The Entrepreneurship Method in this text aligns with the work of Dr. Saras Sarasvathy and her...

  

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The Entrepreneurship Method in this text aligns with the work of Dr. Saras Sarasvathy and her theory of effectuation, which is based on the idea that because the future is unpredictable yet controllable, entrepreneurs can affect the future. Sarasvathy believes it is futile for entrepreneurs to try to predict the future. In 1997, Dr. Sarasvathy traveled to 17 states across the United States to interview 30 entrepreneurs from different types and sizes of organizations and from a variety of industries to assess their thinking patterns. The aim of her research was to understand their methods of reasoning about specific problems. Each entrepreneur was given a 17-page problem that involved making decisions to build a company from a specific product idea. By the end of the study, Sarasvathy discovered that 89% of the more experienced, serial entrepreneurs used more creative, effectual thinking more often than its contrary-predictive or causal thinking. Until Dr. Sarasvathy's study, we really didn't know how entrepreneurs think-at least, previous research didn't identify such salient patterns as her work. She found that entrepreneurs, especially those entrepreneurs who had started businesses multiple times, exhibited specific thinking patterns. Thus, we are able to demonstrate that entrepreneurship can be taught because we can train ourselves to think differently and how we think is the antecedent to how we act Critical Thinking Questions 1. What strengths and weaknesses do you see in Sarasvathy's effectuation theory of entrepreneurship? Give some examples that would apply to real life. 2. If you were asked to participate in Dr. Sarasvathy's study, how might she classify your ways of thinking and problem solving? 3. What additional research questions can you suggest that would shed light on how entrepreneurs think and solve problems? The Entrepreneurship Method in this text aligns with the work of Dr. Saras Sarasvathy and her theory of effectuation, which is based on the idea that because the future is unpredictable yet controllable, entrepreneurs can affect the future. Sarasvathy believes it is futile for entrepreneurs to try to predict the future. In 1997, Dr. Sarasvathy traveled to 17 states across the United States to interview 30 entrepreneurs from different types and sizes of organizations and from a variety of industries to assess their thinking patterns. The aim of her research was to understand their methods of reasoning about specific problems. Each entrepreneur was given a 17-page problem that involved making decisions to build a company from a specific product idea. By the end of the study, Sarasvathy discovered that 89% of the more experienced, serial entrepreneurs used more creative, effectual thinking more often than its contrary-predictive or causal thinking. Until Dr. Sarasvathy's study, we really didn't know how entrepreneurs think-at least, previous research didn't identify such salient patterns as her work. She found that entrepreneurs, especially those entrepreneurs who had started businesses multiple times, exhibited specific thinking patterns. Thus, we are able to demonstrate that entrepreneurship can be taught because we can train ourselves to think differently and how we think is the antecedent to how we act Critical Thinking Questions 1. What strengths and weaknesses do you see in Sarasvathy's effectuation theory of entrepreneurship? Give some examples that would apply to real life. 2. If you were asked to participate in Dr. Sarasvathy's study, how might she classify your ways of thinking and problem solving? 3. What additional research questions can you suggest that would shed light on how entrepreneurs think and solve problems?