Entrepreneurial Alertness and Performance of Start-Up Firms in Nigerian Publishing Industry (original) (raw)
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Journal of Business Venturing, 2012
The recognition and development of new opportunities are at the heart of entrepreneurship. Building from Kirzner's (1973, 1999) work, cognition theory, and McMullen and Shepherd's (2006) recent development, we offer a model involving three distinct elements of alertness: scanning and search, association and connection, and evaluation and judgment. We then conduct multiple studies to develop and validate a 13-item alertness scale that captures these three dimensions. Results demonstrate appropriate dimensionality, strong reliability, and content, convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity. The resultant instrument provides researchers with a valuable tool for probing the entrepreneurial opportunity development process including antecedents and outcomes.
Entrepreneurial alertness: Study of the Influence of Individual Characteristics and Entrepreneurship
Brazilian Business Review, 2016
This research tried to understand which statistical variables associated to the individual and the company influence the entrepreneurial alertness. The sample was constituted by 180 entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial alertness was measured in agreement with the model of Tang, Kacmar and Busenitz (2012). Descriptive statistical tests and normality exam were developed; as well as checked the validity and reliability of the scale through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). In order to identify the factors that influenced the alertness we developed multiple linear regression and the ANOVA test to determine possible differences among groups (gender, education). The results showed the negative influence of the educational level and the size of enterprises on alertness level; as well as the negative relationship between age and entrepreneurial experience, furthermore, shows that alert level is not determined by gender difference. One of the main implications of this research is to present factors that can potentiate the effects of the entrepreneurial alertness, enlarging the possibilities of identification of opportunities for individuals.
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SAGE Open
The construct of entrepreneurial alertness has been gaining considerable interest from academics because it is at the heart of the entrepreneurial process. Consequently, there has been a substantial increase in the number of academic papers over the years. However, this is a highly fragmented field of research that aggregates contributions from researchers in the fields of economics and strategy, entrepreneurship, and psychology. Also, in recent decades, the concept of entrepreneurial alertness has been studied from different perspectives, being considered, on one hand, as cognitive capacity, a dynamic capacity or a skill of the entrepreneur and, on the other hand, as an organizational factor that affects a company’s performance and a source of competitive advantage. The analysis reveals a set of future research avenues that may contribute to the development of the entrepreneurial alertness research field.
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An ability to act upon an entrepreneurial opportunity is a major driver of new venture success. However, scholarly knowledge is limited on how and when entrepreneur alertness to entrepreneurial opportunities drives new venture success. This article addresses this gap arguing that variations in new venture performance are a function of levels of entrepreneurial alertness and networking capabilities. Using primary data gathered from 203 new ventures operating in a sub-Saharan African economy, Ghana, we find that increases in the levels of entrepreneurial alertness are related to increases in new venture performance. Additionally, we find that, under conditions of increased use of social and business networking capabilities, the potency of entrepreneurial alertness as a driver of new venture success is amplified. Theoretical, managerial and policy implications of these findings are discussed.
Journal of Southwest Jiaotong University, 2020
The motive of this research paper is to examine entrepreneurial alertness as a determinant for opportunity identification by nascent entrepreneurs in Osun State, Nigeria. Because nascent entrepreneurs have received much attention from stakeholders, there is a dearth of research on nascent entrepreneurs in the Nigerian context. This study used a survey research design. The population of the study was 202 nascent entrepreneurs in Osun State, Nigeria. The study employed a random sampling technique, and 202 questionnaires were administered and ultimately returned while a minimum sample size calculated using G-power was 107 with a medium-size effect of 0.15. Data were analyzed through the SmartPLS. The finding reveals that entrepreneurial munificence determines entrepreneurial alertness than entrepreneurial attention. The result also shows that information mediates the linkage between entrepreneurial attention and entrepreneurial alertness, which is empirically significant. Also, informa...
The Factors Contributing to Entrepreneurial Alertness
Given the growth and role of entrepreneurship today, it is becoming increasingly important to understand how new entrepreneurial opportunities get developed. Entrepreneurs play a critically important role in the economy. By spotting opportunities and taking action to exploit them, they drive the process of market production and the fulfillment of social and economic needs. Discussions of the emergence of new entrepreneurial opportunities often include “eureka” moments, but we currently lack a deep understanding of why some individuals are able to spot the opportunities that most people cannot see. We attribute the difference to a loosely defined quality that Kirzner called “entrepreneurial alertness”. While this has been a useful basis for a considerable body of entrepreneurship research to-date, it is still unsatisfactory in several ways. To achieve this goal we distribute questionnaires between 115 M.A. student’s from Economics and Management college of University of Sistan&Baluchestan for the years 2012 and 2013. Analysis was done by correlation test. Results showed that there is significant relationship between creativity, self-efficacy, locus of control, social networks, prior knowledge, educational issues, environment and student’s entrepreneurial alertness. This survey can be used to develop potential entrepreneurs in different fields in determining of key elements of opportunity recognition, training and improving of that.
Entrepreneurial Alertness as a Pathway to Strategic Decisions and Performance
Strategic Organization, 2018
Entrepreneurial alertness can play a vital role in the identification and creation of opportunities involving early-stage ventures. However, the strategic function of entrepreneurial alertness in more mature organizations has not been explored. In a field study of organizations responding to an environmental disruption, we explore if entrepreneurial alertness influences decisions involving the creation and maintenance of competitive advantage. We find a direct effect of entrepreneurial alertness on strategic change decisions and organizational performance. Moreover, we find a synergistic influence of entrepreneurial alertness and other cognitions, including issue categorization and assessments of uncertainty, on strategic decisions. Findings demonstrate that managerial decision makers can take multiple, reinforcing pathways when heeding change.
Entrepreneurial alertness: a systematic literature review
Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, 2020
Recently, cognitive perspectives have garnered increasing attention in entrepreneurship alertness research. But the broader psychological basis of the alertness, which differentiates intrinsic and phasic aspects of alertness, has somehow been neglected, even though some entrepreneurship scholars have described alertness as the main cognitive capability of entrepreneurs in recognizing entrepreneurial opportunities. In this systematic review, the literature of entrepreneurial alertness has been critically examined. We categorize the previous works into five broad research themes: the alertness construct itself, its cognitive foundations, its operational measurement, the theoretical antecedents of alertness, and its consequences. We then identify two gaps where future research should direct greater efforts. First, past attention to the cognitive foundations of alertness has largely focused on its phasic aspects without exploration of the role of intrinsic alertness. The recent separate theorizing of opportunity creation/discovery has only begun to explore the potential of intrinsic alertness in opportunity spotting. Secondly, a lack of attention to establishing a clear definition of the alertness construct has hampered development of valid and robust measurement instruments, which may have confounded past efforts to empirically confirm the role of alertness in a range of theoretical models. RÉSUMÉ R ecemment, les perspectives cognitives ont suscit e une attention croissante de la part de la recherche sur la vigilance des entreprises. Mais le fondement psychologique plus large de la vigilance, diff erenciant les aspects intrins eques et phasiques de cette derni ere, a d'une certaine mani ere et e n eglig e, bien que certains sp ecialistes de l'entrepreneuriat aient d ecrit la vigilance comme principale capacit e cognitive des entrepreneurs dans la reconnaissance des opportunit es d'entreprendre. Dans cette revue syst ematique, la litt erature sur la vigilance des entreprises a fait l'objet d'un examen critique. Nous avons class e les pr ec edents travaux en cinq grands th emes de recherche : la construction de la vigilance elle-même, ses fondements cognitifs, sa mesure op erationnelle, les ant ec edents th eoriques de la vigilance et ses cons equences. Ensuite, nous avons identifi e deux lacunes sur lesquelles les futures recherches devraient concentrer leurs efforts.
Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management, and Innovation, 2023
PURPOSE: In the last two decades, the concept of entrepreneurial alertness (EA) has been considered a key element in investigating how individuals recognize entrepreneurial opportunities. Consequently, research on entrepreneurial alertness has grown considerably, attracting researchers' attention from not only the field of entrepreneurship, but also other academic disciplines through which this concept has been studied from a variety of perspectives. Therefore, it is time to document researchers' cumulative knowledge on entrepreneurial alertness. The present study aims to provide a comprehensive qualitative review and evaluation of the empirical entrepreneurial alertness research. METHODOLOGY: Based on a multi-step approach used in previous studies, which guarantees a systematic, transparent, and replicable literature review, this study identified a final sample of 84 articles published in scientific journals between 2005 and 2021 that empirically tested the concept of EA. The publications were sourced from the Web of Science database. Their analysis involved the evolution of published articles, the journals that have published the most articles, the countries where the research was undertaken, the measurement scales that have been used, and the research models in which entrepreneurial alertness has been hypothesized and examined through empirical research. FINDINGS: The results show that empirical research on entrepreneurial alertness grew significantly from 2016 to 2021, during which period almost 11 articles per year were published. Seven of the journals that published the articles contributed 28 percent of the total publications. Also, the results confirm that most of the empirical research on alertness has been carried out in developing economies, from which China stands out with 14 publications, representing 16 percent of the total. Additionally, the results confirm the growing consensus regarding the conceptualization and measurement of entrepreneurial alertness. Finally, the review resulted in the identification of five broad research models in which EA has been hypothesized and examined
The Psychological Basis of Entrepreneurial Alertness
Opportunity identification represents a unique entrepreneurial behavior yet its processes and dynamics remain mysterious. Entrepreneurial alertness, a distinctive set of perceptual and information-processing skills, has been advanced as the cognitive engine driving the opportunity identification process. To date, empirical support has been equivocal; however, these early studies suffer from fundamental mistakes in theory and method. These mistakes are examined and addressed. A research agenda for the systematic and conceptually sound study of entrepreneurial alertness and opportunity identification is outlined.