Communication as an intrapreneurship factor: The case of a Higher Education Institution in the Central West Mexico Region

Abstract

Up to now, intrapreneurship as an activity within organizations has had little theoretical and empirical relevance outside business context. The purpose of the present study is to identify the influence of communication in the intrapreneurship exercised by teachers of a public higher education institution (HEI). In order to achieve the objective, 12 in-depth interviews were carried out to teachers who work at that HEI in different areas of knowledge. The results obtained using discourse analysis show the importance of productive communication to generate new opportunities within the institution. Moreover,  institutional communication actions to promote intrapreneurship are described. . Based on this study, it is suggested that HEIs should adopt an intrapreneurial culture, starting with flexible organizational structures that would allow new processes, including the communicative ones, to promote knowledge exchange, innovation and technological transfer.