25E18000 - Sustainable Entrepreneurship, Lecture, 1.11.2021-8.12.2021
This course space end date is set to 08.12.2021 Search Courses: 25E18000
Session #5: What makes sustainable entrepreneurship so hard? (I): Tensions and trade-offs.
In session #4 we saw that iteration is very important for sustainable entrepreneurs. This means that the ideas one starts a venture with are not necessarily 'good' of viable ideas, and thus have to be developed and changed. But what makes this happen? Why doesn't something that seems to make sense stand the test of time?
One part of the answer - and on what we will focus today - is that sustainable entrepreneurship is full of tensions and trade-offs. It is often only once an idea is in practice that we truly see these at play, and thus have to iterate and change the venture.
The most salient of these tensions and trade-offs is the conflict between social, environmental, and financial outcomes. Certainly there are times when being more environmentally friendly can help us make more money as a business, but this is not an unlimited relationship. Instead, very real trade-offs exist, and we have have to be aware of them and make purposeful decisions about them.
To do this, we will use a case from a relatively simple business: Aparigraha Yoga. Yoga may not seem like a hotbed of sustainable entrepreneurship, but the case wonderfully exemplifies the notion that a venture 'cannot have it all,' and often has to make decisions about prioritizing social, environmental, or financial outcomes.
The overarching point of today's session is therefore deceptively simple: to start understanding what makes sustainable entrepreneurship so hard.
Estimated Preparation time
Module/Element | Estimate length (minutes) | Notes |
Session overview | 5 | |
Private vs. Social benefits and costs, and sustainability | 20 | 2 videos, 1 question |
Case: Aparigraha Yoga | 60 | 1 case, 4 questions |
Final Thoughts | 5 | |
Optional | 1 Article on market failures and entrepreneurial opportunities | |
90 |
Utvärderingsmetod: Högsta betyg