The Concept of International Opportunity in International Entrepreneurship: A Review and a Research Agenda

Abstract

Recent research in the field of international entrepreneurship (IE) has emphasized the concept of international opportunity. The entrepreneurial behaviors focused on international opportunities have been found to be critical in IE. International opportunities, however, are often depicted in rather abstract and unspecified ways, and the research suffers from narrow theoretical discussion in relation to the concept of opportunity. To address these issues, the authors draw from entrepreneurship research and present alternative conceptualizations of opportunities as a basis for more in-depth study of international opportunities in IE. To further articulate a future research agenda, the authors review the state of knowledge on opportunities in the IE field by contentanalyzing articles published between 1989 and 2012. All the analyzed articles incorporate the concept of opportunity into their studies. It is found that, although the IE research has investigated many relevant elements, it is rather limited in the articulation of the conceptual features of international opportunities and opportunity-focused behaviors. Building on these observations, the authors propose a definition of international opportunity and research questions and strategies to advance IE research on international opportunities.

Beyond categorization: New directions for theory development about entrepreneurial internationalization

“…In building on this conceptualization, we recognize that multiple definitions of ''opportunity'' exist (e.g., Mainela, Puhakka, & Servais, 2014). Definitions in entrepreneurship tend to conceptualize opportunities as situations where it is possible to introduce something new to a market (Alvarez, Barney, & Anderson, 2013;Shane & Venkataraman, 2000), while definitions in international business tend to conceptualize opportunities as situations where it is possible to enter new foreign markets (e.g., Ellis, 2011;Johanson & Vahlne, 2009;Santangelo & Meyer, 2011).…”

“…Process research tends to examine temporal sequences of events (Langley, 1999) and recent entrepreneurship research has shown how it can be used to understand better the nature of entrepreneurial opportunity (for example, McMullen & Dimov, 2013;Suddaby, Bruton, & Si, 2015). However, despite the apparent match between process theory and the dynamics of entrepreneurial internationalization, reviews of opportunity-based research in international entrepreneurship (Mainela et al, 2014) and process-based research in international business (Welch & Paavilainen-Mäntymäki, 2014) have few empirical studies in common.…”

Acceleration and Deceleration in the Internationalization Process of the Firm

“…Such a change of speed is likely to be driven by the firm recognizing and beginning to exploit opportunities (Mainela et al 2014). Opportunities related to the different commitment activities are new and valuable customers, suppliers, products, technologies, etc., which are perceived to have a positive influence on growth.…”

Analysing the Role of Framework Conditions Influencing International Entrepreneurial Opportunity Identification Process

“…IE does not only cover topics related to internal aspects of the firm but also how entrepreneurs interact with external factors, such as the dynamics of international markets. In this sphere of analysis, the study of networks has provided the backdrop to analyse opportunity recognition (Ardichvili, Cardozo, & Ray, 2003;Mainela, Puhakka, & Servais, 2014).…”

“…Understanding opportunity -as a vital factor within entrepreneurial activities − the conceptual discussion in the literature has turned into the debate as to whether entrepreneurs identify or recognise opportunities (Alvarez et al, 2013;Andersson & Evers, 2015;Ardichvili et al, 2003;Chandra et al, 2009;Chandra et al, 2015;Eckhardt & Shane, 2003;Heilbrunn, 2010;Mainela et al, 2014;Mary George et al, 2016;Oyson & Whittaker, 2015;Shane, 2000;Vaghely & Julien, 2010). This peculiar debate is quite important due to the need to capture the process itself.…”