Is there opportunity without stakeholders? A stakeholder critique and development of opportunity-actualization
Is there opportunity without stakeholders? A stakeholder critique and development of opportunity-actualization
How can stakeholder theory contribute to opportunity theory? We suggest that stakeholder theory affords appropriate theoretical lenses for grounding the opportunity-actualization perspective more firmly within the real-world constraints of business venturing. Actualization departs from a strong focus on entrepreneurial agency to conceptualize how pre-existing environmental conditions determine what entrepreneurial action can achieve. We explain that stakeholder theory can strengthen the outward-looking orientation of actualization by (1) bringing the entirety of stakeholders centre-stage, beyond a narrow focus on market stakeholders, and (2) stressing the importance of noneconomic considerations for the actualization of economic opportunities. Our theorization culminates in the concept of ‘strategic opportunity thinking’ (SOT). We conceptualize SOT as a way of protecting entrepreneurs from the blind-to-stakeholders mindset that either sleepwalks them into the territory of non-opportunity or prevents them from the actualization of real yet difficult-to-actualize opportunities in the absence of stakeholder-centric thinking.
actualization approach, bounded self-interest, entrepreneurial opportunities, ethics, lean startup, non-opportunities, stakeholder belief-systems, stakeholder empathy, stakeholder interests, stakeholder power, stakeholder theory, strategic opportunity thinking
Ramoglou, Stratos
f3fffbf5-0f1f-46e1-93af-a13e18945610
Zyglidopoulos, Stelios
c70a44f0-2b6c-44b5-a712-50693c14f8a9
Papadopoulou, Foteini
531ddbc2-4f8b-49c0-9c1a-d332de05cfcb
22 November 2021
Ramoglou, Stratos
f3fffbf5-0f1f-46e1-93af-a13e18945610
Zyglidopoulos, Stelios
c70a44f0-2b6c-44b5-a712-50693c14f8a9
Papadopoulou, Foteini
531ddbc2-4f8b-49c0-9c1a-d332de05cfcb
Ramoglou, Stratos, Zyglidopoulos, Stelios and Papadopoulou, Foteini
(2021)
Is there opportunity without stakeholders? A stakeholder critique and development of opportunity-actualization.
Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice.
(doi:10.1177/10422587211043354).
Abstract
How can stakeholder theory contribute to opportunity theory? We suggest that stakeholder theory affords appropriate theoretical lenses for grounding the opportunity-actualization perspective more firmly within the real-world constraints of business venturing. Actualization departs from a strong focus on entrepreneurial agency to conceptualize how pre-existing environmental conditions determine what entrepreneurial action can achieve. We explain that stakeholder theory can strengthen the outward-looking orientation of actualization by (1) bringing the entirety of stakeholders centre-stage, beyond a narrow focus on market stakeholders, and (2) stressing the importance of noneconomic considerations for the actualization of economic opportunities. Our theorization culminates in the concept of ‘strategic opportunity thinking’ (SOT). We conceptualize SOT as a way of protecting entrepreneurs from the blind-to-stakeholders mindset that either sleepwalks them into the territory of non-opportunity or prevents them from the actualization of real yet difficult-to-actualize opportunities in the absence of stakeholder-centric thinking.
Text
10422587211043354
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Accepted/In Press date: 11 August 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 22 November 2021
Published date: 22 November 2021
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Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords:
actualization approach, bounded self-interest, entrepreneurial opportunities, ethics, lean startup, non-opportunities, stakeholder belief-systems, stakeholder empathy, stakeholder interests, stakeholder power, stakeholder theory, strategic opportunity thinking
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 450839
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/450839
ISSN: 1042-2587
PURE UUID: 08bd7b5e-cc60-4ed8-ac3c-63f6ad7e265d
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Date deposited: 16 Aug 2021 16:30
Last modified: 22 Mar 2024 02:31
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Author:
Stelios Zyglidopoulos
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