Where Should Geese Lay the Golden Eggs: Employees' Decisions to Innovate In-House or Independently

Abstract

In an exploratory qualitative study of 22 individuals, we study employee motivations to build and launch a prototype, shed light on factors that influence whether innovation activity may take place, and if so. where – within the organization, through independent entrepreneurship, or in an incubator. We find three dimensions that influence employee innovation decisions. While the offerings from an organization such as recognition or rewards, support, and an openness to innovation facilitate innovation among employees, individual employees have personal innovation goals and loyalty to the company that also influence their innovation decisions. This research highlights the complexity of factors that influence different stages of employee decision-making when considering innovation in an organization, explores how work experience moderates different dimensions of an individual’s perspective on corporate entrepreneurship, and indicates that employees prefer corporate entrepreneurship as the path of least resistance for innovation. Finally, we suggest that in a corporate environment, the intersection of the individual, the opportunity, and the organization requires attention. Not only are the individual’s actions impacting whether they come across an opportunity, but it is also the organization, both in terms of the opportunity context, as well as the benefits it offers that enables the opportunity to be acted upon by the individual or others.