The potentially decisive role of time perspective in entrepreneurial alertness : theoretical propositions and model
Numerous articles in psychology show that the sum of the views individuals have of their past, present, and future (their time perspective) influences their cognitions and behaviors. We extend these findings to the field of entrepreneurship and suggest that time perspective can influence entrepreneurs’ alertness (TP acting as a potential determinant prior to alertness). We propose a theoretical framework to better understand the role time perspective can play in key aspects of entrepreneurship such as entrepreneurial alertness, i.e., the capacity for an entrepreneur to see opportunities missed by others. The main objective of our research contribution is to build theoretical propositions and a model interrelating time perspective according to Zimbardo and Boyd (1999) and entrepreneurial alertness according to Tang, Kacmar and Busenitz (2012). Linking both concepts constitutes the main contribution. A discussion, implications, limitations and directions for future research are also introduced.