Internal Fission Strategies in Corporate Entrepreneurship: A Case Study in China

Although the research of corporate entrepreneurship has continued to advance, few studies investigate corporate entrepreneurial activities within existing organizations in emerging market firms based on a case study approach. Building on a case study of PHNIX, a Chinese manufacturing firm, we draw on the literature on corporate entrepreneurship to develop a framework for understanding the occurrence, development and management of corporate entrepreneurial activities in organizational settings, and present a typology of some of the strategies that can be used in the process of corporate entrepreneurship. The findings considered the elements of entrepreneurial insight, pro-entrepreneurial organizational antecedents, knowledge sharing activities and internal incubation represent the core work in the fission process of corporate entrepreneurship. As such, we conclude with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications for further understanding the essence of corporate entrepreneurship in a complex organizational context. In addition, managers seeking to corporate entrepreneurship could benefit from the findings enabling them to understand and even adopt some of the principles and fission strategies used by PHNIX.