The Venture Imperative: A New Model for Corporate Innovation. (Bookshelf).

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 run corporate venture initiatives. Only with such formal processes, they write, can the new seedlings be given the time and resources they need to grow. The authors draw skillfully from examples at companies such as Eastman Kodak, Apple Computer, Merrill Lynch & Co. and IBM Corp. to explore differing approaches and results.

An extensive set of appendices includes advice on VBO structure, a board of advisors agreement, questions and answers for a thorough self-assessment, a market segmentation analysis guide and more. Lucidly written, and using a host of charts and tables to add clarity to its ideas, The Venture Imperative is a superb addition to the available literature on developing new initiatives within mature companies.