Entrepreneurship Theories

 The actualization theory of entrepreneurial opportunities introduced by Ramoglou and Tsang (2016) is intended to bridge the gap between discovery and creation theories of entrepreneurial opportunity. The discovery perspective views entrepreneurial opportunities as existing out there in objective reality waiting to be found and exploited by entrepreneurs. This implies that if an opportunity does not exist, then no amount of effort to exploit it will be fruitful. One would be spinning their wheels! Denying the objective existence of opportunities is a bit like arguing that if Edison had died early, we might not have the electric world we current experience as perhaps only he could subjectively construct the notion of electric light. Clearly it is a stretch to have so little faith in multiple independent invention. The creation perspective takes the opposite view, suggesting that opportunities do not exist outside of entrepreneurs themselves and are created by their cognitions and ac...

We have all seen motivation memes about passion. Some popular ones include: "passion never fails", "I live my passion", "follow your passion", "passion is priceless", "passion is purpose", "make your passion your paycheck", "your passion is your success", "ignite your passion", "find your passion", "your passion will find you" . . . We have also witnessed entrepreneurial passion on display when entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to potential investors. TV shows like Dragon's Den and Shark Tank have helped to place passion at the center of our attributions of potential entrepreneurial success. "I like your passion" is a hallmark comment preceding made-for-TV deal-making. Passion and entrepreneurship Over the last two decades, entrepreneurship researchers have started to unpack the concept of entrepreneurial passion, which has long been a mainstay of motivational rheto...

As always, we should take new theories with a grain of salt. In this case, you might get a little grossed out! The Toxoplasma gondii parasite is carried by felines (cats) and has be found to infect their human masters too. The parasite can be caught through contact with the animals and their bodily fluids and solids. The parasite causes brain cysts that last a lifetime and lead to behaviors including bipolar disorder, reduced fear, and lower IQ. Some have estimated that over 2 billion humans have been infected, though infection rates differ greatly by country. For instance, the U.S. infection rate is around 3%, while it may be as high as 50 to 70% in France and Mexico. Petr Houdek at University of Economics in Prague reviewed the literature in a 2017 paper published in the Academy of Management Perspectives . Research by Stefanie Johnson (Leeds School of Business) and colleagues (a gang of non-biologists) suggests that those infected by the virus are 1.7 times more likely to ch...

Should entrepreneurs strive to be first? This is an important question that is relevant to myriads of decisions that entrepreneurs make involving commitments of resources and attention. For instance, given the option to implement two ideas, one with early entry potential and the other with late entry potential, which should an entrepreneur run with? According to Kerin et al. (1992), "studies purport to demonstrate the presence of a systematic direct relationship between order of entry for products, brands, or businesses and market share." First mover advantage theory posits that new entrants that are earliest to a new market niche get several advantages, such a brand awareness and a reputation for innovativeness. Followers can built great brands too, though at a greater cost. Another first movers advantage is the ability to tie up factor markets by engaging in long term contracts with key suppliers, which makes it harder for followers to acquire the necessary complementary as...

A stakeholder approach to entrepreneurship has roots in a debate that had occurred between professors Ron Mitchell and S. Venkataraman in 2002, over the connections between stakeholder theory (Freeman, 1984) and entrepreneurship.    Stakeholder theory had largely been born out of studies of large corporations managing their stakeholders to improve incumbent firm performance, and had not been fully applied to the entrepreneurship area to explain entrepreneurial behaviours, processes, or outcomes.   Entrepreneurship and strategy research tends to be about how new wealth is created, whereas stakeholder theory is more about how that wealth should be distributed. For some, the value creation and distribution issues are separate problems, complementary perhaps, but requiring different logics. A stakeholder theory of entrepreneurship seeks to integrate the wealth creation and redistribution problem. In particular, developed economies feature some degree of competition among incu...