Rise & Fall of Corporate Entrepreneurship: Exploring Why Companies Close Their CE Units

Corporate Entrepreneurship units (CE units) are instrumental in driving innovation and change within established companies. However, these units are recurrently being subjected to downsizing or closure with minimal understanding of the underlying reasons. This conceptual study addresses this gap by drawing on three theoretical perspectives and three cases of closed German CE units to identify key reasons. These reasons and perspectives are then further integrated into a framework. In addition, overarching categories of reasons are derived using analytical concepts. These findings provide a basis for future research efforts that seek to investigate and explain CE unit closure, as well as novel insights into previously neglected managerial concepts for CE. Practitioners can utilize these findings to identify stumbling blocks that may prevent CE units from being closed.