An Entrepreneurial Aha! Experience: A Cognitive Science, Sociology and Psychology Synthetic Approach to Entrepreneurship

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

University of Tehran

Abstract

"Entrepreneurial Aha! Experience" is a combinatorial approach from cognitive science, sociology and psychology to entrepreneurship, which we believe is a perfect view for extending Sarason's structuration view of entrepreneurship. Using the "social representation" concept, it provides novel understandings of structuration theory and clarifies the nature and process of structuration. "Entrepreneurial Aha!" argues that entrepreneurs create mental representation by perceiving external world, combine these mental representations to create fore-presentation (idea) of ideal social reality and try to externalize it through ventures. In other words, it is through social representation that entrepreneurs are influenced by opportunity and influence it by implementing the ideas.

Keywords


Abric, J. (1993). Central system, peripheral system: their functions and roles in the dynamics of social representations. Papers on social representations, 2, 75-78.
Binder, M., Hirokawa, N., & Windhorst, U. (2009). Encyclopedia of neuroscience. Springer.
Durkheim, É. (1898). Représentations individuelles et représentations collectives. Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale, 6, 273-302.
Friedenberg, J., & Silverman, G. (2011). Cognitive science: An introduction to the study of mind. SAGE Publications Incorporated.
Hoïjer, B. (2011). Social Representations Theory. A New Theory for Media Research. Nordicom review: Nordic research on media & communication, 32, 3-16.
Kirzner, I. (1978). Competition and entrepreneurship. Chicago : University of Chicago Press.
Markman, A. (1999). Knowledge Representation Pr. Psychology Press.
McClelland, D. (1965). Achievement and entrepreneurship: A longitudinal study. Journal of personality and Social Psychology, 1, 389.
Mole, K., & Mole, M. (2010). Entrepreneurship as the structuration of individual and opportunity: A response using a critical realist perspective: Comment on Sarason, Dean and Dillard. Journal of business venturing, 25, 230-237.
Peirce, C., Hartshorne, C., Weiss, P., & Burks, A. (1960). Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce: Edited by Charles Hartshorne and Paul Weiss: Principles of philosophy and Elements of logic. Harvard University Press.
Quenza, C. (2005). On the structural approach to social representations. Theory & Psychology, 15, 77-100.
Rocha, H., & Birkinshaw, J. (2007). Entrepreneurship Safari. now Publishers Incorporated.
Sarason, Y., Dean, T., & Dillard, J. (2006). Entrepreneurship as the nexus of individual and opportunity: A structuration view. Journal of business venturing, 21, 286-305.
Sarason, Y., Dillard, J., & Dean, T. (2008). How can we know the dancer from the dance?: Reply to" Entrepreneurship as the structuration of individual and opportunity: A response using a critical realist perspective.(Mole and Mole, 2008). Journal of business venturing, 25, 238-243.
Searle, J. (1995). The construction of social reality. Free Press.
Shane, S., & Venkataraman, S. (2000). The promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research. Academy of Management Review, 25, 217-226.
Stinchcombe, A. (1997). On the virtues of the old institutionalism. Annual review of sociology, 23, 1-18.
Symons, J., & Calvo, P. (2012). The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Psychology (Paperback). Taylor & Francis.
Thagard, P. (2005). Mind: Introduction to cognitive science. Bradford book.
Thagard, P., & Stewart, T. (2011). The AHA! experience: Creativity through emergent binding in neural networks. Cognitive science, 35, 1-33.
Van de Ven, H. (1993). The development of an infrastructure for entrepreneurship. Journal of business venturing, 8, 211-230.
Ward, T. (2004). Cognition, creativity, and entrepreneurship. Journal of business venturing, 19, 173-188.
Zimmerer, T., Scarborough, N., & Wilson, D. (2002). Essentials of entrepreneurship and small business management. NJ: Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River.