The Venture Imperative: A New Model for Corporate Innovation.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: Bookshelf - Book - Brief Article

The Venture Imperative: A New Model for Corporate Innovation.

By Heidi Mason and Tim Rohner. Harvard Business School Press, 358 pages. $29.95.

As the book's title implies, it isn't about enticing outside venture capital but developing internal corporate processes that drive new ventures. The authors, consultants with extensive backgrounds in working with startups and big corporations alike, argue that the principal problem has been in the execution, not the basic framework, of corporate venturing.

Essentially, the authors maintain that the innovation that's often needed for companies to thrive is -- surprise! -- antithetical to many managements. In fact, Mason and Rohner compare corporations to living organisms that produce antibodies that "will invariably perceive new ventures, which carry the threat or promise of potentially radical change, as a challenge to this corporate defense system."

Their central thesis is that companies need to create "venture business offices" (VBOs) to design and...