An assessment of corporate entrepreneurship in the manganese alloy industry

Abstract

Since the beginnings of venture creation the traditional role of the entrepreneur changed from only being the owner of a small business to include those individuals within a large company who has entrepreneurial skills and applies these to benefit the company. In an ever faster growing global economy the role of the entrepreneur within the large organization becomes more and more important to ensure the company keeps the competitive edge. Corporate entrepreneurship is characterized by individuals who are innovative, creative, spend time and take risks. To support these entrepreneurial activities, the organization needs a climate and culture that is beneficial to these activities. An entrepreneurial orientation within an organisation is marked by dimensions such as innovativeness, pro-activeness, risk-taking, competitive aggressiveness and autonomy. The entrepreneurial behaviour among middle level managers is most critical to the effective implementation of corporate entrepreneurship. Middle managers are in a position to influence their subordinates' commitment to entrepreneurial activities once they have been initiated. BHPBilliton is a world class company with a world class management strategy and systems to support the strategy. Part of the BHPBilliton Management strategy is "innovation", wanting to give all employees the opportunity to contribute to improvement by sharing their ideas with the company. This study was done at Metalloys, Meyerton, part of the Manganese Customer Sector Group, within BHPBilliton. Metalloys embarked on various programmes to create opportunities for employees to think in an entrepreneurial way. Middle managers at Metalloys play an important role in the innovation programs implemented at Metalloys. Against this background, this study seeks to confirm whether Metalloys, Meyerton has a true entrepreneurial climate and whether the middle management level involved with these initiatives share this perception.