Abstract

The research literature concerning the new product development process (NPD) is reviewed and this is placed within the concepts required for effective intrapreneurial learning (IL). A model of IL for emergent entrepreneurial organisations (EO) is presented and the necessity to assess progression towards learning objectives at the individual, job and organisation level is shown. Three aspects of organisational groundwork are identified and discussed. These include developing the NPD process, implementing the NPD strategy and allocating resources for development and IL. Sets of IL objectives are identified and discussed. These are organisational analysis, barrier demolition, team working, flexible problem solving, use of advanced support tools, facilitating communication, maintaining communication, decision making, assessment of the entrepreneurial environment (EE), and NPD risk analysis. These analyses will identify the groundwork that should be undertaken by the emergent EO and the initial learning objectives for the intrapreneurs. It is proposed that EOs will be promoted when the objectives set by both an organisational needs analysis and an individual needs analyses are accomplished and the EE is formed