Uncovering the business opportunity prototype

250 Pages·2015·2.18 MB·English

by  Sílvia Costa

Business Research Unit (BRU-IUL)

Uncovering the business opportunity prototype: Cognitive and
learning aspects of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition in
higher education

A Thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor
in Human Resources Management and Development
by
Sílvia Margarida dos Santos Fernandes Costa

Supervisor:
Ph.D., António Caetano, Full Professor
Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, ISCTE-IUL

January, 2015
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THESIS COMMITTEE

Doctor José Gonçalves das Neves, Associate Professor with Aggregation, Department of
Human Resources and Organizational Behavior, ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de
Lisboa.
Doctor Francisco Liñán Alcalde, Associate Professor, Department of Applied Economics
I, University of Seville.
Doctor Michel Ehrenhard, Assistant Professor, NIKOS (The Netherlands Institute for
Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship, University of Twente.
Doctor Maria José Aguilar Madeira Silva, Assistant Professor, Department of
Management and Economics, Universidade da Beira Interior.
Doctor Nelson Jorge Campos Ramalho, Assistant Professor, Department of Human
Resources and Organizational Behavior, ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa.
Doctor António Caetano, Full Professor, Department of Human Resources and
Organizational Behavior, ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa.

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ABSTRACT

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ABSTRACT

The research project underlying this thesis focuses on three main aspects of
entrepreneurship. First, we focus on opportunity recognition as the point of departure for
entrepreneurial thinking and entrepreneurial activity. Secondly, we propose that basic
perceptive cognitive structures (such as prototypes) are fundamental to recognize
opportunities at early stages of development of the entrepreneurial mindset. Third, we
focus on cognitive and learning aspects of opportunity recognition with individuals in
higher education. To explore these topics, the present thesis is divided in two parts. Part
I focuses on the theoretical and empirical development of the topic on business
opportunity prototype for opportunity recognition and includes three studies. Study 1
provides a systematic literature review of prototypes in entrepreneurship research. A
theoretical model based on this analysis is presented and empirically tested on the
remaining studies of the thesis. Study 2 explores the role of the context of business
opportunity recognition on the identification of its prototypical features. Study 3 proposes
a simplified business opportunity prototype to describe how individuals with no
entrepreneurial experience perceive business opportunities from early stages of the
entrepreneurial mindset. Part II focuses on the training and learning aspects of cognitive
structures regarding opportunity recognition and includes one empirical study. Study 4
focuses on the effect of cognitive training and experiential learning on the development
and accuracy of the business opportunity prototype. Moreover, the moderator role of
positive affect towards entrepreneurship is tested in the learning process.
This thesis aims to contribute to the enrichment of entrepreneurship as a field of research
from a theoretical and conceptual, empirical, and practice perspectives.

Keywords: entrepreneurial cognition; opportunity recognition; cognitive structures;
business opportunity prototype; cognitive training.

JEL Classification System: L260 Entrepreneurship; M130 New Firms; Startups

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RESUMO

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