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This paper adds to the ongoing debate on judgements, opportunity evaluation and founder identity theory and shows that founders vary in their prioritisation and combination of judgement criteria, linked to their respective social founder identity. It further reveals how this variation among founder identity types shapes their perception of distinct entrepreneurial opportunities and the forming of first-person opportunity beliefs.

This study uses a qualitative approach by presenting three business scenarios to a sample of 34 first-time founders. It adopts a first-person perspective on their cognitive processes during the evaluation of entrepreneurial opportunities using verbal protocol and content analysis techniques.

The theorised model highlights the use of similar categories of judgement criteria by individual founders during opportunity evaluation that followed two distinct stages, namely search and validation. Yet, founders individualised their judgement process through the prioritisation of different judgement criteria.

The authors provide new insights into how individuals individuate entrepreneurial opportunities through the choice of different judgement criteria that enable them to develop opportunity confidence during opportunity evaluation. The study also shows that first-time founders depict variations in their cognitive frames that are based on their social identity types as they assess opportunity-related information and elicit variations in reciprocal relationships emerging between emotion and cognition. Exposing these subjective cognitive evaluative processes provides theoretical and practical implications that are discussed as well.

This research was developed to identify artificial intelligence (AI) opportunities and challenges in higher education.

This qualitative research was developed using the six-step thematic analysis method (Braun and Clark, 2006). Participants in this study were AI PhD students from Tehran University in 2022–2023. Purposive sampling was used to select the participants; a total of 15 AI PhD students, who were experts in this field, were selected and interviews were conducted.

The authors considered the opportunities that AI creates for higher education in eight secondary subthemes (for faculty members, for students, in the teaching and learning process, for assessment, the development of educational structures, the development of research structures, the development of management structures and the development of academic culture). Correspondingly, The authors identified and categorized the challenges that AI creates for higher education.

Concerning the intended research, several limitations are significant. First, the statistical population was limited, and only people with characteristics such as being PhD students, studying at Tehran University and being experts in AI could be considered the statistical population. Second, caution should be exercised when generalizing the results due to the limited statistical population (PhD students from Tehran University). Third, the problem of accessing some students due to their participation in research grants, academic immigration, etc.

The innovation of the current research is that the authors identified the opportunities and challenges that AI creates for higher education at different levels. The findings of this study also contribute to the enrichment of existing knowledge in the field regarding the effects of AI on the future of higher education, as researchers need more understanding of AI developments in the future of higher education.

The purpose of this study is to address why managers enter the excessive market. A comparison of the facts and perceptions of entrants relative to success in the market shows that many entrants are confident about the viability of their businesses and enter the market. Accordingly, the authors simulate market entry decisions to detect behavioral biases.

The authors adapted the entry decisions simulation method, which is supported by the theoretical foundations of signal detection theory (SDT) and signaling theory. The simulation model is implemented on the Anaconda platform and written in Python 3.

The results of this study suggest that overestimation relates to excess market entry. Also, the proportion of excess entry under difficult conditions is always higher than under easy conditions.

This research helps managers and firms think about their and their competitors' abilities and evaluate them before entering the market. Policymakers and practitioners can also design programs such as experiential learning to help entrants assess their skills.

So far, no research has investigated the role of overconfidence under different market conditions. Accordingly, this study contributes to the current market entry literature by disentangling the debate between absolute and relative confidence and by considering the role of task difficulty.

This study sets out to investigate the elements of the collaborative culture required for the successful implementation and sustainability of programs in schools. It draws on a case study of a student peer-led physical activity (PA) program implemented within the complex and dynamic environment of school communities in New Zealand. The article outlines four key components needed to effectively implement and impact long term sustainability of a program within the school context.

This qualitative case study examines the implementation of a new peer-led PA program introduced across eight New Zealand schools. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with senior leaders, teachers and parents and analyzed through a complexity theory lens.

Effective and sustainable program implementation requires a strategic, collaborative approach through actively engaging with and resourcing four key interacting components: student choice, voice and agency; collective responsibility; shared understanding of purpose; and curriculum coherence.

This research offers a pragmatic approach to developing collaborative school communities that can effectively implement change by highlighting key areas of focus that policymaker, school leaders and program designers can plan for.

Generative pretrained transformers (GPTs), soaring to one million users at lightning speed, outpaced social media giants (15 times faster) (Buchholz, 2023). Despite this, scant research explored GPT’s impact on the digital entrepreneurial intentions (EIs) of students and tech-savvy generations. This study aims to pioneer a fusion of the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB), bridging the gap in research.

In this bold quantitative quest, business administration students became fearless participants, engaging in a survey of profound significance. Guided by the mighty powers of G*Power and Stata’s structural equation modeling builder, the intricate relationships within a robust sample of (n = 400) were unraveled.

The mediating power of GPT usefulness and GPT ease of use part of the TAM emerges, paving the way for a future brimming with digital entrepreneurship (DE) boundless possibilities. Predictably, the study found that TPB constructs also affect the EI of students.

This groundbreaking study brings together the powerful combination of TAM and TPB, while pioneering the exploration of GPT models’ mediating role. Its findings offer invaluable contributions to the field of DE and policymakers.

This study aims to examine the impact of conscious and unconscious processes on risky investment intention. In this framework, the effect of individual cultural values and phantasy on risky investment intentions was investigated. In addition, the mediating role of phantasy in the relationship between individual cultural values and risky investment intentions was also analyzed.

Data were collected between May 14, 2020 and June 01, 2020, when our graduate students voluntarily shared the online survey link on their social networks. In this way, 1,934 people in total answered the questionnaire. To test the study model, structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed using the AMOS program. In addition, ANOVA and independent sample t-test analyses were conducted using the SPSS program to analyze whether individual cultural values and risky investment intent differ according to demographic variables.

According to the analysis results, power distance, collectivism, masculinity and long-term orientation are seen as antecedents of phantasy. While a positive relationship was found between power distance, collectivism and risky investment intention, a negative relationship was found between uncertainty avoidance and risky investment intention. Statistical findings regarding the mediating effect of phantasy on the relationship between individual cultural values and risky investment intentions were also determined. In addition to these, the differences in individual cultural values and risky investment intentions according to age, education level, sex and marital status were investigated. Individuals with the highest uncertainty avoidance level were in the 41–50 age group. Individuals with the highest long-term orientation level were individuals aged 41 and over. Individuals with the lowest risky investment intentions were in the +51 age group. Collectivism and power distance did not differ according to age. There were no differences in the relevant variables according to the level of education. Males have higher levels of risky investment intention, power distance, masculinity and collectivism than females, and married individuals have higher levels of uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and collectivism than singles.

This study is the first to investigate the impact of conscious and unconscious processes on risky investment intentions together. On the other hand, the number of studies empirically investigating the relationship between phantasy and risky investment intention is quite limited, and the authors have also provided the findings for the existence of a relationship between these two variables.

This study aims to explore the heuristics applied by tech entrepreneurs in the Middle East during the opportunity evaluation process.

A multiple case-based methodology was applied, which consisted of semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurial experts from different cities in the Middle East. Qualitative data analysis was then performed with inductive thematic coding using the Eisenhardt method.

The results suggest that entrepreneurs mostly use six heuristics to evaluate opportunities quickly. Three of them are related to the opportunity as an abstract idea, and three are connected with the person (s) involved in the opportunity. In addition, entrepreneurs in the Middle East were more interested in the personal characteristics of the opportunity presenter than in the opportunity itself.

Identifying the heuristics applied by experts may neglect the perspective of the community of entrepreneurs as a whole. Hence, future research should target a wider segment of entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the effect of applying such heuristics on the strategic growth of startups remains an open question.

The identified heuristics are aligned with the hands-on approach of entrepreneurship and can be applied as a decision-making technique for aspiring entrepreneurs who seek to succeed in this region.

This study explores the under-examined topic of heuristics in opportunity evaluation within the regional context of the Middle East, which has also been scarcely investigated. It sheds light on the importance of cultural factors in identifying the cognitive shortcuts used in a business context.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between entrepreneurial passion for founding firms (EPFF) and persistence in venture start-ups and to examine the mediating role of searching and scanning alertness, association and connection alertness and evaluation and judgment alertness (i.e. entrepreneurial alertness).

Using a three-way parallel mediation involving searching and scanning alertness, association and connection alertness and evaluation and judgment alertness, on data from 342 serial entrepreneurs from Nigeria, the authors examined the influence of EPFF on persistence in venture start-ups, through a parallel mediation involving searching and scanning alertness, association and connection alertness and evaluation and judgment alertness.

The authors find that EPFF was not significantly related (positive) to persistence in venture start-ups, but that searching and scanning alertness, association and connection alertness and evaluation and judgment alertness mediated the path through which EPFF impacts persistence in venture start-ups. Thus, entrepreneurial alertness is relevant in explaining the relationship between EPFF and persistence in venture start-ups in Nigeria.

The findings of this study highlight the relevance of EPFF and alertness in explaining persistence in venture start-ups in Nigeria.

We theorize the critical role of angel investors' affective experiences and first impressions in the context of entrepreneurial finance. We develop a model and propositions to illustrate why angel investors make the decision to continue screening, thus explaining why certain investment proposals make it, while others do not.

Drawing on affective events theory and the literature on affective experiences, we theorize how the perceptions of pitches that trigger positive or/and negative physiological arousal, short-lived emotions, and associated thoughts are different, thus allowing us to build new theory of how these different experiences can influence the outcome of the evaluation process in the initial screening stage.

Our model suggests that the initial evaluation unfolds in five stages: perception of an entrepreneurial pitch, physiological arousal, emotions, first impression, and a decision to continue screening. When different manifestations of physiological arousal and subsequent emotions set the tone of first impressions, they can be either a positive, negative, or mixed experience. While positive and mixed first impression can lead to selection, negative first impression can lead to rejection.

We illustrate what is of value for angel investors when they look for new investments, and why certain entrepreneurial pitches lead to the decision to continue screening, while others do not. We propose that what angel investors feel is particularly important in situations where they are not yet making the ultimate decision to invest money but are involved in decisions about whether to continue to spend time to investigate the investment proposal.

The purpose of this co-produced research project was to conduct interviews with people working in, volunteering with and accessing Canadian recovery colleges (RCs) to explore their perspectives on what an evaluation strategy for RCs could look like.

This study used a participatory action research approach and involved semistructured interviews with 29 people involved with RCs across Canada.

In this paper, the authors share insights from participants about the purposes of RC evaluation; key elements of evaluation; and the most applicable and effective approaches to evaluation. Participants indicated that RC evaluations should use a personalized, humanistic and accessible approach. The findings suggest that evaluations can serve multiple purposes and have the potential to support both organizational and personal-recovery goals if they are developed with meaningful input from people who access and work in RCs.

The findings can be used to guide evaluations in which aspects that are most important to those involved in RCs could inform choices, decisions, priorities, developments and adaptations in RC evaluation processes and, ultimately, in programming.

A recent scoping review revealed that although coproduction is a central feature of the RC model, coproduction principles are rarely acknowledged in descriptions of how RC evaluation strategies are developed. Exploring coproduction processes in all aspects of the RC model, including evaluation, can further the mission of RCs, which is to create spaces where people can come together and engage in mutual capacity-building and collaboration.