Abstract
Abstract This paper provides an overview of the ever-increasing literature on opportunity recognition, with a focus on its antecedents and determinants. With a two-step research approach, a bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review, we structure the current research in this field. By using bibliometric techniques, we analyzed 161 publications and, consequently, clustered the 30 most influential references. Apart from economic theories and the role of opportunity recognition in entrepreneurship, a strong research focus is on antecedents of opportunity recognition. Therefore, in our subsequent literature review, we focus on determinants which influence opportunity recognition. We find that the opportunity recognition process is influenced by various personal, organizational and environmental factors. We conclude with a research outlook for future research opportunities on opportunity recognition.
Highlights
Against the backdrop of the increasing globalization and competition in business environments, the capability to recognize entrepreneurial opportunities is a major prerequisite for innovativeness (Jones and Barnir 2019) and entrepreneurial performance (Shane and Venkataraman 2000; Short et al 2010)
We find that the opportunity recognition process is influenced by various personal, organizational and environmental factors
As the cluster focusing on antecedents is of highest importance for incumbent firms and entrepreneurs, within our systematic literature review, we focus on publications in top-tier management and business journals which deal with the personal, organizational, and environmental determinants that influence the process of opportunity recognition
Summary
Against the backdrop of the increasing globalization and competition in business environments, the capability to recognize entrepreneurial opportunities is a major prerequisite for innovativeness (Jones and Barnir 2019) and entrepreneurial performance (Shane and Venkataraman 2000; Short et al 2010). The opportunity recognition school, which is the perspective focused on in this paper, goes back to the works of Kirzner (1973, 1979, 1997). In this view, opportunities objectively exist in the market, irrespective of the entrepreneur. While both conceptualizations have their merits and Schumpeter’s hero-like entrepreneur is probably more appealing to both founders and researchers, Kirzner’s entrepreneur is much more common in practice. This is why we focus on the opportunity recognition school in this paper
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