A Process Re-Conceptualization of Entrepreneurial Orientation Aimed at Opportunity Designing

The recognition or the creation of opportunities is the starting points of any entrepreneurial project and Entrepreneurial Orientation is considered to beat the core. The traditional use of Entrepreneurial Orientation has been focused on explanations, such as those within natural science, combined with a conception of entrepreneurs as possessing exceptional traits, as heroic individuals: these perspectives are incorrect. This study proposes a critical process re-conceptualization of Entrepreneurial Orientation aimed at opportunity designing in uncertain contexts as well as (proto) organizational projects. The major contribution is a theoretical framework under a process perspective that brings together research fields that have been isolated for too long, focusing on the interplay between routines and artifacts (as rules), agency and structure, sense-making and decision-making. Using our framework, scholars may explore further entrepreneuring and organizing, unifying a highly disparate research domain centered on opportunity designing.