Corporate Venture Governance: Key Success Factors and Challenges for Entrepreneurial Autonomy

Abstract

This study investigates key success factors and challenges in governing corporate venture (CV) initiatives for digital innovation, drawing on in-depth interviews with 40 practitioners from established firms in the German-speaking DACH region. As digital transformation accelerates, corporations increasingly turn to CV as a strategic tool to foster business model innovation and maintain competitiveness. However, effectively balancing entrepreneurial autonomy with integration into the parent organization presents persistent governance challenges. This research organizes its qualitative analysis around three interconnected dimensions defined by previous research: (1) Structures, (2) operations and processes, and (3) relational mechanisms. The study adopts a four-phase methodological approach, including developing and pretesting a semi-structured interview protocol, followed by qualitative content analysis. The sample encompasses a diverse range of industries and CV models, ensuring broad relevance of the findings. The results emphasize management support as a crucial success factor in governance. Executive sponsorship legitimizes CV initiatives, secures resources, and aids corporate navigation. Governance models must balance integration and autonomy while ensuring resource access. Operational barriers include misaligned incentives, resource allocation issues, and bureaucratic inertia. Middle management resistance, budget constraints, and competing priorities hinder CV initiatives. A paradox exists: efficient corporate processes conflict with the exploratory nature of CVs. Successful CVs address these tensions through selective process decoupling and dedicated resources, especially in IT and sales. Relational mechanisms like strong networks, cultural compatibility, and interdisciplinary teams are vital for effective CV governance (CVG). Integrating experienced corporate staff with external hires enhances knowledge transfer and reduces alienation. We provide guidelines for practitioners, emphasizing the need to tailor governance to specific innovation objectives. Recommendations include formalizing executive sponsorship, designing incentive structures, and cultivating cross-boundary networks. The research offers insights that extend existing frameworks and inform academic understanding and managerial practice. Findings underscore the importance of dynamic, context-sensitive governance for leveraging CV as a driver of digital innovation.