The role of universities as entrepreneurship ecosystems in the era of climate change: A new theory of entrepreneurial ecology (original) (raw)
My intention in this paper is to take an expansive view of the word ‘ecosystem’ and to discuss how a seemingly biological concept works at the level of society and at the level of the private sector, which includes business entrepreneurs. My ultimate aim is to connect the role of universities with entrepreneurs and the planet by introducing the concept of entrepreneurial ecology. Entrepreneurs are more related to the planet than one might on first thought imagine. As one example, I launch this paper with a status report on climate change in Asia and its relation to entrepreneurs. I then develop a promising framework to describe what we mean by ‘positive entrepreneurship’ and its relationship to the biosphere. I finally make the connection to the role of the university within the Triple Helix framework to climate change and entrepreneurial activity, and conclude with a call for ‘landscape analysis’ of a university’s readiness to become an entrepreneurial university. 2 As I generate a new approach to knowledge, I find myself relying on a variety of approaches. In the first instance I take a systems approach in examining the linkages between particular environmental phenomena and the social system known as entrepreneurship. I also must rely on biological analysis with special focus on balance, competition, and the ecological processes of invasion, succession, and dominance, also well-known characteristics of entrepreneurial activity. One such principle is ‘perturbation’, which is similar to what Schumpeter calls ‘creative destruction’. Another approach I find myself taking is ecological analysis which looks at resilience, resistance, persistence, and variability. Spatial analysis is also a necessary characteristic of the present research in focusing on the extent and scope of physical infrastructures that influence entrepreneurship in the age of climate change. Finally, I also use material flow analysis, which looks at the flows of materials and energy, metabolism studies and ecological footprints that entrepreneurs leave behind and that affect the current climate change crisis.
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