ASSESSMENT OF THE COMPARATIVE POTENTIALS OF INTRAPRENEURSHIP AND SELF EMPLOYMENT AS TOOLS OF EMPLOYMENT GENERATION AND WEALTH CREATION*

Abstract

The emergence of intrapreneurship as alternative expression of entrepreneurship at a time of persistently high failure rate of the popular self employment for all promotion strategy, despite strong policy support and massive deployment of resources, makes a comparative assessment of the two alternatives, logical, desirable and necessary. This paper undertakes this assessment through the examination of the net job gains from each alternative and their respective contribution to economic growth. The analysis shows that most of the progressive entrants into self employment who create more, permanent and better jobs come from intrapreneurs (who are generally more experienced and resource-able), rather than from the unemployed or inexperienced resource dependent population, like young school graduates and the retired who tend to exit as they enter self employment, like a revolving door, as expressed in high failure rate. Since the latter category is the target of the current policy and programmes in Nigeria, as in most other developing countries, this might offer an explanation for the persistently high and global failure rate of self employment strategy and makes Intrapreneurship development policy option attractive, deserving priority policy support and primary focus of Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP). Based on this, it is considered that governments need to determine and encourage only few progressive entrants, instead of the current self-employment-for-all promotion, especially the young graduates. Since evidences suggest that the focus and development of corporate entrepreneurship (Intrapreneurship) through Human Resources Management Practices is likely to produce better results than we are getting now, it is the responsibility of human resources management professionals to become business partners by refocusing and focusing the development of appropriate personnel management practices and skills to transform organization personnel into entrepreneurial workforce for employment generation, wealth creation and economic growth.