Building 21st Century Intrapreneurial Professional Competencies through Virtual Experiential Learning

The purpose of this study is to explore what intrapreneurial professional competencies may be developed through experiential learning, meeting the requirements of 21st century employers. Intrapreneurship, a concept practiced within a Kaplan University experiential learning course offers student interns the opportunity to learn, practice, and experience the application of reality based professional competencies. Although intrapreneurship is at the infancy stage of development, the focus on individuals leveraging professional competencies and experience across an organization, while becoming more accountable for their individual professional development has become critical with relation to self preservation, job security, learning and career advancement (Baytor & Cabrera, 2014; Boon, Van der Klink, & Janssen, 2013). This narrative appreciative inquiry case study describes the lived experiences of three Kaplan University Business student interns participating in an internship work experience with KapConsulting, a student operated organization. Throughout the internship, students have the ability to practice and learn from experiences in applying intrapreneurial professional competencies within a virtual business ecosystem. According to Sutton Fell (2015), remote employment is increasingly trending upward and will become more prevalent within the next five years. The 21st century intrapreneurial professional competencies acquired during this virtual experiential learning journey are analyzed, and results and opportunities for future research are presented.