Question

QUESTION 2 (20) Below is the title and abstract of an article which was published in the Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 61, No. 6, page 2265 – 2295. Critically reflect on the abstract and answer the questions that follow. Entrepreneurial Imaginativeness in New Venture Ideation Alexander S. Kier and Jeffery S. McMullen Abstract Although theories of entrepreneurial action regularly acknowledge the importance of imagination, the ability is rarely defined or measured, and thus effectively treated as uniform in degree and type. Using a creative problem-solving lens, we identify and measure three different cognitive skills—creative, social, and practical imaginativeness—that vary across individuals. Each skill combines the ability of imagination with the knowledge needed to mentally simulate various task-related scenarios used in generating and selecting ideas for new value creation. We then conduct a quasi-experiment to examine each skill’s relative effect on new venture ideation. We find that the three imaginativeness skills vary across individuals and that they predict new venture idea quantity and quality differently over and above the effects of motivation, knowledge, and experience. We conclude with implications for theory development in entrepreneurship and creative problem-solving. REQUIRED: 2.1 Based on the content of the abstract, identify and discuss the type of research conducted by Kier and McMullen (2018), and explain the main deductive theory underpinning the research and the contributions made to the body of knowledge. (5) 2.2 Elaborate on the motivation for this paper, highlighting the focus of inquiry (i.e. the broad question of interest). (4) 2.3 Highlight the independent variables and dependent variable identified and measured in the study and the likely inferential tests conducted by Kier and McMullen (2018). (4) 2.4 Comment on the strategic relevance of Kier and McMullen’s (2018) findings and highlight TWO (2) key shortcomings of most quasi-experiments. (4) 2.5 Based on Kier and McMullen’s (2018) findings, suggest one practical recommendation that you would offer to potential funders of start-ups.

Answer 1

ANSWER 2.1:

Based on the content of the abstract, research conducted by kier and McMullen is "Entrepreneurial Imaginativeness in New Venture Ideation" In this they are discussing about Imagination, Ideation, New Venture, Entrepreneurship, Creative Problem Solving,Opportunity Recognition.The creation of new ventures is a process by which “entrepreneurs come to imagine the opportunity for novel ventures”.They use their imaginations to create new ideas that entrepreneurial action either proves to be opportunities for new ventures or reveals to be mistaken beliefs.Because “all great ventures begin with imagination” and opportunities are “ultimately determined through creative imagination and social skill of the entrepreneur”.Though imagination is commonly recognized as the final pillar, the creativity literature typically conceptualizes it as an ability or mindset frequently manipulated but rarely measured.

ANSWER 2.2

Since the turn of the century, models of entrepreneurial action have abounded in both theory and practice.Each has sought to explain how individuals transform ideas into opportunities through action by slowly reorienting scholarly attention upstream from firm performance, to opportunity, to idea,to the source of those ideas.Because ideas “constitute the lifeblood for firms in generating new products or services, new business models, new processes, and bringing about general organizational or strategic change”.Research on their origins is needed to explain the micro foundations of both entrepreneurial action and “the early stages of creation of new economic activities, which is arguably where entrepreneurship research can make its more distinctive contributions to the broader fields of economic and organizational studies”.Accordingly, this study examines new venture ideation, defined as the capability to generate and select new venture ideas.

Answer 2:3

Despite its espoused importance to entrepreneurial action, imagination is rarely examined, much less defined or measured by entrepreneurship scholars. Such neglect is also true of creative problem solving researchers who have long sought to explain the creativity behind ideation as a function of attitude, knowledge, evaluation, and imagination. In these models, attitude refers primarily to motivation and manifests as effort, knowledge is embodied by general human capital, and evaluation often refers to the judgment informed by experience. Though imagination is commonly recognized as the final pillar, the creativity literature typically conceptualizes it as an ability or mindset frequently manipulated but rarely measured..

Answer 2.4

In this study, they examine imagination’s role in new venture ideation through a creative problem-solving lens and use of a quasi-experimental design. By doing so,They heed the words of Miller and Miller that “researching entrepreneurial imagination at the cognitive level may be worthy of experimental study.” They had 506 individuals from the general working population with varying entrepreneurial experience and randomly distributed across the United States, (1) generate as many new venture ideas as possible based on a description and diagram of new technology, and (2) select their best idea and write a short description of that idea. In addition, we directly measured their motivation, knowledge, and experience, and indirectly measured their imagination via imaginativeness – a cognitive skill that combines the ability of imagination with the knowledge needed to mentally simulate various task-related scenarios in entrepreneurship. To do so, we developed a measure of three forms of entrepreneurial imaginativeness used in new value creation – creative, social, and practical – and demonstrated the scale’s predictive validity for new venture idea generation and selection over and above the effects of motivation, knowledge, and experience. Thus, their findings show (1) that entrepreneurial imaginativeness is measurable, (2) that its three forms vary across individuals, (3) that these three forms of imaginativeness predict new venture idea quantity and quality differently, (4) that they do so over and above the other more commonly examined predictors of ideation, and (5) that these forms of entrepreneurial imaginativeness are more important.

Answer 2.5

Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors or SpaceX are new ventures that would certainly qualify as strong form entrepreneurship because of their novelty along multiple dimensions of new value creation. As a result, creative imaginativeness may play a more prominent role in the generation and selection of ideas for radically innovative new ventures such as Tesla Motors than for incrementally innovative or imitative new ventures such as a new McDonalds franchise.