A Reflective Entrepreneur: Ashok Vasudevan and the Journey of Tastybite
基于对知名企业家Ashok Vasudevan的两次访谈，探讨其从联合利华收购Tasty Bite到出售给玛氏的过程中，如何通过反思实践应对失败、可持续性和退出等挑战，对创业研究、教育和实践有启示。
The literature on entrepreneurship acknowledges that entrepreneurs are both thinkers and doers. While scholars have previously explored entrepreneurs’ cognitions and actions, research on entrepreneurs’ reflective practices remains limited. To stimulate greater scholarly attention on exploring entrepreneurs as reflective practitioners, in this ‘Meet the Person’ article we build on two interviews with the celebrated entrepreneur Ashok Vasudevan. From buying the venture off Unilever and eventually selling it to Mars, Ashok’s journey reflects an entrepreneur’s struggles in growing a venture from an emerging economy (India of the 90s). Tearing down entrepreneurship literature’s stereotypical and mythological lore, Ashok’s journey with Tasty Bite is also a case of why “the” theory of entrepreneurship continues to remain elusive. Three key themes from Ashok’s journey (failure, sustainability, and exit) help highlight the rich possibilities that reflective practice offers to entrepreneurship literature. Implications for the advancement of reflective practice in entrepreneurship research, education, and practice are presented.