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The creation of a country’s wealth and dynamism depends upon the competitiveness of its firms and this, in turn, relies fundamentally on the capabilities of its entrepreneurs and managers.

In this article is developed and presented. In this relatively new field of study many different theories have emerged that try to explain the phenomenon of new enterprise or venture creation. After a brief treatment of the antecedents and historic development of entrepreneurship, the author discusses and suggests what should be the distinctive domain of entrepreneurship research. He then develops and presents the different paradigms or theoretical approaches that have emerged in this field. An attempt is made to classify the diverse theories based on the various theoretical approaches to the study of entrepreneurship. The aim of this paper is not only to delimit this broad field of study but also to offer a guide for future empirical research and theoretical developments.

The literature of small business and entrepreneurship is explored. It is established that, although there is an overlap between entrepreneurial firms and small business firms, they are different entities. Using the 1934 work of Schumpeter and recognizing the additions to the field of current writers, a conceptual framework is established for the differentiation of entrepreneurs from small business owners.

Although authors generally agree on the nature of entrepreneurial activities within existing firms, differences in the terminology used to describe those activities have created confusion. This article discusses existing definitions in the field of corporate entrepreneurship, reconciles these definitions, and provides criteria for classifying and understanding the activities associated with corporate venturing.

Now organizations are always vulnerable to the liabilities of newness, but such pressures are especially severe when an industry is in its formative years. We focus on one set of constraints facing entrepreneurs in emerging industries-their relative lack of cognitive and sociopolitical legitimacy. We examine the strategies that founders can pursue, suggesting how their successful pursuit of legitimacy may evolve from innovative ventures to broader contexts, collectively reshaping industry and institutional environments.

The contributions and shortcomings of past entrepreneurship research can be viewed within the context of six research design specifications: purpose, theoretical perspective, focus, level of analysis, time frame and methodology. The authors suggest a unifying definition of the field of entrepreneurship. The recent trend toward theory driven research that is contextual and process oriented is encouraging. It is time for entrepreneurship researchers to pursue causality more aggressively. Exploratory studies that are not theory driven should be discouraged unless the topic is highly original. Implications for practicing entrepreneurs are discussed.

Corporate entrepreneurship seems to many entrepreneurship scholars a contradiction in terms. This paper represents an attempt to bridge that gap. This is done by, first, reviewing the literature on entrepreneurship, trying to summarize it in a few major themes. Second, a view of entrepreneurship is proposed that facilitates the application of the previous findings to the field of corporate entrepreneurship. Finally, a series of propositions are developed, as instances of the kind of research that can be pursued by following the proposed approach.

To date, the phenomenon of entrepreneurship has lacked a conceptual framework. In this note we draw upon previous research conducted in the different social science disciplines and applied fields of business to create a conceptual framework for the field. With this framework we explain a set of empirical phenomena and predict a set of outcomes not explained or predicted by conceptual frameworks already in existence in other fields.

Before we can act on opportunities we must first identify those opportunities. Understanding what promotes or inhibits entrepreneurial activity thus requires understanding how we construct perceived opportunities. Seeing a prospective course of action as a credible opportunity reflects an intentions–driven process driven by known critical antecedents. Based on well–developed theory and robust empirical evidence, we propose an intentions-based model of the cognitive infrastructure that supports or inhibits how we perceive opportunities. We discuss how this model both integrates past findings and guides future research. We also show the practical diagnostic power this model offers to managers.

This paper examines the relationship between resource-based theory and entrepreneurship and develops insights that advance the boundaries of resource-based theory and begin to address important questions in entrepreneurship. We extend the boundaries of resource-based theory to include the cognitive ability of individual entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs have individual-specific resources that facilitate the recognition of new opportunities and the assembling of resources for the venture. By focusing on resources, from opportunity recognition to the ability to organize these resources into a firm and then to the creation of heterogeneous outputs through the firm that are superior to the market, we help identify issues that begin to address the distinctive domain of entrepreneurship.