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2017 | Buch

Revisiting the Entrepreneurial Mind

Inside the Black Box: An Expanded Edition

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Über dieses Buch

The book explores various aspects of cognitive and motivational psychology as they impact entrepreneurial behavior. Building upon the 2009 volume, Understanding the Entrepreneurial Mind, the editors and contributors explore the cognitions, motivations, passions, intentions, perceptions, and emotions associated with entrepreneurial behaviors, in each case preserving their original chapters and enhancing them with thoughtful and targeted updates, reflecting on the most recent developments in theory and practice, telling the story of what has transpired in the last decade in the field of entrepreneurial psychology.

The volume addresses such questions as: Why do some people start business and others do not? Is entrepreneurship a natural quality or can it be taught? Do entrepreneurs think differently from others? While there is a great deal of literature exploring the dynamics of new firm creation, policies to promote innovation and technology transfer, and the psychology of creativity; research on entrepreneurial mindset or cognition is relatively new, and draws largely from such related fields as organizational behavior, cognitive and social psychology, career development, and consumer research. In this book, editors Brännback and Carsrud have reassembled the contributors to Understanding the Entrepreneurial Mind to discuss new research paradigms given their vantage point years after the original volume was published.

Featuring the most current literature references, Revisiting the Entrepreneurial Mind continues to challenge conventional approaches to entrepreneurship and articulate an agenda for future research.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Revisiting the Entrepreneurial Mind: Inside the Black Box
Abstract
It is not often that the editors and authors of a research volume in entrepreneurship have the opportunity to revisit their work and discuss the “state of the art” since their respective chapters were written. However, we have been given that opportunity with this “revisiting” volume. A number of the authors of our first Mind book, along with some new colleagues, take a second look at the research, theories, and approaches now being employed in the study of the entrepreneurial cognitions and motivations. This volume Revisiting the Entrepreneurial Mind: Inside the Black Box builds upon (and includes) many of the chapters originally found in our Understanding the Entrepreneurial Mind: Opening the Black Box (Carsrud and Brännback 2009).
Malin Brännback, Alan Carsrud
Erratum
Malin Brännback

From Intentions to Action

Frontmatter
Chapter 2. Entrepreneurial Intentions Are Dead: Long Live Entrepreneurial Intentions
Abstract
Short of studying actual new venture launches, what could possibly be more potent than understanding the preconditions that enable entrepreneurial activity? Early research focused unsurprisingly on behavior (the “what?” and the “how?” even somewhat the “where?” and the “when?”) and since entrepreneurs were obviously special people, on the entrepreneurial person (the “who?”). Intentions are classically defined as the cognitive state temporally and causally prior to action (e.g., The intentional stance, Cambridge, 1989; Entrep Theory Pract 24:5–23, 2000). Here that translates to the working definition of the cognitive state temporally and causally prior to the decision to start a business. The field has adopted and adapted formal models of entrepreneurial intentions that are based on strong, widely accepted theory and whose results appear not only empirically robust but of great practical value. But do we have what we think we have? Or have we also opened the door to a much broader range of questions that will advance our theoretical understanding of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs? We offer here a glimpse of the remarkably wide array of fascinating questions for entrepreneurship scholars.
Norris F. Krueger
Chapter 3. Is Research on Entrepreneurial Intentions Growing? Or…Just Getting Bigger?
Abstract
Reflecting on this chapter written in 2009, it is gratifying that research published on entrepreneurial intentions has exploded. It is nearly impossible to pick up an issue of an entrepreneurship journal and not find a study that involves entrepreneurial intentions.
Norris F. Krueger
Chapter 4. Perceptions: Looking at the World Through Entrepreneurial Lenses
Abstract
In this chapter we consider how the perceptions of entrepreneurs might differ from those of non-entrepreneurs and how this might lead individuals to act entrepreneurially when others would not. Perceptions are reality for nascent entrepreneurs who must make business decisions in an uncertain world, based on what they see or what they think they see. We use the analogy of “entrepreneurial lenses” and discuss clear lenses (self-efficacy), rose-colored lenses (cognitive biases), blue lenses (simplistic decision rules), yellow lenses (preference for monetary gains), purple lenses (preference for intrinsic benefits), and telescopic lenses (overestimation of profits and underestimation of risks). We also consider the frames that hold the lenses (framing effects).
Evan Douglas
Chapter 5. Perceptions Revisited: Continuing to Look at the World Through Entrepreneurial Lenses
Abstract
This chapter focused on how the perceptions of prospective entrepreneurial action, by intending, nascent, or practicing entrepreneurs, might differ from those of non-entrepreneurs. The perceptions considered were those concerning the risks and rewards of entrepreneurial actions. The rewards are the monetary and psychic gains of entrepreneurship, while risk refers to the probability of loss of time and money invested as well as the psychic costs of economic loss and entrepreneurial failure. A series of “lenses” were proposed that either increase or decrease the clarity of the perceived desirability and the perceived feasibility of becoming an entrepreneur. According to the theory of planned behavior, the formation of entrepreneurial intentions is followed, with a lag that varies with the individual, by entrepreneurial behavior. In the following “afterthoughts” the impact of the lenses on the time lag between intentions and behavior is examined.
Evan Douglas

Contexts, Cognition, and Entrepreneurial Expertise

Frontmatter
Chapter 6. Toward A Contextual Model of Entrepreneurial Intentions
Abstract
In this chapter, the authors challenge the existing linear views of entrepreneurial intentions by proposing a contextual model of entrepreneurial intentions (EIM). This model, initially proposed by Elfving (2008), bridges self-efficacy, motivations, and intentions, in particular it addresses the role that specific goals and motivations play in intentionality. In addition, the chapter addresses the issues of the inconsistent effect of social norms on entrepreneurial intentions. It builds upon the prior work of a broad range of researchers, including those represented in the other chapters in this cluster on entrepreneurial intentions within this volume.
Jennie Elfving, Malin Brännback, Alan Carsrud
Chapter 7. Motivations Matter in Entrepreneurial Behavior: Depends on the Context
Abstract
This update on our original chapter on the contexts of intentions will focus on what additional work has been done on the topic since we wrote the original chapter in 2008–2008. Before we begin this update review it may be helpful to remind the reader of some assumptions we made in the original chapter and which focuses the efforts of this update. When writing the original chapter a primary purpose was to point out to researchers the need to constantly challenge, test, and develop the models we are using to study entrepreneurial concepts, especially intentions. The model proposed in the original chapter particularly addressed the role that goals and motivations play in intentionality and suggested that a better understanding of their role is essential for understanding entrepreneurial intentions and would concurrently help us see the whole picture and understand the role of context. Certainly we want to acknowledge that one cannot look at intentions in isolation from other cognitive aspects like motivation (which we address in another chapter update on that topic). We also want to be clear that we have not listed here every study done since 2009 on entrepreneurial intentions that had some mention of context. What we have done is to look at what we feel are studies which drive this discussion forward.
Jennie Elfving, Malin Brännback, Alan Carsrud
Chapter 8. Context and Entrepreneurial Cognition
Abstract
That was the pivotal question we asked entrepreneurship researchers in a recent workshop about the future of entrepreneurship (research). Interestingly, it seemed to be a difficult question as many participants realized that their attempts to explain context fell short. Some examples were “silicon valley context,” “social context,” “business context,” and also “age and experience of the entrepreneur” or, more to the theme of this book: “context influences how we see the world” and “context is something internal.”
Simone Chlosta, Friederike Welter
Chapter 9. Cognitive Maps in Entrepreneurship: Researching Sense Making and Action
Abstract
In this chapter, we show that cognitive maps are a viable way of both examining the cognitive structures of entrepreneurs and understanding the differences between entrepreneurs and managers in their cognitive structures. We demonstrate that these maps differ in their use and differ based on prior experience and perceptions. We tie this research stream in organizational behavior and strategic management to a potential research approach in the study of the cognitions of entrepreneurs. We also demonstrated how maps are tied to goals and to actions and thus to entrepreneurial motivations and perceptions. We also conclude that this stream of research into the cognitive maps of entrepreneurs has yet to be fully explored. Certainly maps can yield significant new insights into how entrepreneurs view their world and translate that either into successful or into unsuccessful new ventures. Finally, we demonstrate that entrepreneurial researchers likewise have such cognitive maps that influence, sometimes without awareness, their own views of the world.
Malin Brännback, Alan Carsrud
Chapter 10. Cognitive Maps in Entrepreneurship: Understanding Contexts
Abstract
In the original chapter we showed that cognitive maps were a viable tool for examining the cognitive structures of entrepreneurs and how we could reveal the differences in these structures between entrepreneurs and managers. Since then we have seen a growing interest toward entrepreneurial cognition (Mitchell et al. 2014), where it has become highly obvious that understanding cognitive differences is central for understanding what, how, why, and when entrepreneurs do. Or how do entrepreneurs think, before they do, and how does that thought impact their doing? In fact, we somewhat provocatively pointed out that managers, and especially CEOs have been portrayed as those that cognize, that is, those who decide and think (and implying that entrepreneurs were not). Yet research into entrepreneurial cognition—which is still rather recent—have argued that entrepreneurs do think differently and structure their realities differently (Busenitz and Barney 1997; Mitchell et al. 2002, 2007; Carsrud et al. 2009; Brännback and Carsrud 2009) In this chapter, we presented cognitive maps as an efficient tool and method for analyzing the differences. Cognitive maps were presented as a method that originated from work by Kelly in 1955 (Kelly 1955) and that it had successfully been applied in, for example, political sciences (Axelrod 1976), but frequently in strategic management (Eden 1988; Huff 1990; Brännback and Malaska 1995; Brännback 1996; Hodgkinson 1997).
Malin Brännback, Alan Carsrud
Chapter 11. Entrepreneurial Scripts and Entrepreneurial Expertise: The Information Processing Perspective
Abstract
Entrepreneurial scripts that represent entrepreneurial expertise enable researchers to begin to map the entrepreneurial mind. This chapter provides a complete demonstration of the steps needed by researchers to uncover the structure and content of the expert script knowledge structures that entrepreneurs utilize and to relate the use of these scripts to substantive organizational and entrepreneurial consequences.
Ronald K. Mitchell, Benjamin T. Mitchell, J. Robert Mitchell
Chapter 12. Situated Scripting and Entrepreneurial Expertise: A Socially Situated View of the Information-Processing Perspective
Abstract
Over the past few years a new narrative has emerged within the area of entrepreneurial cognition research that has moved explanations away from boxologies—seemingly static representations of abstract, disembodied cognitive structures—and towards a more dynamic view of entrepreneurial cognition. In this chapter, using socially situated cognition theory, we revisit our original chapter on entrepreneurial scripts and entrepreneurial expertise in order to better-situate entrepreneurial scripts within this new (more dynamic) narrative. We suggest an explanation that unifies both the static and dynamic views of entrepreneurial scripts.
Benjamin T. Mitchell, J. Robert Mitchell, Ronald K. Mitchell

Cluster Three Motivations, Emotions, Attributions, and Self-Efficacy

Frontmatter
Chapter 13. Motivations: The Entrepreneurial Mind and Behavior
Abstract
In this chapter various theories and approaches to motivational research are reviewed and applied to the study of the entrepreneur. These are discussed with respect to both necessity and opportunistic entrepreneurship. Various models that integrate internal and external motivation are explored and the concept of risk is examined as a form of motivation. The role of goals and goal setting is also discussed in the motivational framework and is tied to intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. In addition, work and life satisfaction are reviewed as they impact entrepreneurial motivation with specific attention paid to career motivation. Finally, achievement motivation is discussed, not only in terms of a unidimensional model, but also in terms of a multi-dimensional model to predict the performance of firms using the motivation characteristics of the entrepreneur.
Alan Carsrud, Malin Brännback, Jennie Elfving, Kristie Brandt
Chapter 14. Revisiting a Contextual Model of Entrepreneurial Intentions
Abstract
Since the original chapter on entrepreneurial motivation by Carsrud et al. (2009), we have seen dozens of citations to the work and to a follow-up article (Carsrud and Brännback 2011) in various conference papers and published research articles. We are gratified to see the motivation of entrepreneurs regaining some of the attention of researchers (Shepherd et al. 2015). In this update to the chapter, we are going to focus on some of the work, which we feel has the most promise of influencing the future direction of research on entrepreneurial motivation. We also have discussed motivations in an earlier update in this volume on a contextual model for entrepreneurial intentions. These specifically focused on our views on the role of motivations and goal setting with respect to intentions. In this update, we will expand on that and other issues, which we feel deserve attention.
Jennie Elfving, Malin Brännback, Alan Carsrud
Chapter 15. The Role of Emotions and Cognitions in Entrepreneurial Decision-Making
Abstract
This chapter examines the role of emotions and cognitions in entrepreneurial decision-making and how they interact in this process. First, definitions of the terms emotions and cognitions are outlined. Second, entrepreneurial decision-making processes and the role of emotions and cognitions within these processes are presented. Afterward, we briefly describe three representatives of cognitive appraisal theories of emotion with the focus on entrepreneurship. Finally, we present a model of how to study emotions and cognitions in entrepreneurial decision-making and point out implications for future research, for practice, and for teaching.
Theresa Michl, Isabell M. Welpe, Matthias Spörrle, Arnold Picot
Chapter 16. The Role of Emotions and Cognitions in the Pre-entrepreneurial Process: What’s New?
Abstract
Emotions have long been neglected in entrepreneurship research and scholars mostly focused on cognitive models and on external influences. With the argument that emotions and cognitions are inseparably intertwined came the insight that emotions and cognitions have to be studied together to gain an understanding of why some individuals become entrepreneurs while others do not. Over the past decade or so, emotion research has found its way into entrepreneurship research, and the empirical results surrounding this research look very promising in advancing the field of entrepreneurship.
Theresa Treffers, Isabell M. Welpe, Matthias Spörrle, Arnold O. Picot
Chapter 17. Why? Attributions About and By Entrepreneurs
Abstract
To help explain events and behavior, people search for causes. In some cases the identified causes are found within persons, in other cases they are found in the environment, in still other cases they are found in the interaction between person and environment. When provided with multiple opportunities for observation, people typically follow a principle of covariation. With only one chance for observation, people rely on causal schemata. Although attributional inferences are often correct, there are two primary classes of attributional error. First, there is a natural difference in perspective between actors and observers. Actors are “looking outward,” concentrating on factors in the environment, but observers are concentrating only on the actor. This perspective difference leads observers to over-attribute events to persons, paying too little attention to situational factors, a cognitive mistake known as the fundamental attribution error. Second, there are errors created by the observer’s motivation. Three examples are the self-serving bias, the need to believe in a just world, and defensive attribution. These errors and objective attribution processes are described and illustrated by examples from entrepreneurship.
Kelly G. Shaver
Chapter 18. Thoughts Have Consequences: Attributions By and About Entrepreneurs
Abstract
An entrepreneurial venture cannot succeed if it is not begun, so an entrepreneur’s decision to start is absolutely critical. That decision will be affected by the entrepreneur’s beliefs about what personal traits are needed and whether she/he has them. Once started, an entrepreneurial venture only very rarely can be scaled without external financial support, provided by investors who have their own unique views of the required traits and likely causes of success. The principles of attribution theory inform our understanding of the causes of both success and failure. Additionally, well-documented errors in causal reasoning can adversely affect entrepreneurial action. This chapter describes the fundamentals of the attribution approach and suggests how correct attributions can support entrepreneurial behavior.
Kelly G. Shaver
Chapter 19. Self-Efficacy: Conditioning the Entrepreneurial Mindset
Abstract
Since Bandura’s original work (Social Learning Theory, Englewood Cliffs, 1977a), the self-efficacy concept has become an important variable within social psychology research. However, it has also been invoked in numerous other areas of research: organization theory, human resource theory, cognition and behavioral theory, as well as identity theory, in connection with topics such as health, stress, leadership, commitment, ethnicity, religion, gender, culture, social class, because it emphasizes values that we perceive as important in the Western world such as achievement and performance (Annu Rev Sociol 15: 291–316, 1989).
René Mauer, Helle Neergaard, Anne Kirketerp Linstad
Chapter 20. Self-Efficacy and the Entrepreneurial Mindset Revisited
Abstract
In 2009, entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) had already experienced a significant build-up in interest for some years. Since then this interest has been continuously growing. This can, to some extent be explained by the increased attention that has been given to entrepreneurship in general, but especially by the increasing focus on entrepreneurial education (EE). In the following, we are revisiting the chapter “Self-Efficacy – Conditioning the Entrepreneurial Mindset” and continue the discussion that the original chapter ended with, namely how we can foster ESE through EE. In particular, we zoom in on how we can assist the formation of an entrepreneurial mindset at the university level (unfolding the young adulthood level to a greater extent). We thereby focus on those individuals who have not yet developed significant levels of ESE in their formative years. We assume that specifically for those individuals EE plays an important role in developing entrepreneurial attitudes, abilities and skills, and hence in enhancing ESE (Neck and Greene 2011). In other areas, researchers are already starting to connect self-efficacy with empowerment, and we explore the potential connections between empowerment and ESE. Concrete examples of how educational interventions can be designed to empower students and increase their ESE will be provided, but we also discuss the issues connected with the increased focus on ESE when designing teaching formats. We will, however, begin by discussing why measuring ESE has become so prevalent as well as presenting and evaluating how the field has developed during the past years to relate to the original chapter’s discussion about the development of ESE scales and how these have been applied.
Franziska Günzel-Jensen, Kåre Moberg, René Mauer, Helle Neergaard

Cluster Four Entrepreneurial Alertness, Opportunity Identification and Behavior

Frontmatter
Chapter 21. Entrepreneurial Alertness and Opportunity Identification: Where Are We Now?
Abstract
Since its inception, entrepreneurship has struggled with the academic version of a new venture’s liability of newness; the field was considered pre-paradigmatic (Research methodology in strategy and management, New York, pp 1–32, 2005b), bereft of theory or conceptual frameworks (J Bus Ventur 19:617–620, 2004; Acad Manage Rev 26):8–11, 2001) and so lacking in understanding that investigators could not agree on what constituted the phenomenon of interest: any kind of self-employment? New venture creation? Corporate venturing? Something else? All of the above (J Bus Ventur 5:15–28, 1990; Acad Manage J 48:556–564, 2005a; Entrep Theory Pract 26:17–25, 2001, Encyclopedia of entrepreneurship, Englewood Cliffs, 1982)?
Connie Marie Gaglio, Susan Winter
Chapter 22. Entrepreneurial Alertness and Opportunity Identification 3.0: Yes, We Can Talk Empirical!
Abstract
The Internet of Things and social media not only produce a plethora of radical innovations that clearly illustrate the concept of creative destruction; these events are also accompanied by detailed public records of innovations, companies, and entrepreneurs who have succeeded or failed. The sheer number of events and the amount of data represent a golden opportunity for the empirical investigation of alertness and opportunity identification. However, a reading of the literature 2009–2015 gives the impression that, with few exceptions, opportunity identification scholars have not taken full advantage of the new events but continued a discussion of the trends noted in our previousliterature review.
While we do update those trends and make note of the new variables that have emerged, the purpose of this chapter is to focus on and explore several notable exemplars of high quality empirical conceptualizations, methods and techniques that capture the complexity of opportunity identification yet facilitate rigorous empirical study. We urge scholars and graduate students to incorporate the qualities of these exemplars into their own research programs.
We also address some fundamental issues about the empirical investigation of alertness and entrepreneurial opportunities that have created unnecessary distractions: (1) entrepreneurial opportunities are indeed empirical and part of the social fact that is the economic marketplace; (2) because entrepreneurial opportunities are part of the economic marketplace, they are social phenomena; (3) the discipline needs to acknowledge the different communities of interest who seek ownership of the words ‘opportunity’ and ‘entrepreneur’ and hence, their investigation. We urge scholars to turn their attention to the munificence of events and data now available.
C. M. Gaglio, Susan Winter
Chapter 23. Entrepreneurial Behavior: Its Nature, Scope, Recent Research, and Agenda for Future Research
Abstract
The end of all the cognition and motivation of entrepreneurs is to take some action in the world, and by doing so, give rise to a venture, an organization. Thoughts, intentions, motivations, learning, intelligence without action does not create economic value. The very nature of organizing is anchored in actions of individuals as they buy, sell, gather and deploy resources, work, etc. The values created by exploiting of opportunity undoubtedly include some that are intrapsychic and personal, but those we study, those of value to the readers of this book, are inherently interpersonal and social and thus observable and learnable. This chapter provides a brief overview of entrepreneurial behavior using a limited but hopefully representative lens on recent research. We call for more research on what entrepreneurs do and that this research be both more rigorous than what we currently have and also more creatively sourced.
Barbara Bird, Leon Schjoedt
Chapter 24. Entrepreneurs’ Behavior: A Black Box in Entrepreneurship Research
Abstract
Entrepreneurs’ behavior remains a black box in entrepreneurship research. This is despite its importance in new venture creation. This chapter extends the review of the literature on entrepreneurs’ behavior provided by Bird and Schjoedt (2009). Despite calls for more research on entrepreneurs’ behavior, the present review reveals a reduction while an emergence of four themes is becoming apparent in research on entrepreneurs’ behavior. Making another call for more research on entrepreneurs’ behavior to better understand entrepreneurs’ behavior, this chapter concludes with suggestions for future research to enhance our understanding of entrepreneurs’ behavior.
Leon Schjoedt
Metadaten
Titel
Revisiting the Entrepreneurial Mind
herausgegeben von
Malin Brännback
Alan L. Carsrud
Copyright-Jahr
2017
Electronic ISBN
978-3-319-45544-0
Print ISBN
978-3-319-45543-3
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45544-0