Rita McGrath’s blog at HarvardBusiness.org has been reprinted by Business Week.
As the economy shows some signs of shrugging off its doldrums, growth is back on the agenda. After cutting costs for a year or more while repeating the mantra “do more with less, “should companies be looking to special groups to jump-start growth?”
Corporate venture groups, incubator “greenhouses,” and other units dedicated to identifying and incubating growth opportunities have a checkered corporate history. Often begun with flashes of significant enthusiasm, they are often first on the chopping block when executive sponsors change, costs need to be cut, or the fashion of the day swings away from growth and back to basics. Nonetheless, there are great reasons why companies should be giving some serious thought to setting up an incubation unit, and also some great lessons learned on how to avoid some of the more serious mistakes. To read the entire blog, click here.
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