Increasing alertness to new opportunities: the influence of positive affect and implications for innovation

Abstract

Understanding how entrepreneurs' positive affect influences firm innovation through the cognitive processes (e.g., entrepreneurial alertness to business opportunities) is important because emotions often impact evaluations and judgments of opportunities and (subsequent) firm engagement in innovative activities. Using data involving Iranian entrepreneurs, we find that (1) Tang, Kacmar, and Busenitz's (2012) three alertness components unfold sequentially (i.e., information scanning and search leads to information association and connection which in turn leads to opportunity evaluation and judgment); (2) positive affect has a positive impact on all three alertness dimensions; and (3) evaluation and judgment impacts firm incremental innovation positively. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

The Role of Personal Values in Forming Students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions in Developing Countries

“…A notable feature of Iran's economy is its inclination toward entrepreneurship. Iran has implemented a series of economic policies that have generated a large number of knowledge-based entrepreneurial businesses (Levasseur et al, 2020). As stated by MacBride (2016), Iran has significant potential to become an entrepreneurial powerhouse due to its sizeable economy, the high level of education of its population, advantages in specific technologies, and its renewable infrastructure.…”

Oh, the places you’ll go: A schema theory perspective on cross-cultural experience and entrepreneurship

“…Entrepreneurial alertness is a set of schemata whereby some individuals possess this entrepreneurial “antenna” that enables them to identify commercial potential ( Valliere, 2013 ). A body of literature has emerged on entrepreneurial alertness and found that it is an influential capacity among both existing and prospective entrepreneurs for developing and taking action on new ideas (e.g., Levasseur et al., 2020 ; Sharma, 2019 ; Srivastava et al., 2020 ).…”

“…For example, there is evidence that breadth of experience can also increase comfort with risk-taking ( Baer, 2010 : Godart et al., 2015 ), and provide exposure to a variety of political skills and influence tactics essential for initiating new ventures ( Tesluk and Jacobs, 1998 ). These effects are likely to enhance the scanning and search and the evaluation and judgment schemas as well, by expanding the proclivity for originating and pursuing opportunities ( Levasseur et al., 2020 ). Consequently, we argue that accumulating a breadth of cross-cultural experience through visiting multiple countries provides potent contributions for entrepreneurial alertness schemata to expand.…”

Taking the Pulse: State of the (He)art of Entrepreneurial Emotion Research

“…Evidence points toward the favorable implications of entrepreneurs' PA on performance at the individual (Gorgievski, Moriano, & Bakker, 2014) and firm levels (Levasseur, Tang, Karami, Busenitz, & Kacmar, 2020). Yet, findings are mixed regarding the influence of entrepreneurs' NA on performance-related outcomes, including at the individual (Delgado- García, Rodríguez-Escudero, & Martín-Cruz, 2012), team (Perry-Smith & Coff, 2011), and firm levels (Bernoster, Mukerjee, & Thurik, 2020).…”