External Enablers in New Venture Creation Processes: A Framework

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that phenomena like new technologies, regulatory or demographic shifts, and changes to the socio-cultural, political or natural environment are important “external enablers” of entrepreneurial action and success. There is also increasing agreement that on the level of the (emerging) venture, entrepreneurship is most fruitfully viewed as a process. Yet, existing theoretical frameworks do not easily accommodate a focus on the influence of “external enablers”, especially not from a dynamic, process perspective. Therefore, this paper develops such a framework. We discuss external enablers in terms of their characteristics, roles, and mechanisms, develop sub-concepts under each, and discuss possible interrelations and future research agendas. We believe this framework can prove useful for furthering research currently positioned within the Discovery Theory framework by adding attention to continued process and dynamism beyond “opportunity recognition”. Second, the framework can assist researchers subscribing to versions of Creation Theory in paying systematic attention to objective, external factors in their theorizing. Third, it can help researchers interested in instances of societal change from a sociological or historian-like vantage point to theorize across such instances and to examine the micro-level, entrepreneurial processes which are triggered by and give shape to macro-level changes.