FROM OPPORTUNITY RECOGNITION TO OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION: A CONGRUENCE PERSPECTIVE OF OPPORTUNITY BELIEF FORMATION

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Scheaf, D. (2018). FROM OPPORTUNITY RECOGNITION TO OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION: A CONGRUENCE PERSPECTIVE OF OPPORTUNITY BELIEF FORMATION. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

Beliefs about the existence and attractiveness of opportunities underpin entrepreneurial action. Belief formation is broken into two distinct phases. Third-person opportunity beliefs (i.e., an opportunity for someone) form as a result of the opportunity recognition phase. First-person opportunity beliefs (i.e., an opportunity for me) form as a result of the opportunity evaluation phase. Although there is consensus that belief formation follows the path of opportunity recognition phase to the opportunity evaluation phase, most of the theoretical and empirical work to date has examined these phases independently. Herein, I review the opportunity recognition and opportunity evaluation research to synthesize a congruence model of belief formation. Specifically, I introduce the concepts of goal congruence, capability congruence, circumstance congruence, and identity congruence to explain why some individuals transition from favorable third-person opportunity beliefs to (un)favorable first-person opportunity beliefs, while others do not. I test hypotheses with a sample of 172 nascent and experienced entrepreneurs across two time points. Results support that capability, goal, and circumstance congruence moderate the relationship between third-person beliefs and first-person opportunity evaluations. The model contributes to the cognitive perspective of entrepreneurship by providing an alternative perspective to extant expected utility frameworks.

Details
Author

Scheaf, David

Title

FROM OPPORTUNITY RECOGNITION TO OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION: A CONGRUENCE PERSPECTIVE OF OPPORTUNITY BELIEF FORMATION

Physical Description

1 online resource (126 pages) : PDF

Date

2018

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

Beliefs about the existence and attractiveness of opportunities underpin entrepreneurial action. Belief formation is broken into two distinct phases. Third-person opportunity beliefs (i.e., an opportunity for someone) form as a result of the opportunity recognition phase. First-person opportunity beliefs (i.e., an opportunity for me) form as a result of the opportunity evaluation phase. Although there is consensus that belief formation follows the path of opportunity recognition phase to the opportunity evaluation phase, most of the theoretical and empirical work to date has examined these phases independently. Herein, I review the opportunity recognition and opportunity evaluation research to synthesize a congruence model of belief formation. Specifically, I introduce the concepts of goal congruence, capability congruence, circumstance congruence, and identity congruence to explain why some individuals transition from favorable third-person opportunity beliefs to (un)favorable first-person opportunity beliefs, while others do not. I test hypotheses with a sample of 172 nascent and experienced entrepreneurs across two time points. Results support that capability, goal, and circumstance congruence moderate the relationship between third-person beliefs and first-person opportunity evaluations. The model contributes to the cognitive perspective of entrepreneurship by providing an alternative perspective to extant expected utility frameworks.

Genre

doctoral dissertations

Subjects--Topics

Cognitive psychology
Entrepreneurship

Degree

Ph.D.

Keywords

Congruence
Opportunity Beliefs
Opportunity Evaluation
Opportunity Recognition

Subject Area

Organizational Science

Advisor(s)

Webb, Justin

Committee Members

Heggestad, Eric
Kellermanns, Franz
Banks, George

Degree Note

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2018.

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Rights Holder Information

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Identifier

Scheaf_uncc_0694D_11840

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:1267