The role of intuition in exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities

Abstract

Although ample research has been carried out on the opportunity identification stage, there is still little research available on “why”, “when” and “how” entrepreneurs decide to exploit a business opportunity. Gaining further insight into entrepreneurial behaviour in the opportunity exploitation stage is essential if one wishes to better understand successful entrepreneurship and organisational outcomes. Since entrepreneurs work in high risk and uncertain environments, one might assume that intuition plays an important role in the various stages of the entrepreneurial process. This study, guided by the sound theoretical principles of the Cognitive- Experiential Self theory, addresses the gap in the entrepreneurial exploitation literature with regards to the role of intuition during this stage of the entrepreneurial process. This study utilizes secondary unexamined data from Baldacchino’s (2013) work to address the question: What is the role of intuition in entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation? In her doctorate work, Baldacchino (2013) investigated the effects of intuition and cognitive versatility on opportunity identification, and how these constructs enable entrepreneurs to become more proficient at identifying opportunities as they gain experience in this field. The unexamined data from the verbal protocols were utilized in this study to examine the role intuition plays in the opportunity exploitation decisions of entrepreneurs. This study found that intuition plays a significant role in opportunity exploitation, and also reveals interesting findings with regards to the role of other variables used in study, including, analysis, innovativeness and business specific experience on the opportunity exploitation stage.