A Cognitive Measure of Entrepreneurial Alertness

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (04) ◽  
pp. 273-294
Author(s):  
Zohreh Hassannezhad Chavoushi ◽  
Dave Valliere

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.

Author(s):  
SAMUEL ADOMAKO

Although scholars have recognised that alertness is critical in identifying and exploring opportunities, empirical studies exploring when alertness drives innovation are lacking. Drawing insights from the cognitive and contingency perspectives, this study addresses this gap by arguing that variations in firm product innovativeness are a function of the degree of entrepreneurial alertness and levels of internal firm capabilities and environmental conditions. Data were collected from 385 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana. This study used the hierarchical regression estimation technique to analyses the data and found a significant positive relationship between entrepreneurial alertness and firm product innovativeness. Moreover, the findings showed that entrepreneurial alertness is beneficial for firms to innovate when pressures from customers and competitors are intense. Finally, the results revealed that stronger market information sharing and technological opportunism also amplify the alertness-innovativeness relationship.


2004 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanne M. Leffers ◽  
Diane C. Martins ◽  
Margaret M. McGrath ◽  
Deborah Godfrey Brown ◽  
Judith Mercer ◽  
...  

The concepts of risk and vulnerability are frequently the subject of nursing scholarship but lack semantic and conceptual clarity in the nursing literature. Using empirical evidence from 6 research studies, the authors define the concepts of risk and vulnerability, apply shared definitions to each of the study populations, and discuss 3 types of responses to risk observed in the research setting. This collaborative effort by nursing scholars advances conceptual clarity of risk and vulnerability for the development of nursing knowledge. Further, the examination of risk responses has the potential to link the various perspectives of risk and vulnerability common in nursing and generate nursing practice implications explored in this review.


Author(s):  
A. I. Chuloshnikov ◽  

The paper examines a systematic description of pain as a subjective phenomenon, and suggests the model to describe this experience in a full and systematic manner. Methodological problems of present day researches of pain related to fixation on subjective phenomenology have been articulated. A possible set of phenomenological parameters of pain has been suggested on the basis of findings of empirical studies making grounds for theoretical basis for description of a subjective perception of pain. The content of autobiographical memories about pain has been proposed to be used as a methodological approach enabling to study subjective nature of pain experience. On the basis of stories about pain handled with the help of content analysis a model of systematic description of pain is composed based on a theoretical model of a systematic description of psyche by V. A. Ganzen.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-27
Author(s):  
P.A. Egorova

We discuss the main theoretical concepts of a dream: dream definitions, ideas about its genesis, functions, dream location in the structure of activity. We analyze the similarities and differences between the approaches. The results of empirical studies of adolescent and adult dreams are generalized, dream functions in adolescence are analyzed. Based on the analysis of different approaches, we chose theoretical basis of our own research – A. Leontiev activity theory, L.S. Vygotsky concept, K. Lewin's model. We formulated and substantiated the definition of dream as emotionally colored image of the desired future, having a subjective significance. We show the significance and hypotheses of our research: 1) the content of dreams is connected not only with a situation of frustration, but also with the teenager abilities, 2) the dream is involved in regulating of values choice; 3) restoration and development of the ability to dream can be used in the practice of counseling and psychotherapy as an effective tool to help adolescents and adults.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Eunyoung Nam ◽  
Peng Xiong

The rapid development of information technology is having a profound impact on college students' entrepreneurial behavior,and accurately recognize entrepreneurial opportunities will affect the success or failure of individual entrepreneurship. The purpose of this study is to explore if and how social media influences college students to recognize entrepreneurial opportunities. A systematic review of relevant research results including social media in the field of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship of college students, etc., this paper puts forward five dimensions and six hypotheses, including entrepreneurial alertness, priori knowledge, social capital, entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, and social media. A total of 508 valid questionnaires were obtained by designing questionnaires, organizing surveys, and screening data for college students. Through the reliability and validity test, correlation analysis, and hypothesis test analysis of the returned questionnaire data, all six hypotheses were verified. The empirical analysis shows that social media can significantly affect the recognition of entrepreneurial opportunities for college entrepreneurs. priori knowledge and entrepreneurial alertness play a mediating role and a moderating role respectively in this process. Meanwhile, priori knowledge plays a significant positive role in promoting entrepreneurial vigilance. Social capital has a direct and positive impact on college students' entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, and plays a moderating role in the impact of social media on college students' entrepreneurial opportunity recognition.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jocelyn Viterna ◽  
Emily Clough ◽  
Killian Clarke

Civil society is one of the most widely used—and widely maligned—concepts in development studies. In this paper, we argue that much confusion regarding civil society stems from the omnibus nature of its conceptualization. We consider civil society to be an omnibus concept because it has been imbued with several distinct meanings—a normative meaning (civil society as civilized), a functional meaning (civil society as democratizing), and a structural meaning (civil society as a third sector). Using the example of humanitarian NGOs, we demonstrate how the omnibus nature of civil society resists systematization and requires scholars to make problematic assumptions when designing empirical research. As a solution, we propose replacing “civil society” in empirical research with the structural “third-sector” concept. This move narrows the gap between the actors that scholars study and the theoretical construct that they are supposed to represent; it brings the third sector into conceptual alignment with our understanding of the first and second sectors (the market and the state); and it improves our efforts to compare findings across cases and build generalized theories. It also enables scholars to consider questions of power, resources, and influence when studying development NGOs—questions that are difficult to ask when notions of “civil society” are defined as actors that understand, represent, and advocate on behalf of their “constituents.” We conclude that “civil society” as a concept should be maintained for theoretical analyses of what makes society civil but that empirical studies of development are best served by a third-sector approach.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Izlem Gozukara ◽  
Nurdan Colakoglu

<p>Entrepreneurship is a process of value creation consisting of committing time and effort, considering financial, social and other risks, resulting financial gain. The initial step of entrepreneurship is to recognize opportunities, which refers to a mechanism of intention. Empirical studies have provided evidence that entrepreneurial behavior is best predicted by intention. Intention, in turn, is associated with certain personality traits and attributes. This study aims to investigate the mediating effect of entrepreneurial alertness on the relationship between innovativeness and entrepreneurial intention of Turkish university students. The results of the study demonstrated that innovativeness has a positive effect on entrepreneurial intention, and entrepreneurial alertness fully mediates the relationship between innovativeness and entrepreneurial alertness. The present paper suggests that higher education institutions should focus on modifying personal attitudes of college students through entrepreneurship education and business incubation programs in order to foster enterprise creation and thereby economic development.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 601-619
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Głód ◽  
Olaf Flak

Research background: A lot of companies in the market create a variety of situations in which they compete with one another. At the same time companies crave for the same pool of demand, and in fact the money held by the buyers. Attempts to define the notion of com-petitiveness of the company appear frequently in scientific publications and in the research conducted by various institutions in different countries. The concept of competitiveness is used to determine the ratio of enterprise characteristics to these of its competitors, resulting from many internal features and the ability to deal with an external environment. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this article is to present results of the Company Competitiveness Barometer, conducted in 2014, 2015 and 2016 on a group of more than 600 Polish companies. The Barometer is a theoretical basis for the integrated model of competi-tiveness designed by the authors of the article. The specific objectives of this article are: to provide an overview of the research methodology, to present the results of empirical studies of more than 600 Polish companies, to create an outline of the future direction of the research on competitiveness of enterprises by means of the Company Competitiveness Barometer. Methods: The questionnaire used in the Company Competitiveness Barometer is built of 48 questions. 45 of them are related to the characteristics of the company that are affecting its competitiveness, and 3 questions are metric questions. The questionnaire can be found on the www.sensorium24.com website. Findings & Value added: The research carried out from the point of view of the company’s employees, offer an opportunity to reflect and think about the competitiveness of their own organization and factors that are shaping it. The IT tool used makes it possible to compare own results with other companies participating in the survey.


2016 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tayebeh Nikraftar ◽  
Elahee Hosseini

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the antecedents of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaire data were collected from 220 senior tourism business members in Iran. Findings The results show that an individual’s self-efficacy, prior knowledge and social networks, all had positive effects on entrepreneurial alertness. Also, entrepreneurial alertness contributed significantly to entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. Research limitations/implications The findings show that social network was the most important predictor among all other of the antecedents of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. Because the data were limited to tourism industry, future studies need to validate these findings in other industries. Practical Implications Findings of this study suggest that to increase entrepreneurial opportunity recognition ability, it is critical for tourism businesses to invest in developing and enhancing individual ability. Originality/value The value of this paper lies in its contribution to understanding better the predictors to become entrepreneurs in tourism. Particularly, the paper adds to the existing literature by showing that the key success factors for entrepreneurial alertness are individual abilities, especially individual social contacts. People who want to work in the tourism industry should promote own communication network with other businesses and people to find new entrepreneurial opportunities. It is better they work in areas that have enough prior knowledge and experiences.


2020 ◽  
pp. 026839622097787
Author(s):  
Svyatoslav Kotusev ◽  
Sherah Kurnia

Enterprise architecture is a collection of artifacts describing various aspects of an organization from an integrated business and IT perspective. Practicing enterprise architecture in organizations implies using these artifacts to facilitate information systems planning and improve business and IT alignment. Despite its long history, the enterprise architecture discipline still remains largely atheoretical and lacks a solid theoretical basis. Based on our previous empirical studies of the practical usage of enterprise architecture artifacts in multiple organizations and broad literature analysis, this conceptual article identifies and discusses in detail 10 theories that can be considered key for understanding how an enterprise architecture practice works: actor-network theory, boundary objects theory, cognitive fit theory, communities of practice theory, decision-making theories, information processing theory, knowledge management theory, management fashion theory, media richness theory, and uncertainty principle. Taken together, these theories offer a comprehensive theoretical view of an enterprise architecture practice explaining the role of enterprise architecture artifacts, their usability, and participation of stakeholders and, therefore, may constitute a theoretical basis of the entire enterprise architecture discipline. Although this article does not elaborate on any of these theories, it brings these theories to light, establishes their critical importance for comprehending an enterprise architecture practice, and positions them as central to the enterprise architecture discourse. Each of these theories can be leveraged by enterprise architecture scholars in their future studies for analyzing enterprise architecture practices through respective theoretical lenses. This article intends to provide fresh theoretical insights on enterprise architecture, spark new waves of theoretical enterprise architecture research, and contribute to the development of a sound theoretical foundation for the enterprise architecture discipline.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document