Entrepreneurial alertness and the causation and effectuation approaches to entrepreneurship

According to Gartner (1985), to understand the dimensions and variables of entrepreneurship and how they relate to each other contributes to understanding the phenomenon of new venturing creation. Entrepreneurial alertness (Kirzner, 1997) explains how business opportunities are identified and contributes to the creation of new business. This study aimed to relate the level of entrepreneurial alertness to entrepreneurial approaches causation, consistent with the concept of planning and analysis, and effectuation, consistent with the exploitation of emerging opportunities in a non-predictive way, both presented by Sarasvathy (2001). As a specific objective, it intended to validate the entrepreneurial alertness scales developed by Tang, Kacmar and Busenitz (2012), and entrepreneurial approaches scales, developed by Chandler, Detienne, Mckelvie and Mumford (2011). The survey was realized with a sample of 123 entrepreneurs from various sectors who were participants of business associations. The scales were validated in terms of reliability and multidimensionality. The results present a positive relationship between entrepreneurial alertness and entrepreneurial approaches, especially in terms of causation. A quadratic nonlinear model was also identified in this relationship, indicating a middle point in which the relationship becomes reversed.