Academic intrapreneurs navigating multiple institutional logics: An integrative framework for understanding and supporting intrapreneurship in universities

Abstract

Although several studies have extensively discussed the role of intrapreneurs, individuals’ experiences of intrapreneurial processes in the academic context remain largely unexplored. The prominence of intrapreneurial logic in academia has led to increased institutional complexity and highlighting the need for an improved understanding of how to navigate multiple logics present at individual, organizational, and field levels to attain the desired intrapreneurial outcomes. To address these challenges, we propose an integrative framework that captures both organizational and individual-level responses to these multiple logics, while also incorporating intrapreneurial logic. Upon analyzing data from nineteen intrapreneurs across three universities, this study reveals that universities actively uphold the academic logic that intrapreneurs identify as a barrier, compelling them to refine their skills and actively hybridize logics by integrating multiple specific elements of intrapreneurship, teaching, and research. Simultaneously, universities incorporate intrapreneurial logic into their operational processes, even combining multiple logics, which intrapreneurs leverage within their own activities to push their ideas forward. The study offers implications for intrapreneurship literature, academic management, and policymakers to more effectively foster intrapreneurial activities.