"'This is how Galileo helps companies innovate'
According to the study, the scientific method helps to make difficult decisions in times of uncertainty and to grow: examples from Paypal to Luxottica
4' min read
- The scientific method and positive examples
- The experiment in Tanzania and the EU
- From coal to gas in the kitchen
- The scientific method and start-ups
- More revenue
- The case of chef Gegè Mangano
- The Saim project
- Between Aristotle and Steve Jobs
4' min read
Intuition alone is not enough. For the entrepreneur who really wants to innovate or for those who have to make difficult decisions amidst great uncertainty, it is
useful to turn to Galileo Galilei and his scientific method. To grow more if the idea works or to have fewer losses if it does not.
The scientific method and positive examples
ThusPaypal, for example, has broken through the digital payment mechanism, working first on transaction security; thus Luxottica has changed the way we understand glasses, turning them into a fashion accessory as well; thus many start-ups can be helped to predict their future. In any sector and anywhere in the world. In Milan, London, as in Tanzania. Where the scientific method is changing the way of cooking.
The experiment in Tanzania and the EU
.The latest experiment, carried out in Africa, by a pool of international researchers also confirmed the results of a study conducted by the Bocconi University, together with universities in several countries: if the entrepreneur uses an approach based on cause and effect logic, i.e. on the concatenations of a 'theory of value' as well as on experimentation, he achieves greater growth in revenues and profits and is more successful in 'implementing strategic and coordinated changes in business models', is the conclusion of the paper published in Organisation Science..
A conclusion that is all the more valuable in times of great uncertainty, including new geo-political scenarios, the advent of artificial intelligence and possible changes in corporate strategies: all variables that cannot be tackled with data from the past, but in this new context the scientific method 'helps us make decisions under conditions of uncertainty: it is a protocol for disciplining our causal thinking and understanding what actions to take', summarises Alfonso Gambardella, professor of Corporate managment at Bocconi, who together with colleagues Arnaldo Camuffo and Andrea Coali, signed the study. As is the case with the experimentation of new drugs, the entrepreneurs were divided into two groups: one followed a method based only on experimentation, the second first developed a 'theory of value' made up of logical hypotheses and concatenations between the various elements, then experimentation. The latter had higher revenues and profits, and also a greater ability to adapt over time.
