Business Commons^™

The Influence Of Managerial Optimism And Self-Regulation On Learning And Business Growth Expectations Within An Emerging Economic Context, Stern Neill, Raghuvar Dutt Pathak, Barbara A. Ribbens, Terry W. Noel, Gurmeet Singh

Marketing

This paper examines psychological and behavioral mechanisms that underlie business growth expectations by examining how managerial optimism and self-regulatory focus influence learning behaviors. To empirically examine these relationships, the study situates in a resource-constrained business context by studying managers in two Pacific Island economies. Results indicate that a positive view toward gains encourages exploratory learning in unknown situations; whereas, a less optimistic disposition and avoidance are related to exploitative learning. This finding is consequential as managerial learning that leans toward development of new insights and possibilities is associated with greater business growth expectations versus learning that adheres to familiar and …

Distinguishing Entrepreneurial Approaches To Opportunity Perception, Stern Neill, Lynn E. Metcalf, Jonathan L. York

Marketing

Purpose – Whether opportunities are discovered or created by entrepreneurs is a foundational question in entrepreneurship research. The purpose of this paper is to examine women entrepreneurs in high-growth new ventures and explore the cognitive resources that distinguish between three approaches to opportunity perception: opportunity discovery; opportunity creation; and a combined discover-create (ambidextrous) approach.

Design/methodology/approach – Using questionnaire responses from 165 women entrepreneurs in highgrowth new ventures, K-means clustering was used to determine three approaches to opportunity perception. The cognitive resources associated with each approach were then identified using multiple discriminant analysis. Finally, multivariate analysis of variance was conducted to …