Fostering corporate innovation by living apart together Management accounting information exchange in the Bosch startup platform

This chapter presents a descriptive case study of a corporate program that lets employees start new businesses as if they are independent startups, offering them the freedom to be entrepreneurs but at the same time allowing them to use resources of the corporation. Called the "startup corporation" or "inside-out" startup program, this approach aims to combine the philosophy of the startup with the experience, resources, and network of an established company. The case study pertains to the Bosch startup platform (BOSP). The chapter focuses on the idea and organizational design of BOSP and on the exchange of management accounting information among different organizations. It then focuses on the interorganizational information exchange between the BOSP board, the investor boards, and the startups. For financial accounting consolidation purposes, BOSP is part of the normal accounting process. All financial BOSP data, such as monthly numbers on actual revenues and expenses, are basically available for Bosch HQ in the central accounting SAP database.