The knowledge-based view of the firm portrays knowledge assets as the basis of sustainable competitive advantage. However, leveraging the knowledge available to the firm is not straightforward. The transfer of best practices within the firm or the replication of a certain routine poses challenges for managers. Causal ambiguity of knowledge makes it difficult to transfer practices into other contexts within the firm. In this paper, a new framework is proposed that identifies four antecedents to causal ambiguity: complexity, tacitness, relevance to the existing knowledge base, and the locality of knowledge. The paper concludes with the implications of the framework.
This study advances research on entrepreneurial cognition by investigating how entrepreneurial judgment evolves during new venture creation. We conceptualize entrepreneurial judgment as a cognitive process in the minds of entrepreneurs that operates on the causal mapi.e., a knowledge structure concerning what factors they believe will help the chances of profitability under uncertainty. At the time of initial epiphany, entrepreneurs construct a cognitive causal map which guides resource allocation decisions. Over time, venture-specific experience accumulates and entrepreneurial judgment evolves in response to their observations. Using a dataset of 524 nascent entrepreneurs, we find that entrepreneurs with more venturespecific experiences have more selective judgments, and have stronger conviction in those judgments. We also find that perceived uncertainty and cognitive dispositions of the individuals affect entrepreneurial judgment.
Running Head: Evolution of Entrepreneurial Judgment
Entrepreneurs evaluate opportunities under conditions of uncertainty; they make judgments.In order to understand these evaluations, I develop an analogical model that represents an entrepreneurial opportunity in the mind of an individual. The model proposes that an opportunity is an analogical knowledge transfer from a source business domain to a target business domain. According to the model, the cognitive distance between the domains influences the opportunity evaluation. Additionally, the inspiration behind the analogy construction influences the opportunity evaluation. The empirical design employs a hypothetical scenario experiment and the results show that the two analogical properties matter for evaluation.
Social entrepreneurship evades easy definition and conceptualization. In this paper we attempt to advance social entrepreneurship theoretically by examining it conceptually, from a theory of the firm perspective.
Social entrepreneurship evades easy definition and conceptualization. In this paper we attempt to advance social entrepreneurship theoretically by examining it conceptually, from a theory of the firm perspective.
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