A Model of Strategic Entrepreneurship: The Construct and its Dimensions

Abstract

Strategic entrepreneurship (SE) involves simultaneous opportunity-seeking and advantageseeking behaviors and results in superior firm performance. On a relative basis, small, entrepreneurial ventures are effective in identifying opportunities but are less successful in developing competitive advantages needed to appropriate value from those opportunities. In contrast, large, established firms often are relatively more effective in establishing competitive advantages but are less able to identify new opportunities. We argue that SE is a unique, distinctive construct through which firms are able to create wealth. An entrepreneurial mindset, an entrepreneurial culture and entrepreneurial leadership, the strategic management of resources and applying creativity to develop innovations are important dimensions of SE. Herein we develop a model of SE that explains how these dimensions are integrated to create wealth.

Endings and Visions of New Beginnings: The Effects of Source of Unemployment and Duration of Unemployment on Entrepreneurial Intent

“…Even if the newly educated employment services agency client did not become an entrepreneur, he or she would be better able to work as an intrapreneur for corporate employers. The growing emphasis on innovation (Wood 2009) and strategic entrepreneurship (Ireland, Hitt, and Sirmon 2003) has resulted in corporations seeking out people who are entrepreneurial (Meager and Bates 2002). Thus, shifting some resources from traditional employment services to entrepreneurship education could leverage the increased entrepreneurial intent that is stimulated by long-term unemployment.…”

Entrepreneurial Cognition

“…The opportunityidentification task fulfills both these conditions as information required is typically ambiguous and difficult to interpret. Similarly, these tasks are usually emotionally engaging largely due to the possible outcomes they may yield for entrepreneurs and their firms (Cardon et al 2012;Ireland et al 2003).…”

Attention and Entrepreneurial Cognition

“…[namely,] the ability to rapidly sense, act, and mobilize, even under uncertain conditions" (Ireland et al 2003: 963-989). Such a notion implies that the ability to both notice and adapt to uncertainty is a key skill of successful managers (McGrath and McMillan 2000;Ireland et al 2003). When conceptualizing the notion of an entrepreneurial mindset, Ireland et al (2003) described cognitive tasks, such as interpreting opportunities as goal change, continually reflecting on and challenging one's "dominant logic" in changing environments, and reconsidering "deceptively simple questions" about what one believes to be true in regard to markets and the firm.…”