Multiple Entrepreneurial Intentions: An Individual Case Study

Abstract

Contemporary research has shown that entrepreneurial intention (EI) has become an increasingly popular topic of investigation. That being said, whereas the parent field of entrepreneurship is acknowledging its inherent dynamic and processual nature, the same is not true of EI. The current article therefore seeks to apply an emerging meta-theoretical process framework in the form of Manuel Delanda’s assemblage theory (AT) in ambition to extend our knowledge of how EIs unfold over time. A single in-depth case study design was implemented to track changes in an individual’s entrepreneurial intending. Data were captured using semi-structured interviews and then analysed using NVivo coding software. Findings suggest that it is through the interaction of contextually defined factors and their unique capacities that an emergent intentional whole can be created. The current article provides a foundation to consider intent through a more socially situated outlook and can act as a platform to guide further research in the area. The concept of entrepreneurial process intentions is introduced to atone for the dynamic interplay between spatially and temporally bound factors that can lead to a specific form of EI emerging.