The role of entrepreneurs' temporal perspectives in the emergence of entrepreneurial opportunities

Opportunities are at the very heart of entrepreneurship and are subject to a fierce debate on
whether they are made (created) or found (discovered). The goal of the proposed research is to
gain a profound theoretical understanding on the role of entrepreneurs’ temporal perspectives in
the emergence of entrepreneurial opportunities. Temporal perspectives can be understood as the
various ways in how individuals perceive and interpret time. Because opportunies unfold over
time, the role of entrepreneurs' temporal perspectives is increasingly acknowledged as being
important to the emergence of opportunities. We argue that an entrepreneur’s situational
temporal perspective - i.e. how he/she currently perceives and interprets time in a particular
situation - can be the much sought puzzle piece that can connect the conflicting theories of
opportunity discovery and opportunity creation. More specifically, through 2 longitudinal and 1
conceptual study, we aim to advance our understanding of the emergence of entrepreneurial
opportunities by viewing entrepreneurs’ temporal perspectives as dynamic characteristics that
evolve over time as a result of changes in the (social) environment.