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Productive opportunities, uncertainty, and science-based firm emergence

Author

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  • Marcela Miozzo

    (King’s College London)

  • Lori DiVito

    (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences)

Abstract

We provide greater theoretical precision to the concept of productive opportunities of Penrose. We show firm emergence as a recursive cycle of changing productive opportunities. We show how those opportunities result from the technological base of the firm and are associated with the particular characteristics of the technology. We also show how productive opportunities require the assembly of different internal and external resources, and therefore partners. We address explicitly how the firm and its potential partners perceive uncertainty and single out the different mechanisms used by the firm to address uncertainty—envisioning, pooling, and staging—to secure resources from external partners and exploit the identified productive opportunities in a timely manner.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcela Miozzo & Lori DiVito, 2020. "Productive opportunities, uncertainty, and science-based firm emergence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 539-560, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:54:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s11187-018-0033-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-018-0033-5
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    2. Per Davidsson & Jan Henrik Gruenhagen, 2021. "Fulfilling the Process Promise: A Review and Agenda for New Venture Creation Process Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(5), pages 1083-1118, September.
    3. Shahid, Pirzada Syed Rizwan, 2023. "Founder's Human Capital and the Entrepreneurial Process Duration," OSF Preprints yf6mg, Center for Open Science.
    4. Jalal Rajeh Hanaysha, 2023. "Exploring the Relationship between Entrepreneurial Marketing Dimensions, Brand Equity and SME Growth," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 12(1), pages 22-38, January.
    5. Wenping Ye & Zhongfeng Su & David Ahlstrom, 2022. "Bankruptcy laws, entrepreneurs’ socio-cognitions, and the pursuit of innovative opportunities," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 1005-1022, October.
    6. Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio & Mora, Luca & Natalicchio, Angelo & Platania, Federico & Toscano Hernandez, Celina, 2024. "Consumers’ reaction to sci-fi as a source of information for technological development: An empirical analysis," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    7. Jalal Rajeh Hanaysha & Mohammed Emad Al-Shaikh, 2022. "An Examination of Entrepreneurial Marketing Dimensions and Firm Performance in Small and Medium Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-17, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Productive opportunities; Uncertainty; Science-based firm; Penrose; Partnerships;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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