Exploring entrepreneurial learning: a comparative study of technology development projects

Abstract

This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link AbstractIn this paper, we report findings from a comparative study of factors that influence the learning process that underlies entrepreneurial innovation, as entrepreneurs move from an initial intuition to a well-developed new product or service. Evidence from our comparative study highlights the self-reinforcing effect of prior related knowledge, perceived incentives and the degree of control on the allocation of entrepreneurs' limited time, attention and resources. Combining theory and evidence from our study, we propose an interpretative model that suggests that innovation in entrepreneurial ventures rests on self-reinforcing learning cycles that lead entrepreneurs to dedicate increasing resources to the exploration of some opportunities at the expense of others, following a sensemaking process affected by their previous knowledge and their degree of involvement in the projects. Executive SummaryMost literature on entrepreneurship emphasizes the discovery of opportunities and the decision to exploit them as the essence of entrepreneurial action. Entrepreneurs are usually depicted as sagacious pursuer of opportunities and bold risk takers. This representation, however, neglects a fundamental learning process, which takes place as entrepreneurs develop an initial intuition into a successful new product or service. Successful entrepreneurial innovation, in fact, requires more than the capacity to discern an opportunity for entrepreneurial profit and the willingness to accept the associated risk. Entrepreneurs often deal with new and ill-defined product concepts, whose context of use is still poorly understood and whose commercial applications are not fully explored yet. Many business opportunities appear in very rough intuitive form, and require a search for additional information before their feasibility and profitability can be reasonably assessed. Between the recognition of an opportunity and its successful exploitation, lies a critical, albeit often underestimated, learning process that takes place as entrepreneurs gradually manage to make sense of the connections between the different technologies, product functions, customers' preferences, market structure, etc.While learning is intrinsic to any type of innovation, learning in entrepreneurial ventures usually takes place in particularly adverse conditions. First, entrepreneurs tend to face a high degree of ambiguity, as they search for solutions for problems that are still imperfectly defined, as they explore applications of new technologies that are not fully developed, and as they take guesses about which opportunities are worth pursuing. Second, the development of entrepreneurial ideas requires contributions of a different nature from a range of actors, whose knowledge and skills are complementary to the entrepreneurs'. Typically, entrepreneurs possess a good knowledge of the market and the customers, and of...

Focus on opportunities as a mediator of the relationship between business owners' age and venture growth

“…Baltes, 1997). Learning about new technologies and developments contributes to identifying and exploiting opportunities (Ravasi & Turati, 2005). Therefore, experiencing that information processing capabilities decline with age and that the acquisition of necessary technological knowledge becomes more and more difficult should result in lower expectations that the future holds many opportunities that can be identified and exploited.…”

“…For example, high levels of mental health increase the motivation to learn, self-regulatory activity, and a generally optimistic outlook (Colquitt et al, 2000;Keyes, 2007;Warr, 1994). Previous research showed that these factors affect entrepreneurial outcomes (e.g., Frese, 2009;Hmieleski & Baron, 2009;Ravasi & Turati, 2005). Establishing the link between mental health and important entrepreneurial outcomes and providing insights into the mediating mechanisms would further enhance our understanding of the process that leads to entrepreneurial success.…”

Entrepreneurial learning in family business

“…This focus on the individual entrepreneur could be said to be true of the work of Cope (2001). Studies of entrepreneurial networks also commonly use the individual entrepreneur as the focal point and through their individual accounts of events, episodes and activities build a picture of the structure and nature of their personal network (for example see Shaw, 1998;Taylor and Thorpe, 2000;Ravasi and Turati, 2005). The risk is that this focus on the individual serves to reinforce an individualistic, a-social view of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial learning.…”

“…This paper examines learning as situated within social practice, as essentially social in nature (Lave and Wenger, 1991). The situated learning perspective contrasts with research in entrepreneurial learning to date which has broadly assumed that processes are based on individual psychological and cognitive processes (Ravasi and Turati, 2005). …”

From the Zoo to the Jungle – Narrative Pedagogies and Enterprise Education

“…Petriglieri and Petriglieri (2010) have suggested that entrepreneurs will engage in activities focused on 'crafting, protecting and modifying their views of themselves as well as gaining social validation for their views'. Given that an entrepreneur's theories of action are developed from specific learning episodes or experiences, because they From zoo to jungle -narrative pedagogies and enterprise education are embodied in the entrepreneur and embedded in the context of the enterprise (Gray, 2002;Rae, 2004), these competences and capabilities can be enhanced by drawing on the experience of others formally or informally and from different sources (Martin and Smith, 2010) or from the interaction of a range of actors including close collaborators within the company and external partners and contacts (Ravasi and Turati, 2005). An entrepreneur's theories of action can therefore offer valuable insights into programme content regarding social validation of ideas and establishing entrepreneurial identity.…”