David J. Teece is Professor of the Graduate School at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of over thirty books and two hundred scholarly papers and co-editor of the Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management. Dr. Teece has received nine honorary doctorates and has been recognized by Royal Honors.
The Scholar Entrepreneur
Innovation, both technological and organizational, is what drives economic growth and wealth creation in market economies that have sound macroeconomic policies, robust institutions, and modern infrastructure. Entrepreneurs, as the Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter reminds us, are essential to the application of new technology and business models to practical problems. Discovering and developing “new combinations” of technologies and business models are core to this process. But it does not happen automatically.
Entrepreneurs discover opportunities and provide the vision, energy, and sweat to galvanize teams and seize the moment. They are the catalysts for change and improvement in the economic system.
Scholars probe for deep explanations and fundamental truths. They help develop an understanding of complex phenomenon; they also try to teach and mentor. They are not usually entrepreneurs. Their penchant is for reflection, and writing, not for doing.
Being both “reflective” and a “doer” may seem like an oxymoron, but it is not. Doing, and doing the right things, are different activities and require different skills. The competent scholar-entrepreneur has a chance to be reflective while doing the right things… the things that produce positive results in the marketplace and yield economic and social value. This quest to be both reflective and entrepreneurial, hopefully developing practical wisdom along the way, has animated my activities.
