An Investigation into the Entrepreneurial Opportunity Discovery Process: The Role of Information

摘要

The research focus of entrepreneurship has shifted from the personality traits of the entrepreneur to the discovery and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities during the last thirty years of theory evolution. The role of information and knowledge in the opportunity discovery process attracts attentions of many scholars. This paper discusses whether entrepreneurial opportunity is a deliberate or an emergent process and what information based indicators can be used to define opportunity discovery. Based on the literature review, this research compare and contrast the deliberation and emergent school of thought on opportunity discovery and reaches following conclusions. The opportunity discovery process may be dominated by the active and deliberate search. It can also a process in which the accumulated information and knowledge possessed by the entrepreneur is stimulated by the new information in the environment, resulting in the emergence of the opportunity. Opportunity discovery may be defined by following information based indicators: number of ideas considered before the opportunity is discovered, opportunity precedents, prior knowledge and experiences, critical relationship, information accessibility, and sequential learning.