That women experience different and even more challenges within the corporate environment than men do is no news. For female entrepreneurs, the challenges they experience entering the entrepreneurial setting have been and are still being researched. Studies show that specifically female entrepreneurs face challenges such as balancing work and family, lack of networks, and creating credibility and legitimacy. However, how these challenges differ for women who innovate within companies in an intrapreneurial setting is a subject that needs more research. To explore and further understand these challenges a qualitative study has been executed with semi-structured interviews of female intrapreneurs. The findings of this study reveal that there seems to be a similarity between the challenges that female entrepreneurs and female intrapreneurs experience. These challenges were balancing work and family/social life, the glass ceiling phenomenon, creating internal credibility and legitimacy, and networking. However, it also shows that there are some perceived differences and challenges, namely, external credibility and legitimacy, raising funding, and policies applied differently to female intrapreneurs. Lastly, two unique challenges were found for females in intrapreneurship, namely, the company culture and the lack of role models. Moreover, a pattern that repeatedly came up was empowerment among women, which might not necessarily be viewed as a challenge. These findings give a reasonable indication of the challenges for women in intrapreneurship and help give direction for future research within this field.

Intrapreneur driven units in the municipal administration in Halmstad is a fairly new phenomenon that has not existed for more than seven years. In the study, employees and managers experience  about differences and similarities between the traditional mode of operation and intrapreneur were examined as well as their views on the application of the policy in practice. Quantitative and qualitative methods have been used to investigate managers and employees experience of both modes of operation. Empirical materials have been collected using previous research, interviews with the managers and a survey of the employees. Content of the municipality's policy for intraprenades has been linked to various theories and models, which form the basis for the study's questions. The study highlights the policy's personnel and operational perspectives.  The result shows several similarities between the operating modes. Positive differences are experienced in respondents participation, motivation and influence. What both professions feel is that these opportunities are not used by all employees. Positive effects with intrapreneurs from an economic perspective are reflected in, among other things, increased financial awareness of the staff. What is perceived negatively by both managers and employees is that they feel limited by the municipality's acquisition agreement. Some employees think that there may be too much of a financial hassle at their meetings. Policy is complied with on all of the units, except that it is the Home Care Board that originally wanted the formation of intrapreneur mode of operation and not the staff themselves.  The study shows no connection between employees experiences of motivation and their age, but motivation depends on whether they feel seen and confirmed by their manager. / Intraprenad i Hemvårdsförvaltningen i Halmstad är ett tämligen nytt fenomen som inte funnits längre än sju år. I studien har medarbetares och chefers erfarenheter och upplevelser kring skillnader och likheter mellan den traditionella driftsformen och intraprenad undersökts samt deras syn på policys tillämpning i praktiken. Kvantitativa och kvalitativa metoder har använts för att undersöka chefers och medarbetares erfarenheter av de båda driftsformerna. Empiriska material har samlats in med hjälp av tidigare forskning, intervjuer med cheferna och enkätundersökning av medarbetarna. Innehåll i kommunens policy för intraprenader har kopplats till olika teorier och modeller vilket utgör grunden för studiens frågeställningar. I studien belyses personal- och verksamhetsperspektiv i policy. Resultatet visar på flera likheter mellan driftsformerna. Positiva skillnader upplevs i respondenternas delaktighet, motivation och inflytande. Det som båda yrkesgrupperna upplever negativt är att dessa möjligheter inte utnyttjas av alla anställda. Positiva effekter med intraprenad ur ett ekonomiskt perspektiv visar sig bland annat i ökad ekonomisk medvetenhet hos personalen. Det som uppfattas negativt av både chefer och medarbetare är att de känner sig begränsade av kommunens uppköpsavtal. En del anställda tycker att det kan bli för mycket ”ekonomisnack”. Policy för intraprenader efterföljs på samtliga enheter förutom att det är Hemvårdsnämnden som ursprungligen önskat bildande av intraprenader och inte personalen själva.   Studien visar inget samband mellan medarbetarnas upplevelser av motivation och deras ålder. Motivationen beror snarare på om de känner sig sedda och bekräftade av sin chef.

El corporate entrepreneurship és un àmbit de coneixement que apareix durant la segona meitat del segle XX com a extensió de la iniciativa emprenedora aplicada a les organitzacions empresarials. Es defineix com el conjunt d'estratègies i de pràctiques que apliquen les empreses per fomentar, cultivar i gestionar les capacitats emprenedores de l'organització que faciliten el desenvolupament de nous projectes.L'objectiu d'aquest projecte és identificar com han adaptat les empreses espanyoles el corporate entrepreneurship a les seves estratègies, com també conèixer si existeix una relació positiva entre l'adopció d'aquestes pràctiques i els resultats empresarials.Aquesta tesi ha utilitzat dos constructes diferents per mesurar el corporate entrepreneurship: l'Orientació Emprenedora, que inclou dimensions identificades en altres estudis empírics, i les Pràctiques Emprenedores, que fan referència a un seguit d'activitats que les empreses duen a terme per millorar la capacitat emprenedora. A partir d'una mostra de 254 empreses industrials espanyoles que van respondre un qüestionari que incloïa preguntes relatives a l'Orientació Emprenedora, les Pràctiques Emprenedores i les variables d'entorn, d'estratègia i de resultats, s'han obtingut quatre tipologies d'empreses, segons el nivell de corporate entrepreneurship: emprenedores internes i externes, intraemprenedores, emprenedores externes i seguidores. Les tres primeres són innovadores i proactives, i es diferencien entre elles pel tipus de pràctiques que segueixen a l'hora de buscar noves oportunitats. La darrera tipologia està formada per empreses amb nivells baixos de corporate entrepreneurship.Les anàlisis de regressió múltiple han confirmat que hi ha una relació positiva entre el corporate entrepreneurship i els resultats empresarials, mesurats a partir d'indicadors econòmics i d'indicadors no econòmics. A més, aquesta recerca ha analitzat la influència contingencial dels dos constructes del corporate entrepreneurship, i ha demostrat que adoptar Pràctiques Emprenedores fa augmentar l'Orientació Emprenedora de l'empresa, cosa que finalment desemboca en una millora dels resultats. / El corporate entrepreneurship es un campo de conocimiento que surge en la segunda mitad del siglo XX como una extensión de la iniciativa emprendedora aplicada a las organizaciones empresariales. Se define como el conjunto de estrategias y prácticas que llevan a cabo las empresas para fomentar, cultivar y gestionar las capacidades emprendedoras de la organización que facilitan el desarrollo de nuevos proyectos.El objetivo de este proyecto es conocer la forma en la que las empresas españolas han adaptado el corporate entrepreneurship a sus estrategias, así como si existe una relación positiva entre la adopción de estas prácticas y los resultados empresariales.Esta tesis ha utilizado dos constructos diferentes para medir el corporate entrepreneurship: la Orientación Emprendedora, que incluye dimensiones identificadas en otros estudios empíricos, y las Prácticas Emprendedoras, que hacen referencia a una serie de actividades que acometen las empresas para mejorar su capacidad emprendedora.A partir de una muestra de 254 empresas industriales españolas que contestaron un cuestionario en el que se incluían preguntas relativas a la Orientación Emprendedora, las Prácticas Emprendedoras y variables de entorno, de estrategia y de resultados, se han obtenido cuatro tipologías de empresas, atendiendo a su nivel de corporate entrepreneurship: emprendedoras internas y externas, intraemprendedoras, emprendedoras externas y seguidoras. Las tres primeras son innovadoras y proactivas, y se diferencian entre sí por el tipo de prácticas que siguen para la búsqueda de nuevas oportunidades. La última tipología está formada por empresas con bajos niveles de corporate entrepreneurship.Los análisis de regresión múltiple han confirmado la existencia de una relación positiva entre el corporate entrepreneurship y los resultados empresariales, medidos a partir de indicadores económicos y no económicos. Además, esta investigación ha analizado la influencia contingencial de los dos constructos de corporate entrepreneurship y ha demostrado que la adopción de Prácticas Emprendedoras hace aumentar la Orientación Emprendedora de la empresa, lo que finalmente redunda en una mejora de los resultados. / Corporate Entrepreneurship is a field of knowledge that emerged in the second half of the twentieth century as an extension of entrepreneurial initiative applied to business organisations. It is defined as the series of strategies and practices carried out by companies to promote, cultivate and manage the organisation's entrepreneurial skills in relation to facilitating the development of new projects. The aim of this project is to understand how Spanish companies have adapted Corporate Entrepreneurship to their business strategies, and to ascertain whether there is a positive relationship between the adoption of these practices and business results. This thesis has used two different constructs to measure Corporate Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurial Orientation, which includes the same dimensions identified in other empirical studies, and Entrepreneurial Practices, referring to a series of activities undertaken by companies to improve their entrepreneurial capacity. Based on a sample of 254 Spanish industrial firms that answered a questionnaire which included questions on Entrepreneurial Orientation, Entrepreneurial Practices, as well as strategy, context and performance variables, four types of firms have been obtained, depending on their level of Corporate Entrepreneurship: internal and external entrepreneurial companies, intrapreneurial companies, external entrepreneurial companies and followers. The first three types are innovative and proactive, and differentiated by the kind of practices followed in the pursuit of new opportunities. The last type is composed of companies with low levels of Corporate Entrepreneurship. Multiple regression analysis confirmed the existence of a positive relationship between Corporate Entrepreneurship and business results, measured based on economic and non-economic indicators. Moreover, this research has examined the contingencial influence of both Corporate Entrepreneurship constructs and has demonstrated that the adoption of Entrepreneurial Practices increases companies' Entrepreneurial Orientation, which ultimately leads to improved performance.

This work outlines an Innovation Gap in technology commercialization and presents a novel tool, the Advanced Technology Innovation Mapping (ATIM) tool to address this gap. The tool aims to support technology commercialization in early stages of & prior to the New Product Development Process. The dissertation includes a detailed rationale, description, history, similar and originating methods for this tool based on Value Engineering and Function Maps for Design. This work also demonstrates on several example studies the use of the tool and evaluates via an exploratory study the usefulness of the tool. Research tests the tool in educational and training programs at the University of Texas at Austin and finds that the tool improves user understating of majority of important factors for technology commercialization (customer, technology, development activities). User feedback supports these conclusions. In the future the tool could be further expanded, more standardized and improved. Additionally, the work proposes further ways to study the tool in different settings and with groups of different sizes beyond this early exploratory study. / text