The theory of Effectuation, introduced in Week 7, is a decision-making approach that uniquely serves entrepreneurs in starting business and provides a way to control a future that is inherently unpredictable. Different from a traditional logic with predetermined goal and fully planned process, ‘Effectuation’ emphasizes on controlling the next action instead of predicting the future because the process of entrepreneurship is full of uncertainties and risks. While the future is unpredictable, being able to identify the following action depending on the available resources, it is possible to influence the unpredictable future (to a certain and realistic extent) and to create opportunities.
The last case introduces the concept of ‘Social Entrepreneurship’ by looking at the creation of a non-profit marketing tool by a female entrepreneur. Guided by Dr. Goi, students compared the differences between ‘Social Entrepreneur’ versus ‘Normal Entrepreneur’ and ‘Student Entrepreneur’ before discussing how non-profit organizations can gain resources. Combined with the concept of Effectuation, students learnt that when the outcome is not the expected one, it is important to control and adjust their direction, by moving forward to the next best step instead of following a preset path that wouldn’t be necessarily viable at some point.