Modeling entrepreneurial action choice: from intent through rhetoric to action

Abstract

Entrepreneurs are action takers. This paper presents an agent-based model illustrating entrepreneurial action choices between rhetoric and action during the very early stages (pre-formal alliance) of an entrepreneur's journey. Environmental factors, inertia, entrepreneurial conation preferences, the context-for-learning, and identified opportunities are all factors that will influence action choices both separately and in configurations. In virtual experiments, we examine the length of time it takes entrepreneurs to reach the stage for opportunity commitment, based on their skills and conation profiles. From the computer simulation, we determined that certain entrepreneurial profiles do make a difference in the overall effectiveness and efficiency of reaching an opportunity commitment. In general, an entrepreneur is more effective in reaching opportunity commitment if the entrepreneur has either a high skills profile, or a high conation profile, while the combination of high-level skills and conation profiles do not provide any real advantage. A high skills profile proves to create the greatest advantage of reaching opportunity commitment in the shortest length of time.

Citation

Black, J.A., Oliver, R.L. and Paris, L.D. (2010), "Modeling entrepreneurial action choice: from intent through rhetoric to action", Sanchez, R. and Heene, A. (Ed.) Enhancing Competences for Competitive Advantage (Advances in Applied Business Strategy, Vol. 12), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 201-233. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0749-6826(2010)0000012011