Entrepreneurship & innovation

How we think about, and live out, the purpose of business matters a great deal — not just in businesses, but also in larger societal conversations about democracy, the environment, income inequality, the American Dream and creating the kinds of regulations necessary to manage our economy.

There is no question the current sustainability crisis — from climate change to resource depletion — requires that the world transition to a low-carbon, environmentally friendly economy. The question is how to do this quickly.

In the Smart Machine Age, human beings will be needed to do those tasks that technology won’t be able to do well. What type of leader is needed in that kind of environment? It won’t be a command-and-control, hierarchical leader.

Can social impact bonds — a new and unique public-private partnership that raises private capital to invest in programs designed to improve social issues?

A likely result of the Smart Machine Age is the demise of the dominant business and leadership model built for the Industrial Revolution, which was designed to direct and produce high efficiency, standardization and reliability.

Research by Darden Professor Samuel E. Bodily suggests several new ways to encourage entrepreneurs teetering on the edge of launching a high potential startup but fearful of the financial risks involved.

Myth: Bigger is always better. In fact, bigger is frequently more bureaucratic and complex.

Scholars from three continents convened in Washington, D.C., for the annual Entrepreneurship and Innovation Research Conference, hosted by the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and the University of Cambridge Judge Business School.

There are many ways to think about the recent explosion of digital technologies and data. Not surprisingly, the ubiquity of personal information that can be easily and cheaply collected from online and offline transactions, social media and sensors embedded in a growing array of physical objects such as TVs and smartphones, can trigger suspicion, a