خود به خود درست باشد: تصاویری از خود، تصاویری از فرصت، و عمل کارآفرینی

While research in entrepreneurship continues to increase general understanding of the opportunity-recognition process, questions about its nature nonetheless persist. In this study, we seek to complement recent research that relates “the self” to the opportunity-recognition process by deepening understanding of the self vis-à-vis this process. We do this by drawing on the self-representation literature and the decision-making literature to introduce two distinct types of images of self: images of vulnerability and images of capability. In a study of 1936 decisions about hypothetical entrepreneurial opportunities made by 121 executives of technology firms, we then investigate how both types of images of self affect the images of opportunities that underlie opportunity recognition. Our results indicate that both images of self – vulnerability and capability – impact one's images of opportunity.

In the above epigraph, Thomas Edison reveals his image of opportunity. We begin with this characterization in order to introduce our investigation of such images of opportunity. Specifically, in this study we seek to understand the extent to which people make opportunity decisions based on the fit between decision alternatives and some representational image or prototype for the decision2 (Mitchell and Beach, 1990) and the extent to which their perceptions of themselves impact these images of opportunities. In the language of Edison, in this study we investigate the extent to which the opportunity dressed in overalls (an image of opportunity) is recognized because the recognizer metaphorically sees himself/herself in overalls (an image of self). We see this investigation as important because it addresses a central question in entrepreneurship research, namely “why, when, and how some people and not others discover and exploit opportunities” (Shane and Venkataraman, 2000, p. 219). Moreover, while an understanding of the opportunity-recognition process is becoming clearer (e.g., Keh et al., 2002, Lumpkin and Lichtenstein, 2005 and Ozgen and Baron, 2007), questions about its nature nonetheless persist (Baron and Ensley, 2006). This study is intended to further clarify the role of the individual – the starting point of knowledge creation and progression in an organization (Nonaka, 1994, p. 20) – in this process. Of course, the introduction of the individual into research on the opportunity-recognition process is not new. Baron and Ensley (2006), for instance, investigated how differences in experience between experienced and novice entrepreneurs affected opportunity recognition, finding that experienced entrepreneurs possess richer and more relevant images of opportunity than novices. With our research, we seek to complement their research findings by deepening understanding of the contributions of the self in the opportunity-recognition mix. To do so, we draw on the self-representation literature (e.g., Markus and Wurf, 1987) to introduce two distinct types of images of self: images of vulnerability and images of capability. We believe that the introduction of a more detailed image of self is important for two reasons. First, individuals often recognize entrepreneurial opportunities that can be pursued without recognizing them as opportunities that they themselves can or should pursue. McMullen and Shepherd (2006, p. 133) illustrated this by differentiating between potential opportunities for anyone, which they term third-person opportunities and a potential opportunity for a specific actor, which they term first-person opportunities. To us, the recognition of third- but not first-person opportunities points to the importance of viewing images of opportunities in conjunction with images of self (i.e., why some but not others identify the opportunity ( Shane and Venkataraman, 2000, p. 219)) and to the importance of understanding how these images of self contribute to and affect the process of first-person opportunity recognition. In this way, we investigate the extent to which differences in decision makers' personal images of opportunity (within-individual) are impacted by differences in their perceptions of themselves (between-individual). Second, and more broadly, the inclusion of a detailed portrait of the self is important because prominent characterizations of entrepreneurship suggest that it involves the nexus of opportunities and enterprising individuals (Shane and Venkataraman, 2000, p. 218). For this reason, examinations of images of opportunities will benefit from being linked to a more detailed view of the enterprising individuals' images of self. As noted by Fiske and Taylor (1991, p. 99) “our perceptions of the world reflect an interplay between what's out there and what we bring to it”. By investigating how images of opportunity (what's out there) and images of self (what we bring to it) interact in decision making, we can clarify the underlying factors that impact the progression from third-person to first-person opportunities and can, as a result, better comprehend the basic nature of the opportunity-recognition process. Our study proceeds as follows. First, drawing from the entrepreneurship literature (Baron and Ensley, 2006 and McMullen and Shepherd, 2006), the decision literature (Beach and Mitchell, 1987 and Mitchell and Beach, 1990) and the self-representation literature (e.g., Markus and Wurf, 1987), we introduce the concepts of opportunity- and self-image along with a series of hypotheses that relate these images to the decision to act on an opportunity through investment in its pursuit. We then discuss the sample, measures, and analytical techniques that are used to test the hypotheses. Next, we report our results. And finally, we discuss the implications of the results for both research and practice.

In this study, we have sought to understand how images self impact images of opportunity in entrepreneurial decision making. By so doing, we have clarified the contribution of each. While our findings indicate that decisions to act on opportunities are indeed the result of a distinct opportunity image – with entrepreneurial decision makers preferring opportunities that: (1) are valuable, (2) are based on knowledge similar to their own and (3) have wide opportunity windows with many choices – our findings also suggest that entrepreneurs' images of vulnerability and capability significantly impact their individual opportunity images. In this sense, our findings clarify the role that these self images have on decisions to act on opportunities. By distinguishing these images of self from images of opportunity, the results of this investigation can allow entrepreneurs to more accurately and truly leverage both types of images in entrepreneurial action.