Explain the need for entrepreneurial discovery
Objectives
a.
b.
c.
Define the term entrepreneurial discovery.
Explain the contributions of entrepreneurial discovery to society (e.g., more efficient use of
resources, increased productivity, etc.).
Identify and give examples of changes that encourage entrepreneurial discovery (e.g., technological
changes, political changes, legal changes, regulatory changes, social changes, and demographic
changes).
Performance Activity
Identify a change occurring in your community that has or will encourage entrepreneurial discovery.
Determine what type of change it is (e.g., technological, political, legal, social, demographic, etc.), and
identify new businesses or products that have been developed in response to that change. Discuss your
insights on the class blog.
Resources
Software/Online
Leithner, C. (2004, December 15). Entrepreneurship and intelligent investing. Retrieved April 11, 2011,
from http://www.quebecoislibre.org/04/041215-5.htm
Mitchell, R.K. (1998-2003). New combination. Retrieved April 11, 2011, from
http://cvar.venturecapital.org/nvt/Topic_Info/Innovation/New_Combination/new_combination.html
Puhakka,V. (2007, March). Effects of opportunity discovery strategies of entrepreneurs on performance of
new ventures. Retrieved April 11, 2011, from http://joe.sagepub.com/content/16/1/19.abstract
Employ entrepreneurial discovery strategies to generate feasible
ideas for business ventures/products.
Objectives
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Discuss differences between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs that can aid entrepreneurs in
perceiving opportunities (e.g., life experiences, a person’s position in a social network, the nature of the
search process a person uses, an individual’s ability to focus on the opportunities, and intelligence).
Give an example that distinguishes between scientific discovery (when a physical or technological
observation is made) and circumstantial discovery (when an observation is made based on specific
knowledge of time, place, or circumstance).
Describe areas of entrepreneurial discovery (i.e., introduction of a new product or a new quality of
product, introduction of a new production method, a new market, a new vendor and/or resource
source, and the reorganization of an industry).
Explain techniques that entrepreneurs can use to recognize opportunities (e.g., analogies, pattern
recognition, experiments, simulation of prototypes. reverse engineering, etc.).
Discuss ways that entrepreneurs try to distinguish themselves from their competitors.
Discuss stages of entrepreneurial processes (i.e., discovery, evaluation, and exploitation).
Resources
Software/Online
Alvarez, S. and Barney, J. (2006, May). Discovery and creation: Alternative theories of entrepreneurial
action. Fisher College of Business Working Paper No. 2006-01-005. Retrieved April 11, 2011, from
http://ssrn.com/abstract=900200
Leithner, C. (2004, December 15). Entrepreneurship and intelligent investing. Retrieved April 11, 2011,
from http://www.quebecoislibre.org/04/041215-5.htm