UVA Darden Professor Saras Sarasvathy Wins 2022 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research

Groundbreaking effectuation model secures foremost international prize in field

University of Virginia Darden School of Business Professor Saras Sarasvathy fundamentally changed how the world sees entrepreneurship, and her pathbreaking research has now earned her the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research.

Sarasvathy describes Effectuation as “a unique logic based on nonpredictive control.” Sarasvathy, the Paul M. Hammaker Professor of Business Administration at Darden, pioneered the discovery of Effectuation, the mode of thinking used by expert entrepreneursto build successful ventures.

 

Rather than trying to predict the future, she says, “Successful entrepreneurs have learned the inverse lesson — that just with things already within your control in the present, you can co-create the future, instead of predicting it. That is thinking effectually.”

READ MORE: Saras Sarasvathy on effectuation

Sarasvathy’s research illuminates both how entrepreneurs make their decisions and how the entrepreneurial process unfolds, influencing thousands and changing the way business schools teach the subject. She has also shown a remarkable commitment to engaging with the global entrepreneurship community, and her influence in the field is pervasive. In 2019, the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers presented Sarasvathy with the organization’s Legacy Impact Award for her contributions to entrepreneurship, and in 2020, the journal Small Business Economics devoted an entire issue to the theory. More recently, a series of children’s books of has begun to teach the principles to a new generation of entrepreneurs.

Since its inception in 1996 the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research has been awarded by three organizations based in Sweden: The Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum (Entreprenörskapsforum), the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), and Vinnova. The prime criteria for receiving the award is “outstanding scientific achievement” that offers “significant contribution to theory-building concerning entrepreneurship and small business development, the role and importance of new firm formation and the role of SMEs in economic development.”

The Prize Committee says of Sarasvathy,

Her conceptual framework for understanding entrepreneurial decision-making has reached well beyond the boundaries of entrepreneurship research, including the domains of marketing, strategy, and international business. In that capacity, it is a prime example of how entrepreneurship scholars can contribute to the development of neighboring domains of research. As an originator, driving force, and ambassador for entrepreneurship research, Professor Sarasvathy embodies all of those qualities instrumental for maintaining entrepreneurship as a vigorous, impactful, and practically relevant domain of research.

The award, which includes a € 100,000 prize, will be presented in Stockholm on 25 May. For further information, visit www.e-award.org.