Experts in entrepreneurship: opportunities and context evaluation from the perspective of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs
Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies
ISSN: 2053-4604
Article publication date: 17 September 2020
Issue publication date: 12 November 2021
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyze how different experts in entrepreneurship perceive their surrounding environment and business opportunities. The authors suggest that people act the way they do not only because of different interpretations of the environment but also because of the relative importance they give to the context and themselves in their mental scripts.
Design/methodology/approach
A Mann–Whitney U non-parametric test and principal component analysis were conducted to examine the national expert survey from the global entrepreneurship monitor database of Chilean exports.
Findings
When experts in entrepreneurship are compared, entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs differ in their use of certain cognitive resources about past or current events, but they map out future situations similarly, suggesting that their mental simulations may converge into similar patterns.
Originality/value
This study provides useful insights regarding the impact that mental representation has on experts’ perception, by discussing how experts who are entrepreneurs perceive the entrepreneurial ecosystem and current opportunities differently than experts who are not entrepreneurs. The specific context plays a key role in the way entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs analyze their surrounding environment but not necessarily opportunities.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the editor, Jun Li, and two anonymous referees for their useful comments which greatly improve the paper. They also wish to express sincere appreciation to Juan Carlos Fernandez, Vania Sena, and Elizabeth Chell for their comments on an earlier draft of this article.
Citation
Poblete, C. and Mandakovic, V. (2021), "Experts in entrepreneurship: opportunities and context evaluation from the perspective of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs", Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, Vol. 13 No. 5, pp. 922-944. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEEE-01-2020-0014
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited