A Prescriptive Analysis of Search and Discovery*

Abstract

abstractI develop a prescriptive model of entrepreneurial search and discovery, which operationalizes constrained, systematic search. This approach appears to be superior to the alertness perspective in both the number and the wealth-creating potential of the opportunities that it can assist entrepreneurs to discover. Essentially, this research shows how entrepreneurs can improve their search effectiveness by systematically restricting their searching to known domains, which I elaborate prescriptively. Finally, I discuss the implications of the approach for researchers, educators and entrepreneurs.