case study week 5

 The FEP-KLTSA Business Challenge presented a platform for young Kenyan entrepreneurs to showcase their innovative and entrepreneurial skills. The competition was designed to promote entrepreneurship skills amongst youths in the leather industry while emphasizing the importance of risk management. As the case study group evaluates the FEP-KLTSA Business Challenge, the following questions emerge:

1. Can effectuation also be used in companies? Or is it useful only for entrepreneurship?

Effectuation focuses on leveraging an entrepreneur's existing resources to create sustainable startups. However, this principle can also be applied to companies, both large and small. Effectuation principles can help companies respond to changes in the market or customer preference by focusing on internal resources and capabilities. By practicing effectuation, companies can identify and capitalize on existing resources to create new opportunities in the market.

2. What is the key difference between effectuation and other approaches in entrepreneurship?

Effectuation is a process-driven approach to entrepreneurship, with an emphasis on creativity, experimentation, and collaboration with stakeholders. The "traditional" approach to entrepreneurship, on the other hand, is more focused on market research and planning before product development. Effectuation helps entrepreneurs test the waters with iterative product development, building relationships with stakeholders, and learning from successes and failures to tailor their offering.

3. Are the effectual approach and the traditional (causal) approach mutually exclusive? Does effectuation mean: "not planning"?

Effectuation and the traditional causal approach are not mutually exclusive. Effectuation is a complementary approach that emphasizes opportunities presented by the existing resources of the venture. Planning can help entrepreneurs determine if a venture's resources can support the development and scaling of new products or services. Effectuation, as opposed to "not planning", is an emphasis on the interactive decision-making process to guide the firm's development, strategy, and product/service offerings from the resource lens of the firm.

4. Are Effectuation and Lean Startup compatible?

Effectuation and Lean Startup principles can complement each other effectively. Both emphasize experimentation through a series of minimum viable experiments (MVEs) to learn about customer preferences and market fit. The effectual approach can be used to increase the resource potential of a Lean Startup, and adaptive learning can benefit from the effectual focus on creativity and collaboration with stakeholders.

In conclusion, the FEP-KLTSA Business Challenge helps emphasize the importance of principles that drive risk management and business growth. Effectuation, as a process-driven approach to entrepreneurship, focuses on leveraging an entrepreneur's internal resources through creativity, collaboration, and experimentation, and complements other entrepreneurship approaches like the Lean Startup method. Thus, learning from the FEP-KLTSA case competition, entrepreneurs can combine and tailor entrepreneurship approaches for their ventures. 

References

Browder, T., & Kurasaki, D. (2018). Lean Start-Up and Effectuation for New Venture Creation: Bridging the Gap. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 17(4), 1-11.

Haynie, J. M., Shepherd, D. A., & Mosakowski, E. (2010). A problem-based approach to building entrepreneurship education programs. Journal of Small Business Management, 48(4), 446-467.

Sarasvathy, S. D. (2010). Effectuation: Elements of entrepreneurial expertise. Edward Elgar Publishing.