ENTREPRENEURIAL OPPORTUNITY RECOGNITION

Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition

Table of Content

CHAPTER-I: INTRODUCTION3

Aims and Objectives of the Research5

Significance of the Study5

Research Questions10

CHAPTER-II: LITERATURE REVIEW12

Constructing the Model12

Factors Influencing Entrepreneurial Opportunity Identification Process13

Review17

Opportunity Recognition17

The Role of the Entrepreneur19

The Role of the Environment21

A Model of the Opportunity Recognition Process23

Opportunity Exploitation23

The Role of the Entrepreneur25

The Role of the Environment26

A Model of the Opportunity Exploitation Process27

Opportunity Recognition in Healthcare: An Example- Irish Start-Up Healthcare Set Ups28

Exploratory Scale Background31

CHAPTER-III: METHODOLOGY34

Methods35

Sample35

Data Collection Methods35

Survey Instrument36

CHAPTER-IV: RESULTS, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION39

The Robinson Subscales39

Exploratory Scales40

Results of the Discriminant Analysis and Regression Procedures42

Discussion43

A Creativity-based Model of Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition45

Five Stages of Opportunity Recognition46

Three Modes of Organizational Learning in Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition49

Cognitive Learning in the Discovery Phase50

Behavioral Learning in the Formation Phase51

Action Learning across Both Phases of Opportunity Recognition53

The Role of Organizational Learning in Opportunity Recognition54

CHAPTER-V: CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RESEARCH56

Needs for Further Research58

References61

Appendices85

CHAPTER-I: INTRODUCTION

Entrepreneurial activity is an extensive and versatile field of research, making it both highly attractive and complex. For researchers like us, inexperienced but interested in entrepreneurial activity, it is a challenge to understand what entrepreneurial activity is about. In the last two decades the field has attracted increasing attention, resulting in the publication of a large quantity of academic articles. Most of these articles only cover one aspect of entrepreneurial activity or adopt a specific perspective, which complicates gaining deep insight into the phenomenon. Literature reviews are useful for that purpose, but most existing literature reviews on entrepreneurial activity have focused on specific topics such as opportunity identification (Gaglio, 1997) or on a specific perspective on entrepreneurial activity such as research on psychological and sociological traits (e.g. Shapero & Sokol, 1982; Cunningham & Lischeron; 1991; Thornton, 1999).

Even though these publications have contributed to the understanding of these specific topics or perspectives, it is unclear to us how pieces of knowledge on diverse topics and perspectives are related, and how these pieces make up the puzzle of entrepreneurial activity. Therefore we feel that these publications do not provide us with sufficient information for our inquiry. Consequently a need exists for a literature review that relates publications on entrepreneurial activity, thus increasing our understanding of the field.

The domain of the entrepreneurial activity field is defined as the recognition and pursuit of opportunities, and opportunity recognition is considered to be a key element in the entrepreneurial process. Experts defined entrepreneurial activity research as the scholarly examination of how, by whom and with what effects opportunities to create future goods and services are discovered, evaluated and exploited (Orwa, 2004). Prior research suggested that having specific information is crucial both in evaluating a venture idea and in facilitating the entrepreneurial mindset and activities. Knowledge is unevenly dispersed, and the possession of information related to a particular opportunity leads to opportunity discovery.

Although there has been much research on the role of information in opportunity recognition, the means by which entrepreneurs in the high technology domain actually recognize opportunities remains elusive. The role of information is especially crucial in high tech ventures due to the highly intensive dynamic nature of the ...