Strategic entrepreneurship: origins, core elements and research directions

Abstract

PurposeThe question of how to integrate strategic and entrepreneurial management to achieve a better balance between advantage‐ and opportunity‐seeking behaviours has received increased academic and practitioner interest in recent years. However, little consensus exists over the meaning of this concept of “strategic entrepreneurship” (SE), its constituents and its operation. This paper aims to address these issues.Design/methodology/approachIn response, the paper reports a thorough review of SE's origins and current conceptualizations to map its core components and charts critical research directions for this exciting emerging field. Analysis of the terrain of SE reveals eight core components drawn from entrepreneurship and strategic management that captures conditions necessary for its application.FindingsFrom this analysis, the paper offers an alternative model of SE, and charts four key research areas with accompanying research questions to inspire future research. These outcomes offer avenues to further sharpen the understanding of how SE might operate both in theory and practice.Research limitations/implicationsA relative lack of analysis and integration of external factors influencing and shaping the process of SE represents a limitation. Also, whilst the authors have attempted to review, assess and understand its position in the entrepreneurship and strategic management literature, the full range of its strengths and weaknesses cannot be grasped.Originality/valueThe paper illustrates how these four question areas pose significant promise to better understand the development and application of SE in research and in practice.