This article appears in Vol. 49, Iss. 2, April 2011
Journal of Small Business Management
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-
627X.2011.00325.x/abstract
Defragmenting Definitions of Entrepreneurial Opportunity*
David J. Hansen, College of Charleston
Rodney Shrader, University of Illinois at Chicago
Javier Monllor, DePaul University
David J. Hansen is an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the College of Charleston. His
primary research focus examines the interface between entrepreneurial opportunity, product
innovation and creativity. He is particularly interested in the conception and development of
ideas into new products and businesses. He is also interested in researching in the context of
sustainable entrepreneurship.
Rodney Shrader is an associate professor of management and entrepreneurship at University of
Illinois at Chicago. His research on high-growth entrepreneurial ventures has focused primarily
on internationalization, acquisitions, biotechnology, and opportunity recognition.
Javier Monllor is an assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at DePaul
University in Chicago, Illinois. His research interests include social entrepreneurship,
opportunity recognition, creativity and entrepreneurial cognition.
* Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the 2007 and 2009 Babson College
Entrepreneurship Research Conference. We would like to thank the attendees of both
presentations for their helpful comments. We would also like to thank the two anonymous
reviewers and Denis Grégoire for their helpful comments.
Address correspondence to: David J. Hansen, Department of Management and Entrepreneurship,
College of Charleston, 5 Liberty Street, Charleston, SC 29401, USA. Tel: 843-953-6447; E-
Mail: HansenD@cofc.edu