About SEA: the Society for Effectual ActionSociety for Effectual ActionSEA_fa073f3a-5025-11e5-8ad2-490a35e9c2eeCo-founded by Professor Saras Sarasvathy and Darden alumni Chip Ransler and Ian Ayers, with support from the Batten Institute, SEA enables researchers and instructors to disseminate and discuss contributed papers, articles, teaching materials and techniques. Serving as a central hub for effectuation research, SEA invites the community to extend the principles presented in Sarasvathy's book, Effectuation: Elements of Entrepreneurial Expertise (2008), to new areas and practical applications.Saras SarasvathyChip RanslerIan AyersBatten InstituteEffectuation ResearchersContribute -- SEA is for co-creating the future. New researchers, educators, and entrepreneurs co-create with current researchers to broaden the scope of effectuation research.Effectuation EducatorsEntrepreneursSEA CitizensEngage -- SEA citizens can upload papers, download research, share news and media, host an event, and collaborate on projects._fa07412e-5025-11e5-8ad2-490a35e9c2eeTo fundamentally change the way entrepreneurship is taught and learned around the world._fa0741f6-5025-11e5-8ad2-490a35e9c2eeEffectuationTo effectuate is to engage in a specific type of entrepreneurial action. It has special importance for situations where the future is truly unknowable or human agency is of primary importance. In "Effectuation", Saras Sarasvathy explores the theory and techniques of non-predictive control for creating new firms, markets and economic opportunities. Using empirical and theoretical work done in collaboration with Herbert A. Simon, the author employs methods from cognitive science and behavioral economics to develop the notion of entrepreneurial expertise and effectuation.InnovationCompetitionGrowthResearchProvide microfoundations for an economics in which innovation, competition, and growth are integral and consistent with evidence from evolutionary economics ..._fa0742aa-5025-11e5-8ad2-490a35e9c2ee1ScientistsAs scientists, we seek to push the boundaries of our knowledge about how entrepreneurs make decisions.EducatorsAs educators, we seek to revolutionize the way entrepreneurship is taught throughout the world. We do that through the study and teaching of effectuation and the "entrepreneurial method." Effectuation is at its heart a human problem-solving method that was developed through research into the mental processes used by some of the best problem-solvers in the world - expert entrepreneurs.EntrepreneursWhy study expert entrepreneurs?The startup phase of a new company is one of the most "uncertain" and unpredictable situations a business person can be in. It is chaotic, exciting, surprising, and the future is unknown. Expert entrepreneurs figure out ways to navigate these choppy waters - turning big surprises into the utterly mundane. It's pretty amazing.The Venturing Experiment -- Saras Sarasvathy, under the mentorship of Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon of Carnegie Mellon University, sought to provide "valid microfoundations for an economics in which Schumpeterian perspectives on innovation, competition, and growth are integral, yet consistent with recent evidence from evolutionary economics on the dynamics of markets and industries as well as with recent developments in behavioral economics on human decision-making." The empirical evidence for the microfoundation came from a cognitive science based study of entrepreneurial expertise using think-aloud protocols. She had two main questions in her research:* "What commonalities and differences exist in the decision-making process of an group of expert entrepreneurs who started with the same idea for a new venture and face exactly the same set of decisions in building it?"* "In the face of non-existent or not-yet-existent markets, what underlying beliefs about the predictability of the future influence the decisions expert entrepreneurs make as they build a new venture?"To answer those questions, Sarasvathy had 27 expert entrepreneurs (entrepreneurs with over 15 years of experience as such who had founded multiple ventures including both successes and failures and had taken at least one company public [ranging in market capitalization of $250M - $6.5B]) work through a 17-page problem set of 10 typical questions encountered by entrepreneurs as they build a venture. They were asked to think aloud for the entire test period. All of their responses were taped, transcribed, and analyzed by Dr. Sarasvathy and a team of researchers. The responses were coded according to their causal and/or effectual logic (each of the principles above were highlighted). Sarasvathy found that 65% of the respondents used effectual logic 75% of the time when they were solving the problems.From this empirical basis, she learned that (1) expert entrepreneurs do share a common logic in solving entrepreneurial problems and (2) causal thinking is not bad, but required to form a venture. It was the timing and amount of effectuation reasoning that separated expert entrepreneurs. Especially at the early stages, expert entrepreneurs preferred to use effectual logic in creating new opportunities.If you're new to effectuation, you'll immediately recognize the depth of research that's being performed by dozens of academics worldwide. You can read some award winning papers on effectuation and see how the research has grown since Saras wrote her first paper in 2001.Decision MakingIdentify commonalities and differences in the decision-making process of expert entrepreneurs_fa07435e-5025-11e5-8ad2-490a35e9c2ee1.1PredictabilityIdentify underlying beliefs about the predictability of the future that influence the decisions expert entrepreneurs make_fa074412-5025-11e5-8ad2-490a35e9c2ee1.2TeachingRevolutionize the way entrepreneurship is taught throughout the world._fa0744d0-5025-11e5-8ad2-490a35e9c2ee2Entrepreneurship EducatorsWelcome Entrepreneurship Educators!As educators, we seek to revolutionize the way entrepreneurship is taught throughout the world. We do that through the study and teaching of effectuation and the "entrepreneurial method." Effectuation is at its heart a human problem-solving method that was developed through research into the mental processes used by some of the best problem-solvers in the world - expert entrepreneurs.Instructor PortalProvide case studies, technical notes, exercises, and syllabi for effectuation courses._fa074598-5025-11e5-8ad2-490a35e9c2ee2.1Inside, we give you access to the case studies, technical notes, exercises, and syllabi so that you can create effectuation courses, well,anywhere! We're laser-focused on providing the best content and programs for you to teach effectively and are eager to welcome you into our instructor community. We hold teaching events in multiple countries. 2015-08-31http://www.effectuation.org/about-seaOwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net