Intrapreneurship as a tool for lean transformation : case study of VBS, intrapreneurship in IT space by Oladapo E. Bakare.

Abstract

Lean is heralded as the driving methodology for successful organizations ranging from defense to consumer industries. Its approach to reduction of waste and continuous process improvement allows a company to reduce cost, meet customer needs, and sustain growth. As companies embark on transforming their organizations into more efficient, nimble, and high velocity organizations through integration of lean they face severe inertia. The process of lean transformation and integrating lean is an arduous task at which most companies falter on for a number of reasons. These reasons are strategic (costs and time to implement changes), political (decision making process delays), and cultural (company norms and employee motivation). Promoting intrapreneurship in organizations can serve as a driving mechanism to ensure change goals and objectives are met and are sustainable. Intrapreneurial entities are able to cut through silos within an organization and meet the needs of its direct customers. The survival of an intrapreneurial organization is solely dependent on meeting customer needs. Therefore, the cost and time delay to meet the needs of its customers for an intrapreneurial organization is much less than other established functional and support groups within the organization. The hypothesis was that incorporating intrapreneurship into a transformation plan will aid in successful integration of lean in the organization. VBS, an intrapreneurial group within Raytheon IDS, is used as a case example of the impact of intrapreneurship on lean transformation. VBS has played a key role in monitoring and promoting lean culture at IADC (Integrated Air Defense Center and manufacturing site for IDS) at Raytheon. Using real-time metrics, the group has implemented many essential performance and behavioral feedback loops. These real-time metrics and behavioral results continuously drive operations to converge on lean behavior. This has resulted in a 20 % reduction in operating costs for four years running from its lean transformation.