Two Decades of Research on Corporate Entrepreneurship, Intrapreneurship, and Corporate Venturing

Abstract

Purpose Scholars have been interested in intrapreneurship in recent years, but there is no unified definition of intrapreneurship, and scholars have not proposed a unified standard for intrapreneurship terms. Given these problems, the objective of this study was to determine the current state of intrapreneurship based on a literature analysis and the problems that exist in the research, as well as to provide new directions for future research. Design/Methodology/Approach First, we examined 291 studies by year of publication, author, research field, journal, and journal type through the Web of Science (WOS) database. We also look into the issues of specialization and sustainability in intrapreneurship research by conducting research into authors and research areas. Second, we analyzed publishing periodicals to look into how it developed in the field of knowledge. Third, we identified the types of databases used in intrapreneurship research by taking into account the data sources utilized in all empirical studies in our survey. Finally, from the concept of intrapreneurship, we summarize its concept based on three different terms: corporate entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, and corporate venturing, and explore the differences. From a comprehensive perspective, we focused on examining the use of intrapreneurship terms through a review of the literature. Findings In this paper, we examine the overall research trend of intrapreneurship and discover that the frequency of term use has changed over time. why it has changed? And what is the cause of this change? These are the areas that we believe we will be able to research in the future. Furthermore, we discovered that different terms have different definitions, and while there are similarities and differences between terms, there is no clear definition of their differences in current research and internal entrepreneurship. These findings contribute to the development of a research agenda for the future. Research Implications The background of term use and the unclear distinction between terms presented in this study provide some hints for future research. Practically, by organizing the definitions of intrapreneurship terms in this study, scholars will have a clear sense of boundaries in their use of intrapreneurship terms, which will increase their attention to the background of intrapreneurship terms. Furthermore, by compiling the literature in this paper, we can identify the problems in current research and serve as a guide for scholars’ future research directions.