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Prior knowledge, cognitive characteristics and opportunity recognition

Ali Hajizadeh (Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran)
Mohammadreza Zali (Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran)

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research

ISSN: 1355-2554

Article publication date: 7 March 2016

3538

Abstract

Purpose

In order to answer why and how some individuals identify opportunities, the purpose of this paper is to offer a comprehensive framework of key effective factors that investigates the role of prior knowledge and cognitive characteristics of entrepreneurial alertness and learning in the entrepreneurial opportunities recognition process.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the authors identified key effective factors and developed research hypotheses and conceptual model. Second, the authors considered research methodology including sampling and data collection, measurement model. The third section presents a report of the results from the analysis of the structural model and the hypotheses tests.

Findings

The findings show that all the three factors had positive impact on opportunity recognition. It is also confirmed that prior knowledge has significant impact on entrepreneurial alertness and learning. Finally, the results demonstrate that both entrepreneurial alertness and learning partially mediated the relationship between prior knowledge and opportunity recognition.

Research limitations/implications

Possible effects of other cognitive characteristics such as creativity and innovation can be considered in the model to increase accuracy of the findings. Also, comparative studies with the proposed framework in different industrial domains can be conducted in order to compare the possible differences concerning the role of the factors in opportunity recognition.

Practical implications

By using this model, entrepreneurs will be able to identify and enhance the factors that influence opportunity recognition, thus honing this entrepreneurial ability. Also, this framework can be employed in the field of education to identify opportunity recognition problems in individuals and to foster entrepreneurs.

Originality/value

This paper presents a new integrated model that would examine the impact of key effective factors of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition simultaneously while taking into account the interactions among them.

Keywords

Citation

Hajizadeh, A. and Zali, M. (2016), "Prior knowledge, cognitive characteristics and opportunity recognition", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 63-83. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-05-2015-0110

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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