Entrepreneurial Opportunities as Responsibility

Abstract

Entrepreneurship involves cooperative efforts in which multiple stakeholders and resources are brought together to develop a valuable product or service. Accordingly, one key process through which entrepreneurs make progress exploiting their opportunities is by identifying, selecting, enrolling, and coordinating a network of stakeholders. However, although there is a widespread realization that bringing new ventures to life requires multiple stakeholders, precious little academic research has taken a holistic approach to stakeholder engagement. In this special issue we: (a) suggest that stakeholder theory provides a novel lens for viewing the critical entrepreneurial behavior of engaging stakeholders—and taking shared responsibility for an unmet opportunity, (b) describe the intriguing articles that encompass this special issue, and (c) offer our thoughts on directions for future research at the intersection of stakeholder theory and entrepreneurship.