Shared problem solving and design thinking in entrepreneurship research

Several scholars have recently conceptualized entrepreneurship as a type of design activity and suggested using design as a novel mode for entrepreneurship research. This paper proposes that by augmenting the design mode of research with the problem-framing and problem-solving approaches from management and entrepreneurship, economics, organizational science and team research, we obtain a solid foundation for identifying, characterizing, framing, and even solving problems in which both entrepreneurs and scholars are interested. The more we can uncover such shared entrepreneurial problems, the more relevant the design mode of research is for entrepreneurship scholars and the more opportunities there are for engaged scholarship. We also discuss policy problems that scholars have studied and that policy-makers responsible for entrepreneurship and innovation policies face.