Scholars in Creativity, Innovation & Entrepreneurship Research Fund
2008 Recipients
David I. Weightman
Professor, School of Art+Design
Digital Tools for Punk Manufacturing
The central tenet of the Punk music movement in the 1980’s was that enthusiasm and attitude were more important than musical expertise and familiarity with traditional forms of expression. Participation in music making was extended to a much wider group than hitherto and it was the forebear of the user-generated content explosion of recent years, visible now in a multitude of manifestations, (including blogs, Youtube, Facebook) that have collectively reshaped the Internet that enabled the revolution to occur in the first place.
Punk manufacturing is the same approach extended to the making, manufacture and distribution of products, often created by and for enthusiast users, niche markets or special interest groups outside traditional frameworks for manufacturing and distribution. (The term does not only apply to teenagers or aging members of the Clash, and should not be taken to have any derogatory connotations, rather it is equivalent to the current use of the term Skunk-works to describe off-site, out-of-the-box, blue-sky research units within companies.)
Accessible digital fabrication technology is seen as the next step in the user content generation explosion that has already revolutionised the music, media, graphics and publishing industries. This research project aims to identify and categorise examples of punk manufacturing enterprises that have used digital fabrication technology, with a view to determining the nature of that experience and any impediments to creation and progress. We are keen to identify opportunities to develop the use of digital tools and networks to support fledgling enterprises, for prototyping and small-scale production of objects.
Ashwini Chhatre
Assistant Professor, Geography
Common Property, Market Value, and Collective Enterprises in Natural Resource Management
The project compares the performance of household and collective enterprise strategies in meeting the twin objectives of livelihoods and sustainable management of natural resources. The research will generate insights into the role of enterprise-based strategies in reconciling conservation and development objectives, as well as the conditions and factors favoring a collective strategy for rural enterprises over one based on individual households.
Through a comparative analysis of four case studies of common property resources in India, the proposed research will explore the relationship between market value of natural resources and particular enterprise strategies in meeting the twin objectives of rural income generation and sustainable management of natural resources. The findings from the comparative analysis will provide insights into the role of markets in community-based natural resource management, and will speak to the growing literature on market-based mechanisms and instruments in decentralized natural resource management.
Liora Bresler
Professor, Curriculum & Instruction
Intellectual Entrepreneurship in Academe
The overall goal of this proposal is to explore how the intellectual entrepreneurial spirit of faculty leads to their academic excellence and impact. The study will use qualitative case-study methodology, focusing on a group of entrepreneurial faculty selected for their outstanding achievements across academic disciplines. Specific objectives include: 1. Identify entrepreneurial modes of faculty operation in academe. 2. Re-characterize these modes of operation in terms more traditionally associated with entrepreneurship: experiential learning; creative processes; identification and creation of opportunities; team building and collaborations; risk taking; relationship to failure; barriers; and rewards. 3. Analyze the contribution of these specific entrepreneurial characteristics and modes of operation to exceptional impact and academic excellence of faculty.
This investigation is pioneering in three respects: (i) it is the first to propose and adopt the above broad definition of AIE, encompassing research, teaching, and service; (ii) it is also the first to use empirical, field-based methodology to investigate the phenomena of either Academic Intellectual Entrepreneurship, or Intellectual Entrepreneurship; and (iii) it is the first to examine academic intellectual activity in entrepreneurial terms. At the basis of this project is the assumption that an expressed commitment to AIE can contribute greatly to the success, impact and satisfaction of academics, to the mission of the university, and to society at large. This is a seed project. The results of this project and follow-on projects are expected to contribute to the theory of Intellectual Entrepreneurship in Academe and will empower both faculty and doctoral students to experience each of the three components of academe along the three entrepreneurial axes: recognition of opportunities; acquisition and management of resources; and creation of a new entity of value.
William Bernhard, Professor, Political Science
Tracy Sulkin, Assistant Professor, Political Science
Political Ambition and Legislative Entrepreneurship
Governance in our increasingly complex society requires innovative public policy solutions. The pace of social, economic, and technical change challenges our elected representatives to anticipate new problems and move quickly to develop policies to address them. Members of Congress, however, face constraints on their time, particularly the need to secure re-election. What, then, leads legislators to invest their limited resources on developing creative and novel policies? That is, what causes legislators to act as policy entrepreneurs?
We argue that the sources of inventive and successful public policy lie in the career incentives of legislators. We contend that their willingness to invest resources in policy specialization and innovation reflects their political ambitions and opportunities for advancement. By understanding how political career paths affect the propensity to engage in policy entrepreneurship, we will be able to identify the institutions that promote innovative and creative policy solutions.