ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS DECISION MAKING: RATIONAL, INTUITIVE AND IMPROVISATIONAL APPROACHES

Abstract

In this paper entrepreneurship is presented as decision making. Mintzberg and Westley's (2001) decision making typology is adapted to the case of entrepreneurial decision making. These authors complemented the rational, step-by-step mode of decision making, with the intuitive and improvisational modes, Complementing the rational view of decision making with the analysis of entrepreneurship as intuitive or improvisational decision making, a richer and more integrated understanding of entrepreneurial behavior is obtained. To make the implications of the three decision making approaches to entrepreneurship clear, the entrepreneurial process under each of the three modes, will be considered. Ireland, Hitt and Sirmon's (2003) model of strategic entrepreneurship is used as a framework. With this framework, the three resulting theoretical representations of the entrepreneurial process will be discussed. Ireland et al,'s model of strategic entrepreneurship suggests that to understand how entrepreneurial activity leads to competitive advantage and wealth creation, four building blocks of entrepreneurial activity should be considered: entrepreneurial mindset, entrepreneurial culture and leadership, strategic management of resources and application of creativity and development of innovation.

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