“The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something
we do not understand”
- Frank Herbert
Something we do not yet understand is how entrepreneurs conceive of opportunities. What opportunities are and when do we get to call them opportunities and not mere ‘interesting ideas’. I have been intrigued by the nature of opportunities which I feel are the core of any business or organizational transformation in recent times. Being an ontological realist, I have looked at opportunities both from a behavioral as well as an objective standpoint. I believe that while the first approach helps us develop an understanding of behavioral assumptions underlying our models, the second approach offers the potential of developing generalizable mid-range theories that build on our behavioral understanding.
My early work with colleagues from the University of Missouri was published in the Journal of Applied Psychology investigated the gender disparity in entrepreneurship as a consequence of behavioral stereotyping which prevents individuals from embarking on discovering and exploiting opportunities. This work attracted media attention due to its non-intuitive implications and the nature of the topic. In separate work through my research assistantship I also investigated the rising phenomenon of social opportunities, the way they have changed through globalization, and differences from economic opportunities in a paper in the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal with Shaker Zahra and colleagues. In my teaching at the University of Minnesota, I began to closely study issues of interests to technology entrepreneurs. Having a technology background and dabbling a bit in entrepreneurship, I decided to focus my dissertation on what I believe are real problems faced by entrepreneurs when they bring new technology to the market. I have two ongoing projects—one is related to the issue of timing new technology introductions and other is a broader project focused on the role of knowledge in shaping the organization and boundaries of technology firms. I am currently exploring ways of testing the effects of knowledge on the organization and boundaries of firms in an environment characterized by technology convergence. Technology convergence makes some forms of knowledge more salient while relegating some other forms of knowledge serving as an ideal context for studying the role of knowledge in shaping organization boundaries.
Zahra, S. A., Rawhouser, H., Bhawe, N. M., Neubaum, D. O., & Hayton, J. C. 2008. Globalization of social entrepreneurship opportunities. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 2(2): 117-131.
Bhawe, N. M. Shrinking Opportunity Windows. Paper presented at the 2009 Babson Research Conference, Boston, MA.
Bhawe, N. M., Zahra, S. & Gupta, A. Entrepreneurship and Convergence. Presented preliminary work on convergence at the Digital Challenges in Innovation workshop at Temple University, September 2008, Philadelphia, PA.
Bhawe, N. M. & Zahra, S. Heterogeneity in local entrepreneurship: The effect of knowledge flows and local absorptive capacity. Paper presented at the 2008 Academy of Management Conference, Anaheim, CA.
Zahra, S., Rawhouser, H. Bhawe, N. M., Neubaum, D. O. & Hayton, J. C. Globalization of social entrepreneurship opportunities. Paper presented at the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal Launch conference, July 2007, Oak Wood, IL.
Bhawe, N. M. & Zahra, S. Indian immigrant entrepreneurship in the US. Symposium on Community Entrepreneurship sponsored by the Entrepreneurship and International Business Division at the 2007 Academy of Management Conference, Philadelphia, PA.
Turban, D.B., Gupta, V. K., & Bhawe, N. M. The effect of stereotype activation on entrepreneurial intentions. Paper presented at the 2007 Academy of Management Conference, Philadelphia, PA.
Bhawe, N. M. Jain, T.K. & Gupta, V. K. The entrepreneurship of the ‘Good Samaritan’: Insights from prosocial theory. Paper presented at the 2007 Babson Research Conference, Madrid, Spain.
Bhawe, N. M. Strategies for technology entrepreneurs: Overcoming an incumbency advantage. Paper being readied for submission.
Bhawe, N. M. & Zahra, S. Heterogeneity in local entrepreneurship: The effect of knowledge flows and local absorptive capacity.
Paper being readied for submission. Project on Institutional Perspectives on Stock Options Backdating Scandal with Arik Lifschitz (under preparation).