Abstract:

The factors influencing how individuals identify business opportunities have become a familiar theme in the field of entrepreneurship research. Entrepreneurial opportunity recognition (EOR) research plays an important role in driving innovation and economic growth by understanding how individuals and businesses identify and achieve new opportunities for innovation and investment. This article presents an overview of the field of EOR research and its foundational theories. A systematic literature review is used in this study. Sixty most relevant articles were reviewed over a 10-year period from 2014 – 2024. Six themes were identified to influence EOR: prior knowledge, social capital, cognitive/personality traits, environmental factors, entrepreneurial alertness, and entrepreneurial orientation.

The study has substantial theoretical implications. For instance, findings reveal that opportunity recognition causes individuals to identify opportunities to innovate or improve new services or products, confirming the Opportunity Recognition Theory assertions. This process is influenced by cognitive processes, alertness, social networks, environment, previous knowledge and experience, and entrepreneurial thinking abilities.

This research has significant practical implications. The EOR by entrepreneurs can help them reduce the likelihood of business failure, which helps keep the economy at a reasonable inflation and unemployment rate. Successful entrepreneurs, guided by EOR factors, can reduce the risk of economic decline by investing in diverse sectors, such as technology, healthcare, education, and green energy. Governments could have policies that make it easier to set up a company or to file tax returns smoothly. In addition, employees should be trained in EOR elements by designing training programs and institutionalising networking and mentoring relationships.

This research's limitations are that it establishes six factors that impact business opportunity recognition, its scope is limited to the last ten years, and it reviews 60 articles. In future research, by extending the timeline and reviewing more articles, many other factors affecting EOR could be uncovered to provide a more holistic view, contributing to the growing field of research on EOR.

Keywords:

Entrepreneur, opportunity recognition, entrepreneurial opportunity.