The word Economy is derived from the Greek oikos (οἶκος): house and nomos (νόμος): rule. Literally so: home economics. Economy is a science concerned with the choices people make at the production, consumption and distribution of scarce goods and services.
Economy
One may also state that an economy (from Greek οίκος – “household” and νέμoμαι – “manage”) is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services by different agents. In general, it is defined as “a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the production, use, and management of resources”.
A given economy is the result of a set of processes that involves its culture, values, education, technological evolution, history, social organization, political structure and legal systems. As well as its geography, natural resource endowment, and ecology, as main factors.
Economic Activities
Economic activity is spurred by production which uses natural resources, labor and capital. It has changed over time due to technology, innovations (new products, services, processes, expanding markets, diversification of markets, niche markets, increases revenue functions).
It has changed due to innovations such as that which produces intellectual property and changes in industrial relations (most notably child labor being replaced in some parts of the world with universal access to education). The global economy refers to humanity’s economic system or systems overall.
Doughnut Economics
Kate Raworth Doughnut Economics is a visual framework for sustainable development combining the concept of planetary boundaries with the complementary concept of social boundaries. The main goal of the new model is to re-frame economic problems and set new goals.
The name Doughnut derives from the shape of the diagram, i.e. a disc with a hole in the middle. The centre hole of the model depicts the proportion of people that lack access to life’s essentials (healthcare, education, equity and so on) while the crust represents the ecological ceilings (planetary boundaries) that life depends on and must not be overshot.
Kate Raworth explains that the Doughnut Economy is based on the premise that “Humanity’s 21st century challenge is to meet the needs of all within the means of the planet”.
Business Studio
The Business Studio concept is especially designed to help managers to meet these needs, to help organizations with hands-on, easy-to-use, actionable innovation tools. Participants are educated to visualize the internal organizational processes, the business model, and the eco-system surrounding the organization.
Starting from the premises that our planet is our home and house, participants are to explore the impact and effect of new trends and new planetary house rules – i.e. the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) – on their current organizational processes. To identify Innovation Sweet Spots – and Blind Spots – in order to capture new sources of value.
To notice and discover that the trends and these new house rules may lead to healthy and prosperous innovations, to new markets and new customers, to new business models and … growth.
