ABSTRACT
Social intrapreneurs demonstrated some dominant behaviours in the process of becoming aware of societal challenges and in their approach to resolving them. Three behaviours were most common: persistency and self-belief, learning, and outreach. The notion of the social intrapreneur's journey was described initially by innovator and entrepreneur Maggie De Pree—then with the consulting firm Imaginals—in a model focusing on the development of a social intrapreneur's project. The social intrapreneurs may pass through several stages described as: Inspire; Design; Lift; Launch; and Scale. Empowered social intrapreneurs have subsequently become exasperated or exited from their organisations as the result of a change of senior management or other conditions in the corporate environment. Successful business entrepreneurs may have belatedly recognised the positive social impacts of their operations and become sustainability activists. Some sustainability practitioners have become social entrepreneurs running their own enterprises in parallel with their corporate 'day jobs'. Vodafone's M-PESA illustrates this social intrapreneurial journey.
