The Role of Structural and Planning Autonomy in the Performance of Internal Corporate Ventures

摘要

Historically, autonomy has been treated as a broad one-dimensional construct. This paper proposes that there are two major types of autonomy for internal corporate ventures (ICVs)-planning autonomy and structural autonomy-and examines their respective impact on performance. Little prior knowledge exists regarding the autonomy-performance relationship for ICVs despite the billions of dollars of corporate investment in ICVs. In this study, I collect primary data on 38 ICVs at different stages of development from both venture-level and corporate-level managers from over a dozen companies in the U.S. Midwest. I find that a negative relationship exists for planning autonomy regardless of venture stage. However, for venture structural autonomy, a more complex relationship was discovered, which ranged from positive to negative to curvilinear based on the venture's stage of development.