Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Impact Lecture Notes

Collection of vocabulary terms and foundational definitions covering innovation, entrepreneurship, impact principles, and the theory of effectuation based on lecture materials.

Effectuation (Sarasvathy, 2023)

A process where innovation and entrepreneurship involve dynamic coalitions and co-creation of futures among diverse stakeholders through self-selected coalitions.

Social Entrepreneurship (Miller et al., 2012)

Market-based solutions to social issues where benefits accrue primarily to targeted beneficiaries, rather than owners.

Environmental Entrepreneurship (Dean & McMullen, 2007)

The process of discovering, evaluating, and exploiting economic opportunities within environmentally relevant market failures.

Responsible Innovation (Stilgoe et al., 2013)

Taking care of the future through the collective stewardship of science and innovation in the present.

Universal Normative Approach

A guiding principle for judging innovation based on the question: "Ist es moralisch richtig?" (Is it morally right?).

Maximizing Approach

A guiding principle for judging innovation based on whether it creates the greatest total benefit ("Erzeugt es den größten Gesamtnutzen?").

Impact

The total direct and indirect change (beneficial or adverse) resulting from organizational decisions, actions, projects, or programmes.

Triple Bottom Line (TBL)

An approach that demands organizations consider costs and benefits across planet and people, in addition to profit, when doing business.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

A framework of $17$ goals adopted by all United Nations Member States in $2015$ designed to take environment, society, and economy into account for peace and prosperity.

Innovation

The identification, production, and application of new or improved solutions that engenders change in how problems are solved.

Entrepreneur (Timmons, 1994)

Someone who perceives an opportunity and creates an organization to pursue it, regardless of the resources currently controlled.

Causation

An entrepreneurial approach where the starting point is a desired outcome, focusing on the resources needed to generate that specific end.

Effectuation (Approach)

An entrepreneurial approach where the starting point is available means, focusing on the evaluation of possible outcomes.

Bird in Hand

A principle of effectuation focused on what the entrepreneur currently has, knows, and who they know ("was habe ich, was kenne ich, was damit möglich?").

Affordable Loss

A principle of effectuation that focuses on the maximum amount one is willing to lose ("wie viel kann ich maximal verlieren?").

Crazy Quilt

A principle of effectuation involving building early contacts and partnerships where individual pieces come together for success.

Pilot in the Plane

A principle of effectuation based on the worldview that the future is shaped/created rather than predicted ("Zukunft wird gestaltet, nicht vorhergesagt").

Lemonade

A principle of effectuation that involves using surprises and unexpected events as opportunities ("Nutze Überraschungen als Chancen").

Sustainable Development (UN Brundtland Commission, 1987)

Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Problem Space

The analytical area focused on identifying for whom problems exist, their substance, and under what conditions they worsen; it is considered solution agnostic.