Exploitation Of Entrepreneurial Opportunities Research Articles

Inclement Entrepreneurial Gaps in Community Wildlife Management Business Model: A Case of Mbarang’andu and Tunduru Wmas in Southern Tanzania

Purpose: This study examined entrepreneurial gaps in Mbarang’andu and Tunduru Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) since their establishment during the 5 years of business plan operations and implications thereafter. Design/Methodology/Approach: The population of this study was five WMAs that formed the cases for the study, and for the case of WMA leaders, the population was 40 leaders. The sample size for the WMAs selected as the cases for the study were two (2), Tunduru and Mbarang’andu purposefully selected. Further, the sample size for WMA leaders was 20 (50% of the population) purposefully selected. Descriptive analysis was used to summarise demographic and revenue data, and a Pearson Chi-square test was performed on the demographic data. A paired samples T-test was used to compare the required business start-up and available funds to reveal the equity gap in the two WMAs and compare the level of implementation of planned business activities in the two WMAs. Research Limitation: The research was limited to two WMAs and a small sample size since the client determined its size, given that this paper emanated from the consultancy project. Findings: Findings indicate that both WMAs have a high potential for carbon trading, photographic tourism, beekeeping, fish farming, and heritage tourism. The difference in the required funding and available funds for various expenditures in business start-ups was found to be statistically significant in both WMAs. The difference in the level of implementation of planned business activities was also found to be statistically significant in the two WMAs. Practical implications: To bridge the entrepreneurial gaps in the WMAs, proactive fundraising, diversification of income-generating activities, including carbon trading, human resource capacity building, and appropriate marketing of tourism and nature-based products are needed. Social Implications: The results of this research will form the basis for bridging entrepreneurial gaps in the WMAs, hence fueling optimal exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities in wildlife that benefit the community at large in return. Originality: This paper is original; only some extracts were used in the conference proceedings for the University of Dodoma (UDOM) 2019. Its novelty is inclined to expose entrepreneurial gaps and the framework for bridging such gaps in wildlife businesses.

To Explore or to Exploit? Opportunities, Dynamic Capabilities, and Performance of Maritime Enterprises in Ghana

ABSTRACT This study investigates how the recognition and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities influence small business performance via interactions with firm-level innovation capability and learning orientation. We frame the study within the maritime-sector context and seek to contribute to the understanding of how the interplay between opportunity recognition, exploitation, innovation capability and learning orientation affects the entrepreneurial performance of local businesses when there is a technological policy change. The study further frames its arguments from a dynamic capability perspective and tests its arguments with data from 284 local businesses operating in the Port of Tema. Findings reveal that opportunity exploitation and learning orientation as well as their interplay have a positive and significant effect on entrepreneurial performance. The study consequently presents local micro-entrepreneurial reactions to macro-level policy changes within the maritime sector – an issue that has largely remained uninvestigated in the African business literature due to maritime blindness.

Research on the Mechanism of the Role of Big Data Analytic Capabilities on the Growth Performance of Start-Up Enterprises: The Mediating Role of Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition and Exploitation

With the advent of the era of big data, the application of big data analytics in entrepreneurial activities has become increasingly prevalent. However, research on the relationship between big data analytic capabilities and entrepreneurial activities is still in its infancy, and the mechanism by which the two interact remains unclear. Drawing on resource-based theory and entrepreneurial process theory, this research examines the impact mechanism of big data analytic capabilities on the growth performance of start-up enterprises and explores the mediating role of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition and entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation. Empirical analysis reveals that big data analytic capabilities have a significant positive impact on the growth performance of start-up enterprises; entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation plays a mediating role in the relationship between big data analytic capabilities and the growth performance of start-up enterprises, but entrepreneurial opportunity recognition does not show a significant mediating effect between the two; and entrepreneurial opportunity recognition and entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation play a chain-mediated role in the relationship between big data analytic capabilities and the growth performance of start-up enterprises. These research findings enrich the study of digital entrepreneurship and provide valuable references for the entrepreneurial practice of start-up enterprises.

Influence of Individualism on Entrepreneurial Opportunity Exploitation among Small and Medium Enterprises Owners in Tanzania

Aims: The main objective of this study was to examine the influence of individualism on entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation among small and medium enterprise owners in Tanzania through the mediation effect of innovativeness. Specific objectives were to examine the influence of individualism on entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation and to examine the mediating effect of innovativeness on the influence of individualism on entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation.
 Methodology: The study employed an explanatory research design. 370 small and medium enterprise owners were studied using a cross-section survey questionnaire. Partial least square structural equation modelling was used to test the instruments’ validity and reliability and testing the direct and indirect hypotheses on the effects of individualism on entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation.
 Results: After testing the hypotheses, the direct effects showed that individualism positively and significantly influences entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation among small and medium enterprise owners. Testing mediation effects, it was found that innovativeness partially mediates the relationship between individualism and entrepreneurial opportunity. Therefore, innovativeness has positive significant indirect effects on the relationship between individualism and entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation. 
 Conclusion: Individualism directly and indirectly influences small and medium enterprise owners to exploit entrepreneurial opportunities. The study helps policymakers to understand that individualistic values, if well addressed in entrepreneurship policy, can help to promote innovativeness and entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation. Practically, the study implies that well-structured culture influences small and medium enterprises owners’ behavior to exploit opportunities.

기업가적 리더십이 혁신업무행동과 직무 관련 심리적 웰빙에 미치는 영향

The recent dynamic business environment at home and abroad and rapid technological development increase the importance of employee innovative work behavior and job-related psychological well-being in securing competitive advantage and achieving organizational sustainability. Entrepreneurial leadership suggests that leaders possess the ability to motivate and direct subordinates to achieve organizational goals, including the recognition and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities.
 This study is a study on the effect of entrepreneurial leadership on the innovative work behavior of employees, job-related psychological well-being, and the mediating effect of affective commitment. For the empirical analysis, 421 online questionnaires located in Beijing, China were used, and the hypothesis was verified using the structural equation model through Mplus 8.3. According to the analysis results, entrepreneurial leadership not only affects innovative work behavior and job-related psychological well-being, but also the mediating effect of affective commitment in the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and innovative work behavior and job-related psychological well-being was verified.
 The results of this study contribute to the study of entrepreneurial leadership. This study proposes some recommendations to increase employees' innovative work behavior and job-related psychological well-being. This suggests that organizational managers recognize the positive effects of entrepreneurial leadership and actively use entrepreneurial leadership.

Entrepreneurial intention and the three stages of entrepreneurial action: a process approach.

The relationship between entrepreneurial intention (EI) and entrepreneurial action (EA) is a popular topic in entrepreneurship research, owing to the contribution of these constructs in the process leading to the entrepreneurial activity taking place. There are still countries that are recording high entrepreneurial intention levels in comparison to their corresponding entrepreneurial action levels that are low. This is a global concern to which South Africa (SA) is also not immune. Most of the research tests the relationship between two single constructs: EI and EA. Our study follows a process approach and investigates the effect of this relationship between EI and the three stages of EA. A quantitative method was employed and a survey utilized whereby data was collected among 597 entrepreneurs in South Africa. The data was analyzed through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The EI construct is supported through the Theory of Planned Behavior, in conjunction with the Motivation Opportunity Ability theory. The Discovery Theory, together with the Creative Theory, supports each of the stages of EA, namely: entrepreneurial opportunity discovery (EODI); entrepreneurial opportunity evaluation (EOEV); and entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation (EOEX). Previous research regarding the relationship between EI and EA measured this relationship from a binary point of view. This study contributes to the entrepreneurship field by employing the process approach to determine the impact of EI on the stages of EA. This study reveals that EI is statistically significant in all three stages of EA. However, the strength of this relationship is found to be strong between EI and the EODI and EOEV stages and moderate between EI and the EOEX stage. Therefore, this study reveals that effective training interventions and development are necessary between EI and the EOEX stage of EA.

Understanding the interplay between immigrant nascent entrepreneurship and cross-cultural adaptation

PurposeAll entrepreneurs face challenges during their venture start-up process, but immigrant entrepreneurs face additional and distinctive challenges due to their contextual newness. This paper focuses on understanding the intertwined journeys of nascent entrepreneurship and cross-cultural adaptation of immigrants in a small Western European country where immigrant entrepreneurship is still a relatively new phenomenon.Design/methodology/approachThe induction-driven, 18-month longitudinal empirical inquiry focused on six early-stage nascent entrepreneurs. Qualitative methods included participant observation during an enterprise program, qualitative interviews and ongoing informal communication.FindingsThe data uncovered the interplay between the nascent immigrant entrepreneurship and cross-cultural adaptation. This led to the development of a novel conceptual framework which highlights how the cross-cultural adaptation domain links with the process of recognition, evaluation and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities by immigrant entrepreneurs. While varying temporarily and contextually, cross-cultural adaptation was found to create both enabling and constraining tensions within the nascent entrepreneurial experiences of immigrants.Research limitations/implicationsIt is recognized that undertaking just six cases may present a significant limitation of the research, but a close examination of even one individual's lived experience can yield valuable insights. It is hoped that future work will test the highlighted research propositions and other findings in different empirical contexts, and so add to the emerging conceptual framework on nascent immigrant entrepreneurship within the context of cross-cultural adaptation.Originality/valueNo previous qualitative studies have been undertaken seeking to understand how cross-cultural adaptation interacts with the early stages of nascent immigrant entrepreneurial activity. By integrating new venture creation and cross-cultural adaptation theories, this research contributes to the conceptualisation of early stages of nascent entrepreneurial activities of immigrants in a new host environment. The implications of the research are also relevant to enterprise support bodies, policymakers and practitioners who support immigrant entrepreneurship.

The Effects of Knowledge Spillovers and Accelerator Programs on the Product Innovation of High-Tech Start-Ups: A Multiple Case Study

The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship (KSTE) explores the effects that new knowledge and proximity have on the exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities and the resultant creation of start-ups. This paper aims to identify the types of knowledge spillovers that affect entrepreneurs in the early stages of start-up development. A conceptual model is proposed, using a multi-case study approach involving high-tech start-ups that have attended accelerator and incubator programs in Greater London, United Kingdom. The research involved 32 semistructured interviews with chief executive officers and cofounders of start-up companies. Our findings suggest that entrepreneurs are influenced by various forms of knowledge spillover which assist in determining the strategic decision of the company, in terms of formation, including partnerships or alliances, allocation of Research and Development budgets, and engagement in product innovation. Further observations confirm that high-tech start-ups focus on a fast pace of constant product innovation to cover identified gaps in the market. One significant finding is that start-ups use various technological platforms to access knowledge spillovers which challenge the ideas of geographical proximity present in existing KSTE understanding.

From ideas to entrepreneurial opportunity: A study on AI

AbstractArtificial intelligence technology is applied in numerous fields. Several countries around the world have introduced national policies on artificial intelligence, and the competition for this emerging technology has become an important driving force for industrial development. In recent years, interdisciplinary research on artificial intelligence has made great progress. From the perspective of idea‐driven technology entrepreneurship, we discuss the concept of AI with other emerging technologies. For the early stage of the entrepreneurial process, from idea generation to entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation, we elaborate on the role played by AI. Finally, the future research prospects are proposed.

Keep dreaming: how personality traits affects the recognition and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities in the agritourism industry

PurposeThis paper analyses how entrepreneurs recognise and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities following a sustainable approach that respects the equilibrium among environmental, social and commercial purposes, and how their personality affects this process. The main personality traits focused in this study are narcissism, locus of control and sustainability orientation.Design/methodology/approachThis single case study involves Essentia Dimora Rurale, a small agritourism business, located in Molise (Italy), characterised by a sustainable business model that generates value for the local environment, thus revitalising abandoned territories. Data are collected using qualitative and quantitative methods and are analysed using the Gioia methodology.FindingsThe Essentia Dimora Rurale's approach is rooted in the concept of sustainability and the development of tourism in the territory. The preservation of traditional values and the creation of a network allow the firm to prosper and survive. The personalities of the two sibling entrepreneurs fuel the process, and the authors show that each personality trait plays a different role in each phase of the firm's growth.Research limitations/implicationsFrom a theoretical point of view, the study contributes to entrepreneurial, sustainability and personality literature. However, using a single case study can represent a limit for the research.Practical implicationsVarious practical implications are recognised concerning several stakeholders, such as the owners and the entities linked to the regional promotion and tourism sectors.Originality/valueThe novelty of the research relies on the importance of entrepreneur opportunity identification, particularly in sustainable firms. Moreover, the authors fill the literature gap investigating the impact of three personality traits in this process.

A Cognitive Measure of Entrepreneurial Alertness

Alertness is a foundational concept in current understandings of the spotting and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities. Yet, despite being identified as a key theoretical construct of individual entrepreneurs, its cognitive features are not fully described in the literature. And as a result, the existing instruments for measuring this cognitive feature of entrepreneurs do not fully reflect the broad nature of this concept. In this study, the cognitive theoretical basis of alertness is reviewed and a new scale, which better reflects the broader cognitive features of entrepreneurial alertness, is presented. This may assist the validity of future empirical studies that involve entrepreneurial alertness.

Modeling the Institutional Factors Affecting the Exploitation of Entrepreneurial Opportunities in the Sports Tourism Industry, using an Interpretive-Structural Approach

The purpose of this study is to examine the most important institutional factors that support the exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities within the sports tourism industry.The present study is a qualitative research based on data gathered from available documentary studies and semi-structured interviews conducted with 35experts in the field of sports tourism and sports entrepreneurship in Iran. The interpretive structural model (ISM) was used to analyze the data.According to the results of the research, 74 indicators were identified and classified under 11 institutional factors, including rule of law, government policies, social norms, social values, social beliefs, expert knowledge promotion, social knowledge promotion, public sector support, private sector support, complementary attraction,and information technology, at five hierarchical levels. Government policies and public sector support were identified as fifth-level factors that act as the model’s cornerstone. Finally, the research results suggest that for the growth of the sports tourism industry in developing countries such as Iran, other identified factors must also be involved in the growth of this industry.In this regard, the existence of an appropriate legal,normative, supportive, and educational environment will affect the ability and willingness of market participants to identify and take advantage of entrepreneurial opportunities in the emerging sports tourism industry.

Technology and Entrepreneurial Marketing Decisions During COVID-19.

The prime concern of this study is to explore how technology influences entrepreneurial marketing decisions during the world pandemic (COVID-19). The study uses a sample of 127 SMEs from Bangladesh. Data were collected by sending out questionnaires electronically and by mail. Smart PLS (SEM) 3.0 was used to analyse the data following the quantitative method. The study reveals positive and significant relationships between entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, opportunity development and opportunity exploitation with their entrepreneurial marketing decisions. It also claims that entrepreneurial passion mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial opportunity recognition and opportunity development with their entrepreneurial marketing decisions. However, entrepreneurial passion does not mediate the relationship between entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation and entrepreneurial marketing decisions. The study offers researchers a broader and more wide-ranging view of the importance of artificial intelligence in small firms. Researchers, educators and practitioners will benefit from the findings. The analyses are more complex and varied than the methodologies used in most of the limited previous research.

Firm-environment alignment of entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation in technology-based ventures: A configurational approach

ABSTRACT This study explores configurations for firm-environment alignment of entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation in technology-based ventures to explain firm performance. Classifying entrepreneurial opportunities by their source and location as technology driven and market driven, we develop a framework to investigate a multitude of factors in the firm and in the environment that influence firm performance only when aligned with each other. The study examines technology-based ventures using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. Our results highlight the presence of complete firm-environment alignment of technological and market opportunity exploitation in cases with very high organizational growth rates. High-growth cases are driven by market opportunity exploitation. Firm-environment misalignment characterizes low-growth cases. Our results extend entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation literature to encompass a configurational setting from a quality perspective and provides entrepreneurs, managers, and policy-makers with informed choices of alternative growth strategies when focusing on organizational and policy priorities.

The role of organizational context on cognitive abilities of corporate entrepreneurs in health sector

Organizational context has a strong role in decisions of entrepreneurs who work inside firms. However, there seems to be a lack of research on the role of organizational context in cognitions of corporate entrepreneurs (Intrapreneurs) and specially the interaction of the individual and context. The main objective of the current paper is to explore the role of organizational context in cognitive abilities of intrapreneurs to identify, evaluate, and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities inside the established firms in health sector. For this purpose, nine intrapreneurs in two Iranian health organizations were selected and interviewed during 2017 and 2018. The results of the in-depth interviews were analyzed and used for suggesting a framework of the role of organizational context in cognitions of intrapreneurs. The findings show that organizational context has a strong influence on many aspects of entrepreneurial cognition which affect identification and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities inside health organizations. The suggested framework shows that regarding cognitions of corporate entrepreneurs, organizational context has three functions: organizational context acts as a source, as a framework, and as a socio/cultural context. The findings of the current paper have implications for researchers in corporate entrepreneurship field, as well as executives and corporate entrepreneurs.

A Process Model of Entrepreneurial Alertness Among Technopreneurs

Alertness is a foundational concept in current understandings of the spotting and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities. In this paper its two broad aspects from psychology have been explored and a model has been generated; reflecting the hierarchical relation between alertness aspects and mindfulness factors. Results show that mindfulness mediates the relationship between alertness and novelty creation. We use Interpretive Structure Modeling (ISM) to create the model of entrepreneurial alertness and mindfulness. The model is generated on the basis of ten technological entrepreneurs in the ISM session in Iran. They voted on the mutual relations of the elements. The results showed that mindfulness fosters alertness, which then leads to the creation of novel things. This also shows that mindfulness deserves more investigation for its potential role in other parts of entrepreneurial process.

Competitiveness analysis and evaluation of entrepreneurial ecosystems: a multi-criteria approach

The purpose of this paper is, to propose a methodology for the comparison and ranking of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (EEs) in order to offer the decision maker a straightforward way of assessing the competitiveness of national economies. EEs are a coordinated set of individual and institutional agents, on the national level, aimed to pursue economic development through the discovery and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities. Among the various approaches found in EE research, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor consortium evaluates the national economic development of more than 100 countries, concerning both individual and contextual factors. Entrepreneurship Framework Conditions of national EEs are rated on an annual basis by groups of domain experts on a number of predefined criteria. These ratings describe the various facets of the EEs, exposing strengths and weaknesses of the contextual environment, offering a snapshot of the competitiveness conditions of the national economy. However, comparative studies examining the relative performance of each EE, are needed in order to communicate useful information and help stakeholders make insightful decisions and design policy. The ranking of EEs as different alternatives based on multiple criteria is a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) problem. The relative importance of each criterion is defined either by experts or by statistical methods. The selection of criteria weights is usually a cumbersome procedure. The utilization of non-weighted or equal weight methods, eliminates the need for definition of weights, it has less computational overhead and can produce distinct and objective rankings of the alternatives. The Greek EE is taken as a working example, and it is compared with a number of developed and developing countries, as alternatives. The consistence of the ranking results produced by the method proposed is compared with the evaluations of other EE metrics and the results of other well accepted MCDM methods. The application of the method produced a distinct ranking for each alternative EE. The Greek EE ranked below average among the countries of the comparison group, implying that it is less conducive for entrepreneurship development, although it is categorized among the most developed Innovation Driven economies. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are thoroughly discussed offering useful conclusions.

Business model innovation in cultural and creative industries: Insights from three leading mobile gaming firms

This paper contains an exploratory analysis of the business model innovations (BMIs) that firms in cultural and creative industries (CCIs) undertake along their life-cycle. Despite the role that creative and cultural and creative firms (CCFs) have in the economic development of industrialised countries, they tend to remain small and often fail due to industry-specific constraints and tensions, such as the lack of managerial capabilities and complexity in nurturing value chain relationships. However, there has been relatively limited scholarly interest into the specific conditions and processes that enabled CCFs to overcome these liabilities, and in particular into the identification of the business models they have adopted along their life-cycle. In this paper, this issue is analysed by using the concept of BMI, which sheds light on how the reconfiguration of the activity system through which a CCF creates, delivers and captures value enables the exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities over time. This paper builds on an in-depth historical study of three leading firms operating in the mobile gaming industry, namely Rovio, Zynga and King Digital Entertainment. Three main results emerge from this study. First, in the ramp-up phase of their life-cycle, CCFs organize their resource architecture to build a strong and recognized reputation. Second, in the development phase, BMI is used to leverage new distribution paradigms. Finally, in the maturity phase, firms dedicate resources to innovate their product portfolios by providing platforms that support the development and testing of new creative ideas and solutions. Findings and implications are then discussed.

Dynamics of Entrepreneurial Opportunity Exploitation: A Sensemaking Perspective

Effective decision cannot be made without information processing and sensemaking theory suggests that available information needs to be acquired by taking actions. Usually, the processes of information processing or interpreting and the processes of decision making or evaluation are discussed separately in the literature of sensemaking and the literature of entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation. This study will examine the decision making process of entrepreneurial opportunities exploiting and the relationship between information acquisition, cognition and decision-making of opportunity exploitation by building a formal model via a simulation-based process using sensemaking theory. The results suggest that information acquisition, cognition and developing alternative decisions mutually influence the modes of decision-making, and cognitive bias can be beneficial to effective decisions.

El efecto de la convergencia de los medios de comunicación en el aprovechamiento de oportunidades empresariales

Este documento arroja luz sobre aspectos específicos de la convergencia de los medios de comunicación, que se trata solamente de convergencia y similitud, sino de divergencia en diferentes aspectos y oportunidades que se presentan en las actividades empresariales. El área problemática de este estudio es comprender cómo la convergencia de los medios de comunicación brinda nuevas oportunidades de negocio en los mercados de los medios de comunicación y cómo los empresarios de los medios pueden aprovechar esas oportunidades para proponer valor a sus clientes objetivo. Este trabajo realiza un diseño de investigación cuantitativa. Por lo tanto, 119 cofundadores de pequeñas y medianas empresas de medios respondieron un cuestionario en línea, y los datos fueron analizados a través del programa estadístico SPSS. El análisis de regresión se utilizó para analizar los datos. Los hallazgos revelan que cuatro tipos de divergencias, que incluyen los canales de distribución de medios, los productores de contenido de medios, las audiencias y los anunciantes, afectan el aprovechamiento de oportunidades empresariales en pequeñas y medianas empresas de medios.