**6. Use and effectiveness of corporate venturing methods**

In our research on various methods of corporate venturing as outlined in our CE model, we discovered that some of the most widely used methods are not perceived to be the most effective in advancing innovation. As depicted in **Figure 4**, the corporate entrepreneurs who we surveyed as part of our research indicated which types of inside-out methods their organizations used. They then rated each of them on a 1–10 effectiveness scale, with 1 being the least effect and 10 being the most.

In this data, readers can see that corporate entrepreneurs believe that some of the most widely used methods of inside-out corporate venturing are also perceived to be effective in advancing innovation. This is the case for mergers and acquisitions, university contracts and joint ventures. However, one can also see that some of the methods perceived to be most effective are seldom used. This is especially the case for idea incubators, whether they are internal or external. They were the most highly rated in effectiveness, at 8.5 and 9.0 respectively; however, they were only used by 57% and 14% of respondents. This disconnect between popularity of some methods of corporate venturing and their effectiveness is even more starkly revealed in the analysis conducted on the outside-in methods, as depicted in **Figure 5**.

The data in **Figure 5** indicate that the most widely used outside-in method, joint ventures, is seen as fairly ineffective, with a rating of 5.0 on a 1–10 scale. On the opposite end of the spectrum, two of the methods perceived as being the most effective are utilized the least. This is the case for open innovation and crowd sourcing and business accelerators. What this data on corporate venturing says to the researchers is that large, global, corporate companies are familiar and comfortable with a few tools that they have used on more than one occasion. However, experience shows that these methods have not always been effective, at least from the perspectives of the corporate entrepreneurs we surveyed. The methods they do not use might be perceived as

#### **Figure 5.**

*Corporate venturing outside-in methods: degree of use and perceived effectiveness.*

effective given the experience respondents had with the other methods; however, they also might not know enough about the lesser-used methods. These methods are newer ones and might be attractive for that reason alone.
