Andrew C. Corbett

Experiential Learning Within the Process of Opportunity Identification and Exploitation

The article uses experiential learning theory to magnify the importance of learning within the process of entrepreneurship. Previous research details the contributions of prior knowledge, creativity, and cognitive mechanisms to the process of opportunity identification and exploitation; however, the literature is devoid of work that directly addresses learning. The extant research assumes learning is occurring but does not directly address the importance of learning to the process. To fully understand the nature of the entrepreneurial process, researchers must take into account how individuals learn and how different modes of learning influence opportunity identification and exploitation. This article makes connections between knowledge, cognition, and creativity to develop the concept of learning asymmetries and illustrates how a greater appreciation for the differences in individual learning will fortify entrepreneurship research.

Proclivity for Improvisation as a Predictor of Entrepreneurial Intentions

This study examines the relationship between improvisation and entrepreneurial intentions. Of specific interest is whether or not a proclivity for improvisation explains any variance in entrepreneurial intentions beyond what is accounted for by other relevant individual difference measures. Using a sample of 430 college students, entrepreneurial intentions are found to be significantly associated with measures of personality, motivation, cognitive style, social models, and improvisation. The strongest relationship is found between entrepreneurial intentions and improvisation. The results of hierarchical regression show that improvisation accounts for a significant amount of variance in entrepreneurial intention above and beyond what is accounted for by the other variables.

The Cognitive Perspective in Entrepreneurship: An Agenda for Future Research

Despite its many achievements, scholarship at the intersection of entrepreneurship and cognition has focused primarily on the consequences of what happens when an entrepreneur benefits from various cognitive characteristics, resources, or other dispositions. As such, cognitive research in entrepreneurship continues to suffer from narrow theoretical articulations and weak conceptual foundations that lessen its contribution to the managerial sciences. To address these issues, we draw from extant work on the nature and practice of cognitive research to develop a systematic approach to study entrepreneurship cognition. To further articulate this agenda, we assess the state of the field by content‐analysing entrepreneurship cognition articles published between 1976 and 2008. We find that, although it has investigated many relevant variables, research on entrepreneurship cognition has failed to fully articulate key conceptual features of the cognitive perspective. Building on these observations, we propose concrete strategies and research questions to augment the contribution of entrepreneurship cognition research, and advance this research beyond its current focus on ‘cognitive consequences’. In particular, we illustrate the scholarly potential of disentangling the various antecedents of entrepreneurship cognition, of studying the process interactions between cognitive resources and mental representations, and of exploring the operation of entrepreneurship cognition across levels of analysis.

An Entrepreneurial System View of New Venture Creation

This paper reports the results of a two‐phase study that explores new venture creation within the context of an entrepreneurial system. First, a genealogy of high‐technology companies is presented depicting a high spin‐off rate resulting from the presence of seven incubator organizations. Second, semantic structure analysis (Spradley 1980) based on semi‐structured interviews with founders is used to develop a taxonomy. This taxonomy depicts the relationship among components in one entrepreneurial system, Boulder County, Colorado, that encourages, supports, and enhances regional entrepreneurial activity. Findings indicate that incubator organizations, spin‐offs, informal and formal networks, the physical infrastructure, and the culture of the region are related uniquely and interact to form a system conducive for dense high‐technology entrepreneurial activity. Additionally, greater rates of new venture formation were found following critical moments in the life of incubator organizations.

The Conflicting Cognitions of Corporate Entrepreneurs

Research in the entrepreneurial cognition domain has demonstrated that entrepreneurs tend to draw from similar sets of event schemas when considering to start a new venture. The social cognition literature also explains that role schemas affect how individuals encode, process, and use information. In this article, we examine the interplay and divergence between the role schema of individuals in corporations and the event schemas necessary to launch a new venture. By examining these schemas together, we show how the corporate context can create tension between corporate entrepreneurs’ role schemas and the event schemas necessary for entrepreneurship. We then construct a theoretical framework for explaining why this tension results in corporate entrepreneurs emphasizing certain event schemas in a manner that is distinct from independent entrepreneurs. Important implications regarding the relationship between context and entrepreneurial cognition are outlined for researchers, entrepreneurs, corporate managers, and educators.

The Duality of Internal and External Development of Successors: Opportunity Recognition in Family Firms

The study contributes to the family business literature by examining the intersection of succession and opportunities and extends an existing line of research on entrepreneurial behavior in family firms by examining opportunity perception by 119 family business successors. The authors investigate the successors’ self-efficacy, education, and work experience, together with their perception of entrepreneurial opportunities. The results suggest that successors who perceive new opportunities balance and combine their family firm—specific human capital built through experience within the family firm with general human capital built through education and other work experience to generate new ideas leading to the entrepreneurial opportunity perception.

How Corporate Entrepreneurs Learn from Fledgling Innovation Initiatives: Cognition and the Development of a Termination Script

Through a parallel examination of literatures on new product development termination and entrepreneurial cognition, this study explores a specific form of human capital development: learning from failure. Specifically we advance the literature on entrepreneurial human capital by linking cognitive scripts used by corporate entrepreneurs in project termination decisions to corresponding levels of learning. Our longitudinal investigation of technology–based firms suggests that corporate entrepreneurs use three types of termination scripts: (1) undisciplined termination, (2) strategic termination, and (3) innovation drift. We illustrate the presence of each script and analyze learning implications during innovation projects (action learning) and after termination (post–performance learning). Based on our analysis we suggest that organizational learning is dependent upon the type of termination script individuals employ.

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship education (EE) research is not advancing as fast as general entrepreneurship because it is not subject to the same level of scholarship. Grounded in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning from the field of adult education and using an expert Delphi Panel approach, we offer a glimpse into the minds of top entrepreneurship educators. We suggest studying EE through a teaching lens offers insights and elevates teaching as a form of scholarship on par with traditional, more accepted forms of research. Our Delphi analysis suggests a definition of EE as developing the mindset, skill set, and practice necessary for starting new ventures, yet acknowledging the outcomes of such education are far reaching. We introduce five continuums of EE that encourage a transition to teaching approaches based on adult learning, namely andragogy and heutagogy. Implications for entrepreneurship educator training, the need for practice, and the future of EE research are discussed.

Introduction: The Action of Entrepreneurs

In each of these definitions entrepreneurship occurs when an action takes place. And yet, the tendency in the field as a whole is to study entities – typically people or firms – instead of the actions or processes of entrepreneurship itself. Often the entrepreneurial act is used to define the group to be studied, with the study typically being of the individual or firm-level factors leading to the action. The action itself often gets significantly less attention.

TOWARD A COGNITIVE VIEW OF SIGNALING THEORY: INDIVIDUAL ATTENTION AND SIGNAL SET INTERPRETATION

Research on organizational signaling tends to focus on the effects of isolated or congruent signals, assuming highly rational responses to those signals. In this study, we theorize about the cognitive processes associated with the attention paid to and interpretation of multiple, often incongruent signals that organizations send to consumers, financiers, and other stakeholders who make organizational assessments. Contributing a cognitive perspective of signal attention and interpretation, alongside the introduction of signal sets, we provide a more complete picture of how organizational signaling unfolds in the field. Our research opens new frontiers for future inquiry into the cognitive foundations of signal attention, multi-signal interpretation, and incongruent signals. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.