IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/techno/v118y2022ics0166497221001656.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Entrepreneurial alertness toward responsible research and innovation: Digital technology makes the psychological heart of entrepreneurship pound

Author

Listed:
  • Fellnhofer, Katharina

Abstract

Using entrepreneurial discovery theory, this study explains how digital applications can drive entrepreneurial alertness across heterogenous innovation ecosystems. A diverse set of stakeholders have been analyzed when performing entrepreneurial discovery tasks on a digital platform ecosystem. A quantitative survey-based experimentation phase with 686 individuals was conducted in two moderate-innovation ecosystems—Greece and Spain—and two defined as innovation leaders—Scotland and the Netherlands—on the European Innovation Scoreboard. Based on structural equation models, the findings show that digital applications, including discovery tasks, facilitate entrepreneurial alertness regardless of the innovation ecosystem in which the user operates. Additionally, Kruskal-Wallis tests reinforce that the relationship between perceived quality of digital applications for discovery tasks and perceived entrepreneurial alertness remains significantly positive despite heterogeneity across stakeholders and innovation ecosystem. Through its psychological foundations, this work reveals how digital technologies alert any kind of individual to potential entrepreneurial opportunities. It thus contributes to research on digital economies by evaluating digital technologies’ potential to boost psychological starting drivers of any entrepreneurial endeavor across innovation ecosystem. Although this study is of interest to a wide range of stakeholders, it is particularly relevant for potential entrepreneurs and policymakers as an inspiration for new ideas to strengthen sustainable innovation ecosystems.

Suggested Citation

  • Fellnhofer, Katharina, 2022. "Entrepreneurial alertness toward responsible research and innovation: Digital technology makes the psychological heart of entrepreneurship pound," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:techno:v:118:y:2022:i:c:s0166497221001656
    DOI: 10.1016/j.technovation.2021.102384
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166497221001656
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.technovation.2021.102384?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kaish, Stanley & Gilad, Benjamin, 1991. "Characteristics of opportunities search of entrepreneurs versus executives: Sources, interests, general alertness," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 45-61, January.
    2. Sharon A. Alvarez & Jay B. Barney & Philip Anderson, 2013. "Forming and Exploiting Opportunities: The Implications of Discovery and Creation Processes for Entrepreneurial and Organizational Research," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 301-317, February.
    3. Cheng, Cheng-Feng & Chang, Man-Ling & Li, Chu-Shiu, 2013. "Configural paths to successful product innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(12), pages 2561-2573.
    4. Erik Stam, 2015. "Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Regional Policy: A Sympathetic Critique," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(9), pages 1759-1769, September.
    5. Ronald K. Mitchell & Lowell W. Busenitz & Barbara Bird & Connie Marie Gaglio & Jeffery S. McMullen & Eric A. Morse & J. Brock Smith, 2007. "The Central Question in Entrepreneurial Cognition Research 2007," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(1), pages 1-27, January.
    6. Benjamin M. Oviatt & Patricia P. McDougall, 2005. "Defining International Entrepreneurship and Modeling the Speed of Internationalization," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(5), pages 537-553, September.
    7. Tim R. Holcomb & R. Duane Ireland & R. Michael Holmes Jr. & Michael A. Hitt, 2009. "Architecture of Entrepreneurial Learning: Exploring the Link among Heuristics, Knowledge, and Action," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(1), pages 167-192, January.
    8. Zoltán J. Ács & Erkko Autio & László Szerb, 2015. "National Systems of Entrepreneurship: Measurement issues and policy implications," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 28, pages 523-541, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Katharina Fellnhofer, 2017. "Evidence revisited: literature on smart specialisation calls for more mixed research designs," International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 8(3), pages 229-248.
    10. Fred D. Davis & Richard P. Bagozzi & Paul R. Warshaw, 1989. "User Acceptance of Computer Technology: A Comparison of Two Theoretical Models," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(8), pages 982-1003, August.
    11. Miles Parker & Andrew Acland & Harry J Armstrong & Jim R Bellingham & Jessica Bland & Helen C Bodmer & Simon Burall & Sarah Castell & Jason Chilvers & David D Cleevely & David Cope & Lucia Costanzo & , 2014. "Identifying the Science and Technology Dimensions of Emerging Public Policy Issues through Horizon Scanning," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(5), pages 1-17, May.
    12. Connie Marie Gaglio, 2004. "The Role of Mental Simulations and Counterfactual Thinking in the Opportunity Identification Process," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 28(6), pages 533-552, November.
    13. Ron Adner & Rahul Kapoor, 2010. "Value creation in innovation ecosystems: how the structure of technological interdependence affects firm performance in new technology generations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 306-333, March.
    14. Rahul Kapoor, 2018. "Ecosystems: broadening the locus of value creation," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 7(1), pages 1-16, December.
    15. Valliere, Dave, 2013. "Towards a schematic theory of entrepreneurial alertness," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 430-442.
    16. Andrew B. Hargadon & Beth A. Bechky, 2006. "When Collections of Creatives Become Creative Collectives: A Field Study of Problem Solving at Work," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(4), pages 484-500, August.
    17. James O. Fiet, 2007. "A Prescriptive Analysis of Search and Discovery," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 592-611, June.
    18. Schoemaker, Paul J.H. & Day, George S. & Snyder, Scott A., 2013. "Integrating organizational networks, weak signals, strategic radars and scenario planning," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 80(4), pages 815-824.
    19. Mary Tripsas, 2008. "Customer preference discontinuities: a trigger for radical technological change," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2-3), pages 79-97.
    20. Ommen, Nils O. & Blut, Markus & Backhaus, Christof & Woisetschläger, David M., 2016. "Toward a better understanding of stakeholder participation in the service innovation process: More than one path to success," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 2409-2416.
    21. Gaglio, Connie Marie & Katz, Jerome A, 2001. "The Psychological Basis of Opportunity Identification: Entrepreneurial Alertness," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 95-111, March.
    22. Virgil Henry Storr & Arielle John, 2015. "The determinants of entrepreneurial alertness and the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs," Chapters, in: Laura E. Grube & Virgil Henry Storr (ed.), Culture and Economic Action, chapter 4, pages 68-87, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    23. Rahul Kapoor & Shiva Agarwal, 2017. "Sustaining Superior Performance in Business Ecosystems: Evidence from Application Software Developers in the iOS and Android Smartphone Ecosystems," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(3), pages 531-551, June.
    24. Paolo Dini & Mehita Iqani & Robin Mansell, 2011. "The (im)possibility of interdisciplinarity: lessons from constructing a theoretical framework for digital ecosystems," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 29152, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    25. Santini, Cristina & Marinelli, Elisabetta & Boden, Mark & Cavicchi, Alessio & Haegeman, Karel, 2016. "Reducing the distance between thinkers and doers in the entrepreneurial discovery process: An exploratory study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 1840-1844.
    26. Stig-Erik Jakobsen & Arnt Fløysand & John Overton, 2019. "Expanding the field of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) – from responsible research to responsible innovation," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(12), pages 2329-2343, December.
    27. Scott Shane, 2000. "Prior Knowledge and the Discovery of Entrepreneurial Opportunities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(4), pages 448-469, August.
    28. G.T. Lumpkin & Benyamin Bergmann Lichtenstein, 2005. "The Role of Organizational Learning in the Opportunity–Recognition Process," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(4), pages 451-472, July.
    29. L. Nieth & P. Benneworth & D. Charles & L. Fonseca & C. Rodrigues & M. Salomaa & M. Stienstra, 2018. "Embedding entrepreneurial regional innovation ecosystems: reflecting on the role of effectual entrepreneurial discovery processes," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(11), pages 2147-2166, November.
    30. Niels Mejlgaard & Carter Bloch & Emil Bargmann Madsen, 2019. "Responsible research and innovation in Europe: A cross-country comparative analysis," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 46(2), pages 198-209.
    31. Baron, Robert A., 2004. "The cognitive perspective: a valuable tool for answering entrepreneurship's basic "why" questions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 221-239, March.
    32. Gawer, Annabelle, 2014. "Bridging differing perspectives on technological platforms: Toward an integrative framework," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1239-1249.
    33. Israel Kirzner, 1999. "Creativity and/or Alertness: A Reconsideration of the Schumpeterian Entrepreneur," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 11(1), pages 5-17, January.
    34. Patrick J. Murphy, 2011. "A 2 × 2 Conceptual Foundation for Entrepreneurial Discovery Theory," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(2), pages 359-374, March.
    35. Israel M. Kirzner, 1997. "Entrepreneurial Discovery and the Competitive Market Process: An Austrian Approach," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 60-85, March.
    36. Dev K. Dutta & Mary M. Crossan, 2005. "The Nature of Entrepreneurial Opportunities: Understanding the Process Using the 4I Organizational Learning Framework," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(4), pages 425-449, July.
    37. Carliss Baldwin & Eric von Hippel, 2011. "Modeling a Paradigm Shift: From Producer Innovation to User and Open Collaborative Innovation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(6), pages 1399-1417, December.
    38. Diego Martínez-López & Manuel Palazuelos-Martínez, 2019. "Breaking with the Past in Smart Specialisation: A New Model of Selection of Business Stakeholders Within the Entrepreneurial Process of Discovery," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(4), pages 1643-1656, December.
    39. Davidsson, Per, 2017. "Entrepreneurial opportunities as propensities: Do Ramoglou & Tsang move the field forward?," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 7(C), pages 82-85.
    40. Johan Wiklund & DEAN Shepherd, 2003. "Knowledge‐based resources, entrepreneurial orientation, and the performance of small and medium‐sized businesses," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(13), pages 1307-1314, December.
    41. Janna Alvedalen & Ron Boschma, 2017. "A critical review of entrepreneurial ecosystems research: towards a future research agenda," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(6), pages 887-903, June.
    42. Henry Kaiser, 1974. "An index of factorial simplicity," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 39(1), pages 31-36, March.
    43. Michael G. Jacobides & Carmelo Cennamo & Annabelle Gawer, 2018. "Towards a theory of ecosystems," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(8), pages 2255-2276, August.
    44. Andrew C. Corbett, 2005. "Experiential Learning within the Process of Opportunity Identification and Exploitation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(4), pages 473-491, July.
    45. Sine, Wesley D. & David, Robert J., 2003. "Environmental jolts, institutional change, and the creation of entrepreneurial opportunity in the US electric power industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 185-207, February.
    46. Hean Tat Keh & Maw Der Foo & Boon Chong Lim, 2002. "Opportunity Evaluation under Risky Conditions: The Cognitive Processes of Entrepreneurs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(2), pages 125-148, April.
    47. Blume, Brian D. & Covin, Jeffrey G., 2011. "Attributions to intuition in the venture founding process: Do entrepreneurs actually use intuition or just say that they do?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 137-151, January.
    48. Kirzner, Israel M, 1999. "Creativity and/or Alertness: A Reconsideration of the Schumpeterian Entrepreneur," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 11(1-2), pages 5-17.
    49. Fiona Sussan & Zoltan J. Acs, 2017. "The digital entrepreneurial ecosystem," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 55-73, June.
    50. Wood, Matthew S., 2017. "Misgivings about dismantling the opportunity construct," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 7(C), pages 21-25.
    51. Katharina Fellnhofer, 2018. "Visualised bibliometric mapping on smart specialisation: a co-citation analysis," International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(1), pages 76-99.
    52. Benjamin M Oviatt & Patricia P McDougall, 2005. "The internationalization of entrepreneurship," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 36(1), pages 2-8, January.
    53. Dimov, Dimo P. & Shepherd, Dean A., 2005. "Human capital theory and venture capital firms: exploring "home runs" and "strike outs"," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 1-21, January.
    54. Yu, Tony Fu-Lai, 2001. "Entrepreneurial Alertness and Discovery," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 14(1), pages 47-63, March.
    55. Davidsson, Per, 2015. "Entrepreneurial opportunities and the entrepreneurship nexus: A re-conceptualization," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 674-695.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Saumyaranjan Sahoo & Arvind Upadhyay & Anil Kumar, 2023. "Circular economy practices and environmental performance: Analysing the role of big data analytics capability and responsible research and innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 6029-6046, December.
    2. Dimov, Dimo & Pistrui, Joseph, 2024. "Dynamics of entrepreneurial well-being: Insights from computational theory," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lanivich, Stephen E. & Smith, Adam & Levasseur, Ludvig & Pidduck, Robert J. & Busenitz, Lowell & Tang, Jintong, 2022. "Advancing entrepreneurial alertness: Review, synthesis, and future research directions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1165-1176.
    2. Fellnhofer, Katharina, 2023. "Positivity and higher alertness levels facilitate discovery: Longitudinal sentiment analysis of emotions on Twitter," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    3. Dimo Dimov, 2007. "Beyond the Single-Person, Single-Insight Attribution in Understanding Entrepreneurial Opportunities," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(5), pages 713-731, September.
    4. Shi, Xianwei & Liang, Xingkun & Luo, Yining, 2023. "Unpacking the intellectual structure of ecosystem research in innovation studies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    5. Nerine Mary George & Vinit Parida & Tom Lahti & Joakim Wincent, 2016. "A systematic literature review of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition: insights on influencing factors," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 309-350, June.
    6. Steffen Korsgaard & Henrik Berglund & Claus Thrane & Per Blenker, 2016. "A Tale of Two Kirzners: Time, Uncertainty, and the “Nature†of Opportunities," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(4), pages 867-889, July.
    7. Erik Lundmark & Anna Krzeminska & Dean A. Shepherd, 2019. "Images of Entrepreneurship: Exploring Root Metaphors and Expanding Upon Them," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(1), pages 138-170, January.
    8. Dorian Boumedjaoud & Karim Messeghem, 2019. "L'influence de la créativité sur la vigilance entrepreneuriale des repreneurs de PME," Post-Print hal-02570575, HAL.
    9. Virgil Henry Storr & Stefanie Haeffele-Balch & Laura E. Grube, 2015. "Community Revival in the Wake of Disaster," Perspectives from Social Economics, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-137-31489-5, June.
    10. Healey, Mark P. & Bleda, Mercedes & Querbes, Adrien, 2021. "Opportunity evaluation in teams: A social cognitive model," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(4).
    11. Joo Y. Park & Chang Soo Sung & Il Im, 2017. "Does Social Media Use Influence Entrepreneurial Opportunity? A Review of its Moderating Role," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-16, September.
    12. Pankaj C. Patel, 2019. "Opportunity related absorptive capacity and entrepreneurial alertness," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 63-73, March.
    13. Frederiks, Arjan J. & Englis, Basil G. & Ehrenhard, Michel L. & Groen, Aard J., 2019. "Entrepreneurial cognition and the quality of new venture ideas: An experimental approach to comparing future-oriented cognitive processes," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 327-347.
    14. Abootorabi, Hooman & Wiklund, Johan & Johnson, Alan R. & Miller, Cameron D., 2021. "A holistic approach to the evolution of an entrepreneurial ecosystem: An exploratory study of academic spin-offs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(5).
    15. Manuel Oyson & Hugh Whittaker, 2015. "Entrepreneurial cognition and behavior in the discovery and creation of international opportunities," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 303-336, September.
    16. Jason Arentz & Frederic Sautet & Virgil Storr, 2013. "Prior-knowledge and opportunity identification," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 461-478, August.
    17. Baldwin, Carliss Y. & Bogers, Marcel L.A.M. & Kapoor, Rahul & West, Joel, 2024. "Focusing the ecosystem lens on innovation studies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(3).
    18. Spaniol, Matthew J. & Rowland, Nicholas J., 2022. "Business ecosystems and the view from the future: The use of corporate foresight by stakeholders of the Ro-Ro shipping ecosystem in the Baltic Sea Region," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    19. Valliere, Dave, 2013. "Towards a schematic theory of entrepreneurial alertness," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 430-442.
    20. Vandor, Peter & Franke, Nikolaus, 2016. "See Paris and… found a business? The impact of cross-cultural experience on opportunity recognition capabilities," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 388-407.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:techno:v:118:y:2022:i:c:s0166497221001656. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01664972 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.