Collective Entrepreneurship: The Strategic Management of Research Triangle Park

Perception and action describe the entrepreneur as a dynamic figure in economic activity. It follows then that entrepreneurship entails a process that begins with perception and is completed with action. When it comes to places—meaning physical localities—rarely is it the case that the perception of opportunity and the ability to act on that perception are embodied in a single individual. This paper illustrates the strategic management of one place in particular, Research Triangle Park in central North Carolina. This history of Research Triangle Park suggests and that the early perception for the park, and the action to see it from “seed to harvest,” were the result of many individuals each exhibiting their own entrepreneurial ability. Thus, we introduce the notion of collective entrepreneurship, and we suggest that it might be a critical ingredient to a recipe for the successful strategic management of places.