Dimo Dimov

University of Bath | UB · Faculty of Management

Nascent entrepreneurs continuously evaluate the merits of the opportunities they pursue and so can abandon those that lack promise and persist with those that remain attractive. This paper articulates this evolving judgment about the opportunity as the nascent entrepreneur's opportunity confidence. It situates this construct in the context of the n...

The notion of opportunity, as currently discussed in entrepreneurship research, is theoretically exciting but empirically elusive. This article seeks to stimulate a new conversation about entrepreneurial opportunities by distinguishing two conceptions of entrepreneurial behavior—formal and substantive—and situating the construct of opportunity with...

We examine the growing disconnect between the process-oriented conception of entrepreneurship taught in the classroom and theorized about in premier journals and the variance-oriented conception of entrepreneurship that characterizes empirical studies of the phenomenon. We propose that a shift in inquiry from entrepreneurship as an act to entrepren...

This paper outlines a design-science perspective of entrepreneurship. It zooms in on the junction between present and future to distinguish entrepreneurship as a natural and as an artificial phenomenon. While the current study of entrepreneurship speaks to the former, it has been silent on the latter. The paper discusses design as a distinct mode o...

We draw on Searle's philosophy of language to distinguish between "opportunities"-intentional content directed towards a preferred future that entrepreneurs aim to fulfill-and opportunities-conditions to be met for their satisfaction. We maintain that studying the former requires adopting a player, rather than analyst stance prevailing in the curre...

We explore the dynamics of entrepreneurial performance and well-being through computational theory. Our model connects mechanisms of work-related motivation and strain processes with the unfolding of an entrepreneurial process. The simulation results show that how an entrepreneur's energy ebbs and flows over their journey, charting certain venturin...

Recognizing the importance of various types of artifacts for entrepreneurship, design science (DS) has been proposed as an inclusive approach that combines relevance and rigor. By enabling researchers to go beyond their traditional roles as observers and analysts of established artifacts to help design new artifacts, DS can improve the relevance of...

Business venturing is often promoted as a desirable mechanism for transferring knowledge from research-intensive universities to the private sector for commercialisation (Czarnitzki et al. 2014). We understand business venturing in this context as the set of entrepreneurial activities leading to the creation of science-based ventures and spin-off c...

In a recent effort to develop the individual-opportunity nexus, Ramoglou and McMullen (2022) argue that extant conceptualizations of opportunities fail because they reify opportunities by engaging in "thing-talk". Their proposed alternative ignores concrete things by reinterpreting the nexus in terms of confident entrepreneurs (who imagine world-st...

In this paper, we introduce a set of instructional tools (Kinetic Thinking Styles framework) focused on developing entrepreneurial thinking by stimulating metacognitive awareness and fostering learning environments that are conducive to metacognition. We provide an account of the development of the framework, including its concep- tual underpinning...

In this paper, we address a thorny challenge: how can entrepreneurship scholarship enhance its impact without compromising the pursuit of conceptual rigor and theoretical novelty? We propose a prospective inquiry framework for entrepreneurship. It aims to align the scholarly pursuit of theoretical novelty with the entrepreneurs’ focus on the future...

We invite submissions to the sub-theme about imagination and language at EGOS 2023, organized by @Neil Thompson, @Dimo Dimov, and myself. Submission deadline - Jan 10, 2023. Participation is possible in person or online.

This paper uses system dynamics modelling to explore processes through which entrepreneurial initiatives within firms lead to firm growth. Our model captures the interplay among various sub-processes and finds these processes form a complex system involving multiple interacting feedback processes. Simulation analysis shows that minor changes in fir...

In this paper, we put forward a new translational research framework for entrepreneurship, which leverages translational research from biomedical science and design science to lay the ground for a new research ecosystem of entrepreneurship. Instead of describing, explaining and predicting, our framework places emphasis on framing, experimenting and...

Purpose This paper aims to adopt a practice-theory, “site ontology” perspective to understand how venture capitalists (VCs) add value to their portfolio companies (PCs). Design/methodology/approach The empirical research involves a field ethnographic study of a VC firm in Dubai, focused on revealing what constitutes value and what VCs do to add th...

This article aims to further the rigour and relevance discussion in entrepreneurship studies. It argues that tensions arise due to an adherence to a rigour-as-correspondence perspective, which can be addressed through the advancement of a rigour-as-performativity perspective. Entrepreneurship concepts are tools used to define, represent and explain...

In this dialogue paper, we consider Zellweger and Zenger’s (2021) conceptualization of entrepreneurs as scientists, rooted in pragmatism. While we agree that pragmatism provides a useful but neglected foundation for studying the entrepreneurial journey, we maintain that entrepreneurs are more than scientists – in addition, they are engineers, artis...

This chapter critically traces the antecedents of the circular economy and presents its history in three periods—(i) pre-1990s; (ii) 1990–2010; and (iii) 2010–present and beyond—to illustrate how the narrative of the circular economy has developed over time. Following the history and contemporary implications of the concept, the chapter then addres...

This paper leverages the distinction between “opportunity” as the content of entrepreneurial intention and opportunity as external conditions for entrepreneurial success to focus on the action space of entrepreneurship. The “opportunity” triangle of person, venture concept, and theory of change provides a holistic, dynamic interface through which e...

The future of the field of entrepreneurship is bright primarily because of the many research opportunities to make a difference. However, as scholars how can we find these opportunities and choose the ones most likely to contribute to the literature? This essay introduces me-search and a special issue of research-agenda papers from leading scholars...

This paper uses the theory of speech acts to explore how entrepreneurs use language to construct the opportunities they set out to pursue. We use the case of Theranos (a journey from inspiring vision to criminal infamy) as a natural setting that draws a sharp contrast between words as the content of speech ("opportunity") and world as its object (o...

Design Science (DS) approaches have been emerging in engineering, management and other disciplines operating at the interface between design research and the natural or social sciences. Research informed by DS is challenging because it involves ‘mixing oil with water’, using a famous phrase of Herbert Simon. A key challenge here is the dual role of...

This paper engages with the diversity of entrepreneurship, aiming to making it intelligible. We portray entrepreneurship is a dynamic force that keeps eyes on the horizon and feet on the ground. In the first sense, entrepreneurship is a problem. Through their envisioning entrepreneurs evade the situational constraints of the actual states of affair...

In understanding entrepreneurship, we could seek to explain individual action by losing sight of its outcomes; or we could seek to explain outcomes by losing sight of action. This paper directs attention to the acting entrepreneur, seeking to make his or her action intelligible. It articulates the intentional space of action (opportunity) as a holi...

Support systems for early venturing efforts need to be harmonious with the emergent nature of those efforts. With current literature treating the conceptions of new ventures as exogenous, there has been limited focus on the transition of venturing efforts from nebulous, open-ended, and accidental toward becoming scalable, focused, and deliberate. W...

As entrepreneurship education spreads and aims to transform mindsets, its theories and methods need to be attuned to the first-person perspective of the learner. We provide a map for entrepreneurship education that bridges the subjective, inter-subjective, and objective as distinct varieties of knowledge and turns the classroom into a space for pra...

Dimo Dimov’s innovative book examines what it means to be an entrepreneurial scholar, drawing on a range of philosophical ideas to investigate the study of entrepreneurs. Dimov makes the case for entrepreneurial scholarship to become more future-oriented and creates a framework, highlighting four styles and approaches to the field: theoretical, int...

In this editorial, we take stock of the Journal of Business Venturing Insights (JBVI) as it turns five years old. We reflect on the unique niche that JBVI fills in the realm of journals focused on research in entrepreneurship and highlight the papers that have gained the most traction within this short period. We reflect on the role that JBVI can p...

Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to investigate, through practices and capabilities, how entrepreneurs use microfinance in a context of serious constraints. Design/methodology/approach. The chosen methodology for this paper is longitudinal. A three-and-a-half-year study was conducted to be able to capture the entrepreneurial journeys of ten en...

This paper explores the relationship between the study of entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurs we study. While scholars typically adopt a detached, third-person stance for the purpose of explaining and predicting entrepreneurial action, entrepreneurs instead operate in a first-person stance of deciding what to do. The two stances cannot be reduced t...

Prosocial organizations are emerging to tackle the effects of a New Normal. As they navigate its fragile and liquid institutional membranes, they prioritize cooperative forms of governance. These forms allow for collaboration and democratic decision-making necessary for the development of innovative solutions in this new context. At the same time,...

This paper proposes a model of entrepreneurial action that integrates three distinct elements. First, it brings together action and time to articulate a recursive relationship between perception and action, mediated by consequences. Second, it brings together action and context to ground the entrepreneur’s perceptions and actions in a mesh of socia...

This paper discusses the study of entrepreneurship as a process. It highlights the complexity of this topic through the questions and challenges it raises as well as multiplicity of perspectives and topics that it invites. It provides a meta map of possible conversations about entrepreneurial process, in which each conversation is a configuration o...

The purpose of this special issue is to outline a distinct third body of knowledge in the form of pragmatically oriented entrepreneurial design principles, to discuss whether it deserves a position on par with theory and practice, and to explore its interfaces with both the causal mechanisms of entrepreneurship theory and the complex realities of e...

Opportunity has different meanings in entrepreneurial practice and academic scholarship, entwined with the distinct activities of dealing with practical contingencies and capturing theoretical necessities. The language and time of an academic stance sidestep defining aspects of the entrepreneurial experience: its indeterminate situations, instrumen...

Twenty-one years ago (1997), the entrepreneurial revolution, both academic and actual, was just beginning. Entrepreneurial opportunities represent both the core theoretical construct and the plethora of products, services, processes, and business models, which dramatically changed daily life. This chapter examines key developments, which have emerg...

Entrepreneurial action is central to entrepreneurship theory, and is broadly seen to arise as a consequence of intendedly rational logics (whether causal or effectual), reflecting reasoned judgment. But, is this always the case? While entrepreneurial action may often be the result of a judgmental decision (between alternative courses of action/inac...

A vital aspect of entrepreneurial action is the translation of entrepreneur’s opportunity into new value creation. This paper examines the moderating roles of the founder’s experience and innovation degree on the relationship between opportunity confidence and new value creation intention (NVCI) at the pre-founding stage of a business. For this pur...

In a world where entrepreneurial success often seems deceptively accessible, it is not always clear what makes a person entrepreneurial. In this book, Dimo Dimov offers a reflective insight into the entrepreneurial journey, striking up a conversation about entrepreneurship in order to challenge and untangle existing preconceptions. A discussion of...

This paper seeks to study the influence of the moderating role of experience and innovation on the intentionality to create new value (NVCI). Using a survey data from 157 prospective entrepreneurs, we compare the perception of experienced and novice entrepreneurs at the pre-founding stage of their venture. We find that if entrepreneurs have require...

Engaging in exploration and exploitation is essential to business survival and performance. While firms manage exploration and exploitation alliances for the long-term, how prepared are they for sudden shocks in the short-term? We address this question in the context of a unique and opportune natural experiment associated with the 2008 financial cr...

With a wide-ranging set of contributions, this book provides a compilation of cutting-edge original research in the field of entrepreneurial opportunities. The book reopens the subject from diverse perspectives focusing on theories and approaches to entrepreneurial opportunities. It provides a brief history of the idea of opportunity and a framewor...

Entrepreneurship is a costly and uncertain activity. Even when an entrepreneur perceives an opportunity, in the context of a lingering doubt as to whether s/he could successfully exploit it, the intention to pursue is underpinned by the perceived desirability and feasibility of the expected outcomes. Recent discussions of the entrepreneurial proces...

A personal account of the history and development of my ideas.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to revisit the conceptualization and measurement of human capital in entrepreneurship research. Design/methodology/approach By contrasting reflective and formative conceptions, it shows that human capital is more appropriately seen as defined and formed by its indicators (education, work experience, entrepreneu...

Understanding under which conditions microcredit is used by new, growing ventures, is becoming increasingly pertinent to scholars. This paper investigates the interplay of the use of microcredit with entrepreneurial capabilities and the moderating role of institutional development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our findings show that higher constraints to...

Engaging in exploration and exploitation is essential to business survival and performance. While firms manage exploration and exploitation alliances for the long-term, how prepared are they for sudden shocks in the short-term? We address this question in the context of a unique and opportune natural experiment associated with the 2008 financial cr...

We challenge a stream of thought that focuses on drawing what we see as a frivolous contrast between creation and discovery view of entrepreneurship. Its detachment from the empirical world is tantamount to theoretical “fetishism”. We see opportunities as emergent structures, with ontologically real components, epistemologically real functional rel...

We challenge a stream of thought that focuses on drawing what we see as a frivolous contrast between creation and discovery view of entrepreneurship. Its detachment from the empirical world is tantamount to theoretical “fetishism”. We see opportunities as emergent structures, with ontologically real components, epistemologically real functional rel...

This paper examines the development process of sustainable ventures by focusing on three substantive markers, namely the ideas, actions, and exchange relationships articulated and instigated by the entrepreneurs in question. Based on data from 45 sustainability-oriented new ventures, it examines the causal configurations behind the manifestations o...

Paper presented at the 2014 Babson Conference linking mental disorders (specifically ADHD) to entrepreneurship using case studies

In spite of substantial advances, entrepreneurship research on affect and cognition remains characterized by a multiplicity of theoretical approaches, methods, variables and measures. Although this multiplicity affords a lot of richness, it also poses potential risks – from the lack of a coherent knowledge base to the dangers of an atomistic evolut...

How entrepreneurs develop opportunities for sustainable development represents an important question. Current conceptions based on prior knowledge tend to overlook the nature and magnitude of the sustainability problem that the entrepreneur is trying to solve. Using an experimental design, we demonstrate that the moral intensity (MI) of the sustain...

This study investigates how employees' perceptions of adverse work conditions might discourage innovative behavior and the possible buffering roles of relational resources. Data from a Mexican-based organization reveal that perceptions of work overload negatively affect innovative behavior, but this effect gets attenuated with greater knowledge sha...

This study examines the relationship between reward interdependence, or the extent to which managers' rewards are tied to the performance of colleagues in other functions, and product innovation. It also considers how structural and relational features of the organizational context might moderate this relationship. Our analysis of a sample of Canad...

This paper contextualizes the relationship between student's self-efficacy beliefs and entrepreneurial intentions in the content and pedagogy of the entrepreneurship course. Using the logic of regulatory focus theory, we argue that the nature of the entrepreneurship course—whether theoretically or practically oriented—creates a distinct motivationa...

Balancing exploration and exploitation is essential to business survival and performance. While firms manage exploration and exploitation alliances for the long term, how prepared are they for sudden shocks in the short term? In this paper, we address this question in the context of a unique and opportune natural experiment associated with the glob...

This article examines the intermediary role of internal knowledge-sharing in the relationship between two aspects of small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) internal organisational context: structural and relational interdependence and their entrepreneurial orientation (EO). With a sample of 146 SMEs, the structural equation modelling results sh...

Viewing entrepreneurial opportunities as emergent social structures invites a self-organization perspective that redirects entrepreneurship enquiry towards the deep set of simple, recursive rules that drive the entrepreneurial process. As a flow working against constraints, entrepreneurship creates opportunities of many shapes. Future research shou...

This research investigates the moderating role of organizations’ structural context on the performance outcomes of the firm's alignment and adaptability pursuits. It focuses in particular on the role of decision autonomy and shared responsibility, and posits that these structural features exert opposing influences on the effect of alignment and ada...

Sustainability entrepreneurs are seen as key actors in facing contemporary structural problems and supporting the creation of a more sustainable society. How these entrepreneurs recognize, develop and exploit venture opportunities represents an important research question. While researchers have addressed this issue by applying models of opportunit...

This study considers the mediating role of internal knowledge sharing in the relationship between two critical aspects of organizational social capital (trust and goal congruence) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO), as well as how this role might be moderated by the firm's level of formalization. It shows that higher levels of internal knowledge...

This article seeks to extend research on small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and ambidexterity by investigating contingency factors that influence the relationship between contextual ambidexterity and SME performance. Acknowledging the importance of internal knowledge flows in leveraging ambidexterity, it offers unique insights into how intern...

This research investigates how organizations' internal resource and conflict management influence the relationship between cross-functional fairness and product innovativeness. It considers two contextual dimensions of both internal resource management (job rotation and internal rivalry) and conflict-handling mechanisms (integrating and avoiding) a...

Using an organizational learning perspective, we link the decision by venture capital (VC) firms to invest early in a new high-technology industry to three experiential learning mechanisms: the familiarity associated with accumulation of early funding decisions, the shaping or imprinting effect of the firm’s very first such decision, and the decay...

IntroductionAntecedents of Venture Capital SyndicationDynamics within VCF SyndicatesOutcomes of Venture Capital SyndicationConclusion NotesAbout the Authors

This study examines how two cross-functional con- ditions (decision autonomy and trust) and a key managerial atti- tude toward the organization (organizational commitment), both individually and collectively, act as catalysts of the firm's ability to convert its innovation pursuits into performance outcomes. An analysis of the performance of 232 fi...

This study applies a contingency perspective to examine how the intra-organizational context influences the relationship between cross-functional collaboration and product innovativeness. It focuses on the role of (1) formal, structural factors directly controllable by top management decisions and (2) more intangible, relational factors as potentia...

Sustainability entrepreneurs are seen as key actors in facing contemporary structural problems and creating sustainable growth and wealth. They bring into being a new approach to business opportunities that resolves the dualistic divide between business ventures and altruistic endeavours, in favour of a new logic based on the creation of economic v...

To understand how ownership differences influence specific types of strategic decisions, we examine the investment decisions of venture capital (VC) firms, for which a variety of property rights arrangements exist. We describe how VC firms are characterized by important differences in how and to whom various property rights are allocated. On this b...

This study examines the syndication of investments novel to a VC firm as a function of the firm's need and opportunity to do so. We distinguish two types of uncertainty that firms face when considering novel investments: egocentric, pertaining to making the right decisions, and altercentric, pertaining to being evaluated as a potential partner on t...