Batten Institute

While the future has always been unpredictable, the global uncertainty caused by the novel coronavirus is at a record high. To help us steer through this unprecedented crisis, Professor Saras Sarasvathy shares insights on entrepreneurial decision-making and offers four strategies seasoned founders use to turn uncertainty into opportunity.

Does career risk inhibit entrepreneurship? Research from Darden Professor Ting Xu and colleagues shows the effect of leave policies on entrepreneurship and explores the extent to which longer job-protected leave leads to new ventures, creating jobs in industries in which experimentation before entry has low costs and high benefits.

China’s progress towards modernization and marketization gave women unprecedented opportunities to launch and scale private enterprises and make billions in the process. Professor Ming-Jer Chen shares insights on how China managed to forge a new class of super-successful female founders.

How should brands communicate their sustainability plans and their corporate environmental performance? Professor June West and Joanna Price, Sr. Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications at Coca-Cola, explore the challenges of developing a successful communication strategy around climate action.

At a time of uncertainty and growing anxiety caused by the coronavirus pandemic, having transparent, consistent and empathetic communication with key stakeholders is more critical than ever. Darden Professor June West and Darden Executive-in-Residence Steve Soltis share four lessons in communicating through the fast-moving crisis.

Business has the tools to solve the global climate crisis, but will business leaders have the will to drive the changes necessary to avoid the worst consequences of climate change?

Corporate innovation is crucial for value creation. What does that have to do with gender diversity? A new global study shows the real influence and impact of gender diversity on boards; when it comes to greater balance, so come greater innovation outcomes. And the effects may be evident sooner than you think.

Raising venture capital isn’t for the faint of heart, but the challenges are magnified for female founders. Professors Saras Sarasvathy and Elena Loutskina share insights on barriers women face to raising risk capital and how to overcome them.

MIT Professor Cynthia Breazeal, a keynote speaker at a recent Psychology of Technology Conference led by Darden Professor Roshni Raveendhran, shares insights about a new generation of social robots and their impact on human flourishing.