Each wave has made different demands of the
Economic Forum and the Clinton Global corporation and tended to involve a different
Initiative — tend to share one common set of specialists and expertise, as follows.
characteristic: that they all, pretty much
by definition, relate to current market The first wave (1960s–1973) was focused
failures or dysfunctions. mainly on greater regulation and enforce-
ment, and the corporate response tended to
be defensive, involving legal and public
affairs professionals, as well as specific
process engineers and project developers.
Figure 3.2
Catching the next wave
10 Rising Tide
9
8 Distraction
7
6
5
4 Breakdown
3
2
1The Social Intrapreneur 19
The Market Ecosystem
The second wave (1970s–1990s) was more The fourth wave is currently building and
consumer driven, with NGOs putting certain brings a greater focus on the severity of
brands in the spotlight for complicity in global market failures and the related, urgent
social and environmental abuses. This saw opportunities for scalable innovation, social
corporate involvement expand to include intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship.
brand and marketing people and new product In addition to those involved in responding
developers, as well as those responsible for to previous waves, new corporate participants
delivering against a proliferation of new will likely emerge from areas such as
voluntary standards, such as ISO 14001, investor relations, new ventures and other
the Global Reporting Initiative, SA 8000 strategic business units. So what underlies the
and AA 1000. dynamic of this latest wave? Entrepreneurship
literature suggests that the types of challenges
The third wave (1999–2001) — curtailed by now facing society are precisely the
the 9/11 attacks on the US — was typified seemingly insolvable problems to which
by the challenges of globalization and an entrepreneurs are attracted.
array of issues to do with global and
corporate governance — and their failure. In a recent Stanford Social Innovation
Much of the corporate focus was on strategic Review paper, co-authors Sally Osberg and
risk management, and the locus of discussion Roger Martin 8 (board members of the Skoll
tended to be at board level, with increasing Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship)
involvement of supervisory boards and non- explain how entrepreneurs seek opportunity
executive directors. in situations of ‘suboptimal equilibrium,’
i.e. where society is settling for a poor
solution to a problem because no one has
yet come up with an alternative.
Figure 3.3
Irreconcilable schism —
or bridging opportunity?
What is it about social entrepreneurs and So we might simultaneously recognize that
intrapreneurs that makes their thinking capitalism and markets leave many people
different from the mainstream? Perhaps it’s unserved or under-served, yet at the same
their ability to use our mental equivalent of time conclude that new forms of capitalism
the thumb. Roger Martin, one of the authors and different market mechanisms can help
of the Stanford Social Innovation Review bridge the gap — the crucial next step being
article mentioned above, also wrote a book to come up with technologies, business
called The Opposable Mind.9 Just as the models and market frameworks that can drive
opposable thumb helped our species reach the relevant processes of change.
unprecedented levels of technology and
civilization, so — Martin argues — the The past decade saw many leading businesses
opposable mind promises to jump us beyond seeking to involve a range of stakeholders in
the tyranny of either-or decisions. dialogue as a means of understanding and
possibly reconciling opposing ideas and world
The idea here is that we can hold two views. The rise of the social intrapreneur can
conflicting ideas in constructive tension — be seen as a similar response to this need to
and thereby move to new models and understand and hold conflicting ideas in
integrated solutions. creative tension. Both social intrapreneurs
and entrepreneurs seek — in some way — to
identify integrated solutions that deliver new
forms of value for people and communities
that were previously excluded from the
benefits of the current system (or unduly
exposed to its disbenefits).The Social Intrapreneur 20
Specimen Eureka moment Challenge
Andreas Eggenberg Arriving in Guatemala, To see social and
I was stunned that almost demographic challenges
Species the whole economy con- as business opportunities.
Social intrapreneur centrated on the 20–30% More specifically, providing
middle and higher classes, small drip irrigation systems
Niche but nobody realized that to small-scale farmers.
Amanco the remaining 70–80% are
not just the ‘have nots,’ Opportunity
Habitat but can represent a very Competitiveness in a
GrupoNueva, Santiago, Chile interesting market. new market.
Personal Ambition
I have a background in Designing products and
political science, which services that make the
generates a certain formal economy more
understanding of social inclusive.
complexities, and creates a
determination to contribute Motto
to its relief or mitigation. Create a good mood around
a common objective.
Surveyor
Political scientist
Agriculturalist
Businessman
Social intrapreneur
“ Even though relevant impacts are created
by civil society — the private sector can work
more efficiently, once it switches on.”
Andreas Eggenberg
formerly with Grupo NuevaThe Social Intrapreneur 21
The Market Ecosystem
Their case-studies include eBay and FedEx, Driver 2
where society previously settled, in the Business
first instance, for physical limitations on
its ability to resell goods, and in the second, During the first decade of the new century,
on uncertain and slow mail delivery services. we have seen an accelerating tempo in the
For any entrepreneur, this sort of disequilibria launch by business leaders of new initiatives
provides a perfect hunting ground for designed to bridge an array of global divides
innovation. facing society (Figure 3.4). At the national
level, for example, we have had the UK
The same is true, Osberg and Martin argue, Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change
for social entrepreneurs — and, we might and the US Climate Action Partnership, while
add, social intrapreneurs — who are internationally leading corporations have
confronted by a suboptimal state in society also been involved (sometimes alongside
that: “causes the exclusion, marginalization, governments) in such ventures as the
or suffering of a segment of humanity that Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
lacks the financial means or political clout (EITI)10 and the Partnering Against Corruption
to achieve any transformative benefit on its Initiative (PACI).11
own.” Social entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs
recognize such disequilibrium as “the But there are concerns that even such
opportunity to transform the situation by initiatives are failing to go sufficiently far
developing a social value proposition and and fast. “The world is getting better, but it’s
bringing to bear inspiration, creativity, not getting better fast enough, and it’s not
direct action, courage, and fortitude . . . getting better for everyone,” argued Bill
[to challenge the status quo and] forge a Gates, giving his last Davos speech as a full-
new, stable equilibrium that releases trapped time employee of Microsoft in 2008. “There
potential [and] . . . alleviates suffering.” are roughly a billion people who don’t get
enough food, who don’t have clean drinking
Their argument comes to life when they water, who don’t have electricity — the things
focus on Muhammad Yunus, founder of the we take for granted. Diseases like malaria that
Grameen Bank. “The stable but unfortunate kill over a million people a year get far less
equilibrium he identified consisted of poor attention than drugs that help with baldness.”
Bangladeshis’ limited options for securing Adopting a tone similar to that used by many
even the tiniest amounts of credit. Unable social entrepreneurs, he stressed: “I am an
to qualify for loans through the formal optimist but I’m an impatient optimist” —
banking system, they could borrow only and called for “creative capitalism.”
by accepting exorbitant interest rates from
local moneylenders. More commonly, they So what did he mean by that? “As I see it,”
simply succumbed to begging on the streets. he explained, “there are two great forces of
Here was a stable equilibrium of the most human nature: self-interest and caring for
unfortunate sort.” others. Capitalism harnesses self-interest in
a helpful and sustainable way, but only on
What is particularly powerful about the behalf of those who can pay. Government
Grameen example is the way the growing aid and philanthropy channel our caring for
success of Professor Yunus and his colleagues those who can’t pay. But to provide rapid
has inspired not only other social entre- improvement for the poor we need a system
preneurs, among them people like Roshaneh that draws in innovators and businesses in
Zafar of the Khasf Foundation in Pakistan, far better ways than we do today.” Such a
but also social intrapreneurs working within system, he said, “would have a twin mission:
major financial institutions — including Bob making profits and also improving the lives
Annibale of Citi Microfinance, one of our of those who don’t fully benefit from today’s
interviewees. market forces. For sustainability, we need to
use profit incentives wherever we can.”The Social Intrapreneur 22
The Market Ecosystem
Figure 3.4
Ten divides and opportunities
Divides 12 Realities Opportunities
1 Demographic The world is heading to a To meet the needs of billions
population of 9 billion by 2050, of people affected by market
with 95% of growth expected failures in both developing
in developing countries. and developed countries.
2 Financial 40% of the world’s wealth is Help the have-nots become
owned by 1% of the population bankable, insurable and
while the poorest 50% can entrepreneurial.
claim just 1% of the wealth.
3 Nutritional The world now produces Address the needs of those
enough food for everyone, but with too little food — and
over 850 million people still too much.
face chronic hunger every day.
4 Resources 60% of ecosystem services, Enable development that
such as fresh water and climate uses the earth’s resources
regulation, are being degraded in a sustainable way.
or used unsustainably.
5 Environmental The loss of biodiversity, Create markets that protect
droughts, and the destruction and enhance the environment.
of coral reefs are just some of
the challenges facing the globe.
6 Health Some 39.5 million people live Create markets that encourage
with HIV/AIDS in the world, healthy lifestyles and enable
now the fourth largest killer equal access to healthcare.
disease.
7 Gender Two-thirds of the world’s Enable and empower women
1 billion illiterate people to participate equally and fairly
are women. in society and the economy.
8 Educational About 100 million children Provide the mechanisms to
within emerging economies transfer and share knowledge
are not enrolled in primary and learning that empowers
education. all levels of societies.
9 Digital Internet users worldwide Develop inclusive technology
topped 1.1 billion in 2007, but that enables all levels of
only 4% of Africans and 11% society to tackle each of these
of Asians have internet access. divides more effectively.
10 Security Between 1994 and 2003, the Work to promote security
majority of the 13 million and reduce conflict based
deaths caused by intra-state on inequity and exclusion.
conflict took place in sub-
Saharan Africa and western
and southern Asia — regions
that are home to 75% of the
world’s 37 million refugees
and displaced people.The Social Intrapreneur 23
The Market Ecosystem
Gates called on corporations to “dedicate a Michael Porter and Mark Kramer sum
percentage of their top innovators’ time to up these new opportunities in their landmark
issues that could help people left out of the Harvard Business Review article on the links
global economy. This kind of contribution between competitive advantage and corporate
is even more powerful than giving cash or social responsibility (CSR). They conclude that
offering employees time off to volunteer.” CSR offers “many of the greatest opportunities
This area, in short, is where the best social for companies to benefit society.” 14 Further,
intrapreneurs are focusing their efforts. But “if . . . corporations were to analyze their
Gates could have been more forceful in also prospects for social responsibility using
showing the potential benefits to business of the same frameworks that guide their core
addressing such challenges. The business case choices, they would discover that CSR can
for involvement is clear. Social intrapreneurs be much more than a cost, a constraint,
can expose their colleagues — and senior or a charitable deed — it can be a source
leadership — to a series of lessons on new of opportunity, innovation, and competitive
market risks and opportunities, as well as advantage.”
providing insight to the likely business models
and leadership styles of the future. In addition to business leaders switching on
to the opportunity spaces that exist, corporate
As Sir Nicholas Stern’s review of the structures and management approaches are
economic consequences of climate change shifting and, in the process, opening up more
put it, we now see the broad outlines of space for creativity and entrepreneurship.
the biggest market failure in our collective While there is certainly much progress to be
history.13 But, as he and others have identified, made, many companies are moving away
our great social and environmental challenges from hierarchical, siloed management to more
also represent huge potential market matrixed, networked approaches of working.
opportunities, if tackled in the right way. There is growing interest in how to provide
Social intrapreneurs exist and thrive in this employees with the space and time to
zone, seeking to understand profound risk experiment and innovate.
in order to transform it into substantial new
market opportunity. Their particular creative “The outlines of the 21st century manage-
approach to problem-solving is symptomatic ment model are already clear,” argues
and indicative of a wider process of Gary Hamel.15 “Decision making will be more
‘reperceiving’ the challenges that face society. peer-based; the tools of creativity will be
widely distributed in organizations. Ideas
will compete on an equal footing. Strategies
will be built from the bottom up. Power will
be a function of competence rather than
of position.” The work of leading social
intrapreneurs plays nicely in this space.
“ Why not welcome this productive tension?
Thinking with societal challenges in mind
is a great catalyst for innovation.”
Dan Vermeer
Coca-ColaThe Social Intrapreneur 24
The Market Ecosystem
Driver 3 Strikingly, 86% of YGLs see multinational
The individual corporations and individuals gaining power
and influence as the nation-state wanes.
Finally, our respondents stressed the growing In terms of responsibility and power to act,
importance of the values and ambitions of 69% of YGLs believe the role of nation-states
individuals in all of this, themselves included. will decline, although they will still remain
Most intrapreneurs, when asked about the most influential actors addressing such
what motivates them, talk about necessity. challenges. (China is expected to be the
Once they realized the power they had leading nation-state (88%), followed by the
to make change through business, they US, India and Russia, while Germany, France
saw no other way, but their current path. and the United Kingdom are expected to lose
These intrapreneurs signal two broader trends. power.) Asked to name the most pressing
First, that greater numbers of people — young issues in 2030, 59% of YGL respondents
leaders in particular — view companies and see global warming as the key challenge,
individuals as ever more integral to solving followed by depletion of resources (37%)
societal challenges. And, second, that and asymmetric warfare (27%).
individuals are increasingly looking to align
their personal values with their careers. At the core of all this, there appears to
be a shift in personal motivations. While
As much of the world economy moves into a intrinsic values aren’t likely to have changed
recessionary environment, there is a growing dramatically over the generations, the
risk that current business responses to these willingness to trade-off values for career
great societal challenges will be squeezed — seems to be on a path to extinction. Perhaps
and in some cases stalled. But the longer this is because the scale of global challenges
term trajectories and dynamics are likely are more transparent than ever before,
to reflect the extent to which future leaders along with the apparent failure of existing
understand the issues and how they decide institutions to provide solutions in spite of a
to respond. An interesting litmus test of multitude of promises and commitments.
the thinking and concerns of young global
leaders is provided by a recent survey of Richard Florida has made popular the notion
665 Young Global Leaders (YGLs)16 published of the ‘Creative Class,’ a segment of the
by the World Economic Forum at its 2008 workforce whose main job is to think and
annual meeting, entitled Future Mapping for create innovative solutions to problems.
the Global Agenda. He notes that creativity is becoming more
valued in today’s global society and that
The survey forecasts key dimensions of ability to channel self-expression is also
the world in 2030 by mapping significant a key element of job satisfaction and
trends, early signals and interrelationships retention.17 Similarly, Don Tapscott and
and assessing the likely influences on global, Anthony Williams in Wikinomics talk about
regional and industry agendas. The findings the ‘Net Generation’ — those born between
broadly indicate a set of challenges that will 1977 and 1996 — who “have a very strong
demand long-term and globally coordinated sense of the common good and of collective
responses of a type that the world’s current social and civic responsibility.” 18 Related to
political and economic frameworks do this is an increase in the number of formal
not support. training programs, such as MBAs, now
focused on social entrepreneurship and
sustainability.
“ I wanted to keep one foot in the company —
and one foot in society.”
Santiago Gowland
UnileverThe Social Intrapreneur 25
Specimen Eureka moment Challenge
Henry Gonzalez Sharing my interest in Developing a systematic
writing my MBA dissertation approach to social change
Species on microfinance and capital and, more specifically,
Social intrapreneur markets with Morgan bringing microfinance
Stanley’s vice-chairman offerings into the heart of a
Niche while doing a summer major financial institution.
Microfinance internship in London.
Institutions Group She immediately connected Opportunity
me with the right managing New revenue stream, double
Habitat director who supported bottom line, strengthening
Morgan Stanley, New York my initial research interest of client relationships, talent
and took it forward to retention.
build Morgan Stanley’s
Microfinance Institutions Ambition
Group. “Never keep an idea To continue to expand the
to yourself, share it and breadth of microfinance,
you will see how quickly it using capital markets as a
catalyzes to become bigger means to social change.
and better.”
Motto
Personal Change from within
Costa Rican, Skoll Fellow at happens!
Oxford, legislative advisor
and chief of staff to Minister
of Agriculture; worked at the
World Bank, UNDP and the
Global Exchange on Social
Investment.
Determined
Legislative advisor
Social intrapreneur
Inter-connector
Changemaker
Skoll FellowYou can also read
