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a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c tDo individuals who are concerned by issues of sustainability also exhibit stronger entrepreneurial intentions? Given that existing imperfections in the market create numerous opportunities for entrepreneurship connected with sustainable development, adding individual sustainability orientation to models of entrepreneurial intention could increase their explanatory power. Based on survey data collected from engineering and business students and alumni of three universities, we provide evidence that entering sustainability orientation into the equation is actually meaningful. However, our findings suggest that the positive impact of sustainability orientation vanishes with business experience. Consequently, we suggest measures to nourish an evidently existing potential for sustainable entrepreneurship.The emerging stream of academic literature on sustainable entrepreneurship adds a new dimension to the general promise of entrepreneurship. No longer is entrepreneurship supposed to merely result in economic success: sustainable entrepreneurs manage to the "triple bottom line" by balancing economic health, social equity and environmental resilience through their entrepreneurial behavior. Sustainable entrepreneurship is thus clearly associated with the promise of more traditional concepts of entrepreneurship, but also brings additional potential both for society and the environment.With this paper we contribute to the emergent stream of literature on this important topic in one particular aspect. Above all, we are interested in individuals who are concerned with environmental and societal issues; individuals who are sustainabilityoriented and thus could potentially be more interested in supporting initiatives and forming businesses that support the idea of sustainability. In other words, we aim to answer the question of how sustainability orientation and entrepreneurial intentions are related in practice. Our paper, as a relatively rare exception uses large-scale survey data to provide empirical insights into this question. In doing so, and by being rooted in entrepreneurship theory and theorizing on sustainable development, it links debates on entrepreneurship for sustainable development with mainstream theories of entrepreneurship and at the same time provides a balance to the wealth of conceptual models on sustainable entrepreneurship.Embedding our empirical analysis in entrepreneurship theory, we hypothesize a positive relationship between an individual's sustainability orientation and entrepreneurial intention. However, based on the literature on organizational legitimacy and empirical findings from research on business ethics, we hypothesize as well that business experience negatively impacts on this relationship. Based on data collected from students and alumni from science and engineering programs plus students from business programs at three universities, we apply ordinal probit models and find support for these hypotheses. Our ordinal probit models suggest that engineering...

This study focuses on the role of strategic learning as a mediating construct between opportunity-seeking (exploration) and advantage-seeking (exploitation) strategies and profi t performance. Prior studies argue that the effect of these core elements of strategic entrepreneurship (exploration and exploitation) cannot be fully captured through their direct effects on profi t performance, but that this relationship consists of mediating factors. This study proposes that the process of strategic learning, through its intraorganizational elements that enable the dissemination, interpretation, and implementation of strategic knowledge, enables fi rms to capitalize on the benefi ts of both exploration and exploitation strategies. Results from 206Finnish software fi rms indicate that strategic learning fully mediates the relationship between exploration, exploitation, and profi t performance. The result contributes by stressing the importance of strategic learning processes, especially in conjunction with entrepreneurial exploration strategies. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that the effect from exploration to strategic learning is moderated by the level of exploitation. This moderation effect suggests that the strategic learning is limited, being a path dependent capability that favors exploitation over exploration when stretched. However, strategic learning effectively allows both types of strategies to improve profi t performance. Copyright © 2012 Strategic Management Society. INTRODUCTIONThe strategic entrepreneurship literature integrates entrepreneurship and strategic management research to study the antecedents, effects, and mechanisms of opportunity-seeking (exploration strategy) and advantage-seeking (exploitation strategy) behaviors, suggesting the existence of positive performance effects derived from the balanced application of these strategies (Hitt et al., 2011;Hitt et al., 2001;Ireland, Hitt, and Sirmon, 2003;March, 1991;O'Reilly and Tushman, 2008). Although some of the studies report direct effects of exploration and exploitation on fi rm performance, others (Raisch et al., 2009;Raisch and Birkinshaw, 2008;Simsek et al., 2009) contend that the relationships are more complex, with various factors either mediating or moderating the linkages. Recently, researchers have proposed various processes (e.g., innovation process) and capabilities (e.g., absorptive capacity) that support the capitalization of these strategies (Kohtamäki, Kautonen, and Kraus, 2010;Lubatkin Keywords: exploration strategy; exploitation strategy; ambidexterity; strategic learning; exploitation trap; profi t performance *Correspondence to: Charlotta A. Sirén, Department of Management, University of Vaasa, PO Box 700, Vaasa, Simsek et al., 2009) call for studies analyzing fi rms' internal process-related mediating and moderating factors in the link between exploration, exploitation and fi rm performance.To address this issue, we introduce the construct of strategic learning (e.g., Mintzberg and Waters, 1985) as a mediating fa...

Purpose-Opportunity recognition and opportunity exploitation are two central concepts in the entrepreneurial process. However, there is a lack of both a clear specification of the content domains of the constructs and valid and reliable multi-item scales for their measurement. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach-This paper first reveals existing issues around the definitions and measures relating to the concepts, then defines their content domains, and also proposes scale items to measure the concepts. Four samples are used to develop the measurement instruments. Findings-Two scales are suggested, one to measure opportunity recognition, and other to measure opportunity exploitation. The scales demonstrate reliability and construct, discriminant, and nomological validity. Originality/value-The resulting instruments provide tools for research and practice that could prove valuable when examining the antecedents and consequences of both opportunity recognition and opportunity exploitation.

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