Project Abstract
A key factor driving individuals’ and organizations’ ability to innovate is their ability to identify new opportunities. Prior research has highlighted that the key cognitive engine driving opportunity identification is entrepreneurial alertness (Gaglio & Katz, 2001), which refers to entrepreneurs’ capacity to recognize new business opportunities (Baron, 2006). Our study provides a comprehensive perspective on entrepreneurial alertness, by focusing on two cognitive abilities of entrepreneurial alertness: (1) association and connection; and (2) evaluation and judgement (Tang, Kacmar, & Busenitz, 2012). Further, we examine the key antecedents of these two components of entrepreneurial alertness, and also empirically investigate how each component of entrepreneurial alertness influences firm innovation in start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In terms of antecedents, we examine both entrepreneurs’ search behaviors as well as their creativity trait. Researchers have called for more research understan
