Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research 1997 Edition Return to 1997 Topical Index Order hard copy editions of Frontiers of  Entrepreneurship Research by mail

OPPORTUNITY RECOGNITION: PERCEPTIONS AND BEHAVIORS OF ENTREPRENEURS

Robert P. Singh, University of Illinois at Chicago

INTRODUCTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

METHODOLOGY

TABLE 1

RESULTS

Entrepreneurs Opportunity Recognition Capabilities

Self-Perceived Entrepreneurial Alertness

Importance of Venture Ideas and Creativity

TABLE 2

TABLE 3

TABLE 4

The Opportunity Recognition Process

TABLE 5

Evaluation of Opportunities

TABLE 6

Opportunity Recognition Factors

TABLE 7

DISCUSSION

REFERENCES

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper was to study a greatly overlooked research area - opportunity recognition. We present exploratory results based on data collected from 190 mail survey respondent entrepreneurs. Differences between entrepreneurs who developed their business ideas on their own (solo entrepreneurs) vs. those who got their ideas from their social networks (network entrepreneurs) are found. Using frequency counts, t-tests, and exploratory factor analysis we discuss a number of issues of critical importance to understanding opportunity recognition. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed and topics for future research are identified.

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