Entrepreneurial mindset: An integrated definition, a review of current insights, and directions for future research

ABSTRACT

Despite an increasing interest in understanding the mindset of entrepreneurs, little consensus exists on what an entrepreneurial mindset (EM) is, how it is developed, or its precise outcomes. Given the fragmented nature of the multidisciplinary study of EM, we review prior work in an effort to enhance scholarly progress. To this end, we identify and review 61 publications on the topic and offer an empirically derived, integrated definition of EM. Further, we examine factors related to EM and offer specific directions for future study. Additionally, we offer broad directions for advancing the trajectory of EM research and conclude with an abbreviated review of pedagogical insights. In all, by offering a definition, reviewing the literature, and highlighting specific and broad directions for future research, we attempt to consolidate and advance what is known about an individual’s EM.

KEYWORDS:

• Entrepreneurial mindset
• review
• definition
• antecedents
• outcomes
• moderators
• pedagogy
• future research directions

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Dan Roy for his insight and inspiration. Additionally, appreciation is given to the guest editors of this special issue, Profs. Jeff Hornsby, Eric Liguori, and Ben McLarty, for their guidance. The authors are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their developmental feedback.

Notes

¹ The search string for the second step included the following terms: entrepreneurial or entrepreneur’s and belief, cognition, intuition, mentality, mind-set, mindset, outlook, perspective, philosophy, posture, psyche, thinking, thought, or viewpoint.

² Specific journals searched include: Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Family Business Review, Foundations and Trends in Entrepreneurship, International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research, International Small Business Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Family Business Strategy, Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Small Business Management, Management Science, Organization Science, Organization Studies, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Personnel Psychology, Small Business Economics, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, and Strategic Management Journal.

³ The review by Naumann (2017) offers a “synthetic [sic] literature review” of EM. Our review differs from the work by Naumann (2017) in that (a) we offer a holistic model that includes antecedents and outcomes associated with EM; (b) we use a systematic, empirical approach to inductively derive a definition of EM using NVivo software; (c) for our initial, broad search of articles, we rely on a different database, which is Web of Science; and (d) our antecedents and outcomes are comprehensive, including factors at various levels of analysis.

⁴ Journals searched include: Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Perspectives, Academy of Management Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Family Business Review, International Small Business Journal, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Family Business Strategy, Journal of Small Business Management, Leadership Quarterly, Organization Science, Small Business Economics, and Strategic Management Journal.

⁵ We are appreciative to an anonymous reviewer for the recommendation to include this step.

⁶ The following five textbooks were reviewed: (a) Kuratko, D. Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process, Practice (11th ed.). Cengage; (b) Kaplan, J. M., & McGourty, J. Patterns of Entrepreneurship Management (6th ed). John Wiley & Sons; (c) Burns, P. Entrepreneurship and Small Business: Start-Up, Growth and Maturity (4th ed.). Macmillan; (d) Hisrich, R. D., Peters, M. P., & Shepherd, D. A. Entrepreneurship (11th ed). McGraw-Hill; (e) Barringer, B. R., & Ireland, R. D., Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New Ventures (6th ed.). Pearson.

⁷ We acknowledge that some forms of depression are not likely remedied from self-reassurance and goal setting.

⁸ Among the articles reviewed, samples include participants from the following countries: Brazil, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, South Africa, India, and the United Kingdom and Chinese immigrants starting ventures in Canada. The sampled ventures include manufacturing and service, social, environmental, and traditional for-profit ventures from a wide array of industries. Regarding sample size, studies using qualitative approaches were, as expected, generally smaller with none exceeding 40 participants. Alternatively, studies using quantitative approaches had larger samples with some exceeding 200 participants.

⁹ About one-third of studies in the pedagogy-focused review do not include a formal definition of EM.