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How does an old firm learn new tricks? A material account of entrepreneurial opportunity

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  • Philip Roscoe
  • Allan Discua Cruz
  • Carole Howorth

Abstract

Opportunity has become the central concept in entrepreneurship. Discovery-focused accounts assume opportunity to be objective and to exist independently of the entrepreneur. Process-focused studies critique such notions. We contribute to process-based conceptions of entrepreneurship with an account of opportunity as historically specific and materially embedded. Drawing on Latour we argue that opportunities are constituted through dense material networks. We argue that opportunity and entrepreneurship are mutually constitutive, and emphasise that the entrepreneur shares agency with a heterogeneous array of ‘actants’ in the network of opportunity. We make use of this framework in a historical analysis of a large family agribusiness in Honduras, illustrating the historically dependent nature of entrepreneurial process and the role that the material plays in it.

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  • Philip Roscoe & Allan Discua Cruz & Carole Howorth, 2013. "How does an old firm learn new tricks? A material account of entrepreneurial opportunity," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(1), pages 53-72, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:bushst:v:55:y:2013:i:1:p:53-72
    DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2012.687540
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    Cited by:

    1. Miruna Radu-Lefebvre & James Davis & William Gartner, 2024. "Legacy in Family Business: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agenda," Post-Print hal-04515862, HAL.
    2. Hamilton, Eleanor & Discua Cruz, Allan & Jack, Sarah, 2017. "Re-framing the status of narrative in family business research: Towards an understanding of families in business," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 3-12.
    3. Hadjielias, Elias & Christofi, Michael & Tarba, Shlomo, 2021. "Knowledge hiding and knowledge sharing in small family farms: A stewardship view," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 279-292.
    4. Spielmann, Nathalie & Discua Cruz, Allan & Tyler, Beverly B. & Beukel, Karin, 2021. "Place as a nexus for corporate heritage identity: An international study of family-owned wineries," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 826-837.
    5. Bąkiewicz Anna & Kasuma Jati & Hermawan Asep, 2022. "Family Business and Religion – Research Agenda," Journal of Intercultural Management, Sciendo, vol. 14(2), pages 4-40, December.
    6. Gomez-Mejia, Luis R. & Mendoza-Lopez, Anabel & Cruz, Cristina & Duran, Patricio & Aguinis, Herman, 2024. "Socioemotional wealth in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous contexts: The case of family firms in Latin America and the Caribbean," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 15(1).
    7. De Rosa, Marcello & McElwee, Gerard & Smith, Robert, 2019. "Farm diversification strategies in response to rural policy: a case from rural Italy," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 291-301.

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