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You don’t have to be an entrepreneur to be entrepreneurial: The unique role of imaginativeness in new venture ideation

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  • McMullen, Jeffery S.
  • Kier, Alexander S.

Abstract

Bestsellers like The Lean Startup and Business Model Generation have suggested that ideation—the generation and selection of ideas—is important to new venture creation; yet, little empirical research on the topic has been conducted. Using a creative problem-solving approach, we developed and tested a new scale that found imaginativeness predicts new venture ideation over and above the effects of the usual suspects of attitude, knowledge, and evaluation. Imaginativeness is an ideational skill that combines task-relevant knowledge in three distinct domains—creative, social, and practical—with the latent ability of imagination. In this article, we explain why a new scale was needed, why imaginativeness appears to be especially useful to individuals who lack entrepreneurial experience, and how imaginativeness enables just about anyone to generate and select new venture ideas with the proficiency of a habitual entrepreneur.

Suggested Citation

  • McMullen, Jeffery S. & Kier, Alexander S., 2017. "You don’t have to be an entrepreneur to be entrepreneurial: The unique role of imaginativeness in new venture ideation," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 60(4), pages 455-462.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:60:y:2017:i:4:p:455-462
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2017.03.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mcmullen, Jeffery S., 2015. "Entrepreneurial judgment as empathic accuracy: a sequential decision-making approach to entrepreneurial action," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(3), pages 651-681, September.
    2. Scott Shane, 2000. "Prior Knowledge and the Discovery of Entrepreneurial Opportunities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(4), pages 448-469, August.
    3. Davidsson, Per & Honig, Benson, 2003. "The role of social and human capital among nascent entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 301-331, May.
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    1. McMullen, Jeffery S., 2018. "Organizational hybrids as biological hybrids: Insights for research on the relationship between social enterprise and the entrepreneurial ecosystem," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 575-590.
    2. Kier, Alexander S. & McMullen, Jeffery S., 2020. "Entrepreneurial imaginativeness and new venture ideation in newly forming teams," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(6).
    3. Warnick, Benjamin J. & Kier, Alexander S. & LaFrance, Emily M. & Cuttler, Carrie, 2021. "Head in the clouds? Cannabis users' creativity in new venture ideation depends on their entrepreneurial passion and experience," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(2).
    4. Jeffery S. McMullen & Katrina M. Brownell & Joel Adams, 2021. "What Makes an Entrepreneurship Study Entrepreneurial? Toward A Unified Theory of Entrepreneurial Agency," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(5), pages 1197-1238, September.
    5. Kuratko, Donald F. & Devin Burnell, & Stevenson, Regan & Neubert, Emily & Fisher, Greg, 2023. "Enacting entrepreneurial hustle," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 237-249.
    6. Packard, Mark D. & Burnham, Thomas A., 2021. "Do we understand each other? Toward a simulated empathy theory for entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(1).

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