Interpreneurship: examining the effects of social structure on the entrepreneurial orientation - organizational performance relationship / by Curtis B. Moore.

The term 'interpreneurship' is used to refer to macro-level, relationally focused entrepreneurship. Interpreneurship is similar to both 'intrapreneurship' and 'alliance entrepreneurship.' There are, however, substantive differences. The term 'intrapreneurship' as originally coined by Pinchot (1985) in his book discussing how the entrepreneurial spirit can be cultivated within established companies, generally refers to macro-level entrepreneurship, such as corporate entrepreneurship. The term has also been used to refer to entrepreneurship at lower organizational units (e.g. strategic business unit level) in large firms (Lumpkin & Dess, 1996). The term is used to identify entrepreneurship within an organization or organizational unit. Therefore, interpreneurship and intrapreneurship both refer to macro-level (e.g. organizational or organizational unit) entrepreneurship.

Alliance entrepreneurship (Sarkar, Echambadi, & Harrison, 2001) is similar to interpreneurship in that both of these concepts are macro-level constructs and involve some type of relationship between organizations. However, alliance entrepreneurship does not focus on relational attributes, but instead, focuses on the number of external ties with other organizations (i.e., key supplier relationships with their large preferred customers). Also, this approach is concerned with only one firm's competitive advantage, not other partnering firms. Interpreneurship, on the other hand, takes a relational approach to the study of entrepreneurship in large firms and is concerned with the quality of network ties, not just the quantity of ties.

Interpreneurship is the combining of two distinct types of resources in innovative ways. The two resources are entrepreneurial orientation and relational resources. Interpreneurship seems most important for organizations who are constrained in their ability for product innovation, such as manufacturing retail, personal, and household goods (the supplier in this study). Instead such organizations have to innovate on their business processes, systems, and structures that include innovation in managing interorganizational relationships, such as those between suppliers and their preferred customers.