Rewarding outcome, not behaviour

Paul Burns cites the likes of Birkinshaw (2003) to discuss the guidance and control of entrepreneurial action in his newest edition of Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building the Entrepreneurial Organization (Burns 2008).

Whilst Burns acknowledges that management must certainly not lose sight of the responsibility of a company to the shareholders in terms of how resources are put to use, he also suggests that there are ways to encourage performance through "awarding outcome rather than behaviour" (p. 185).

Burns is not advocating that badly "behaved" individuals permeate the corporation for the sake of outcome, he is instead saying that in addition to traditional forms of morale and team building *, leadership should encourage positive environments where intrapreneurs can propose and develop new products and/or services that may actually lead to improved sales and happier shareholders.

This kind of work environment is not an easy one to balance. It must allow mistakes to be made, but must still set limits on "creativity" for the sake of a company's financial survival. Moreover, those limits are perceived by leadership both emotionally and pragmatically. Ultimately the balance is therefore driven through risk managment where "risk" becomes relative to the nature of the company, the product and/or service it provides, and the personality and perceptions of leadership. And, as always, risk has a cozy relationship with Lady Luck.

References:

Birkinshaw, J. (2003) "The Paradox of Corporate Entrepreneurship", Strategy and Business, 30.

Burns, P. (2008) Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building the Entrepreneurial Organization. Palgrave Macmillan.

* The link to this YouTube video does not reflect an endorsement of Sabre Development nor of their strategies.