This research aimed to create more knowledge and understanding of the opportunity recognition process for sustainable entrepreneurs in Nordic countries. By validating the two factors proposed by Patzelt and Shepherd’s (2011) model, prior knowledge and motivation, and examining the role of new factors such as networks, co-founders’ knowledge, and regulations, the authors contributed to a better understanding of how sustainable opportunity recognition works in practice. The findings show that a combination of different types of prior knowledge and altruistic motivations towards the environment plays an essential part in this process. Moreover, networks are a crucial factor in providing entrepreneurs with access to new knowledge and information that can lead to higher changes in sustainable opportunity recognition. Besides adding the factor of networks, this study identified other important factors, such as co-founders’ knowledge and regulations. By considering these factors, it is possible to understand better the sustainable opportunity recognition process of entrepreneurs.

Despite significant research output in recent decades on international new ventures (INVs),little attention has been paid to understanding the processes and conditions under whichthe entrepreneur identifies and exploits an opportunity and subsequently creates valuewithin the firm. As a result, the dynamics involved in the role of the entrepreneur during theestablishment and internationalization of INVs remain in a black box. In order to understandthe context, interaction among players and other dynamics involved before, during, and afterthe establishment of the INV’s creation and development, a different approach is needed. Theaim of this dissertation is to describe and understand the role of entrepreneurs in the processof establishment and internationalization of international new ventures. Three longitudinal case studies were conducted between 1999 and 2008 with a total of 108interviews using snowball sampling. In addition, comprehensive secondary data have beencollected to enrich the empirical cases with thick descriptions, and to enhance content validityas well as the reliability of the research. This study offers a more nuanced picture of how entrepreneurs’ characteristics influencethe international development of their firms. For example, it appears that it was neitherthe previous foreign experience, the education, nor the previously developed internationalnetwork (as suggested by previous literature) that can be credited for the rapid and vastinternationalization of the case firms. Instead, it is suggested that an entrepreneur’schildhood and prior life story directly influences their behaviour in the INV. We proposethat different types of entrepreneurs are important factors to understanding firms’ differentinternationalization patterns. Depending on the backgrounds of the entrepreneurs, theydeveloped preferences, skills, and especially desires that would come to affect the totalbehaviour of their future organizations. This study also develops the notion of psychicdistance into three separate spaces - the physical, the mental and the social space. Forexample, the context and experience during childhood creates the foundations for theentrepreneurs’ mental and social space, which can separately, but also in relation toeach other, offer a more accurate and deeper understanding of the actions taken by theentrepreneurs in the INV. Furthermore, this study has shown that the role and characteristicsof the entrepreneur do change over time, which also determines the individual’s sensitivity toopportunities and the international behaviour of the company.

Studiens övergripande syfte är att öka förståelse och förutsättningarna för att studera affärsmöjligheter. Studien har bedrivits induktivt och utgår ifrån 48 stycken intervjuer med verksamhetsspecifika beslutsfattare inom upphandlingsprocessen. Beslutsfattarna är spridda över 11 svenska branscher. Resultatet visar på en stor variation med avseende på upphandlingsmängd för respondentverksamheterna, där en högsta upphandlingsmängd var 110 heltidsanställda konsulter per år och en minsta mängd var 0. Median mängden för de verksamheter som ingick i urvalsgruppen var 3 heltidsanställda konsulter per år. Vidare identifierades 10 stycken konkurrensprioriteringar för urvalsgruppen. 3 konkurrensprioriteringar var exklusiva för den grupp som tillämpade en centraliserad upphandlingsmodell och 3 var exklusiva för den grupp som tillämpade en decentraliserad upphandlingsmodell. Korrelationer mellan leverantörspreferenser med avseende på mängden aktivt bidragande leverantörer och upphandlingsmängder identifierades även. Studien har bidragit med en holistisk bilateral modell som beskriver affärsutbytet mellanen konsultverksamhet och en upphandlande verksamhet. Modellen underlättar vidare studier på så sätt att bakomliggande mekanismer för affärsmöjligheter blir lättare att studera rent systematiskt. Modellen som konstruerats kan användas som ramverk för att bedöma alternativa affärsutbyten. Genom att jämföra relativa värden och preferenser kan olika situationer bedömas för att avgöra vilket alternativ som innebär störst sannolikhet för god affärsmöjlighet. / The primary objective of the study is to increase the knowledge and conditions for studying business opportunities. The study has been conducted inductively and utilizes 48 interviews with firm specific decision-makers within the procurement process. The decision-makers are active in 11 swedish industries. The results show great variation with regards to the procurement volumes for the participating firms, where the largest volume is 110 full-time-equivalent consults per year and smallest is 0. The median value for the sample firms where 3 full-time-equivalent consults per year. 10 factors for driving competition where also identified for the sample group. 3 factors where exclusive to the firms that utilized a centralized procurement model and 3 factors where exclusive to the firms that utilized a decentralized procurement model. Correlations beteen preferences with regards to the amount of active suppliers and procurement volumes were also identified. This study has developed an holistic bilateral model, from the findings, that describes the business trade between a consultancy firm and a procuring firm.

創業之目的是突破現狀，追求創新，創業家必須擁有資源才能創新產品與服務，但他們卻因資源受限而有志難伸。新創企業如何以拼湊有限資源來翻轉劣勢，是隨創（bricolage）所提倡的主導做法。可是，拼湊資源是透過怎樣的時機，當今文獻卻討論有限，因此，時機辨識成為是當前亟需探索之重點。本研究選取三個原住民族新創企業個案，分析他們的經營歷程、挑戰與如何透過辨識時機進行資源拼湊。本研究發現，原住民族文化是重要的資源，這些在地資源成為識別機會、突破資源稀缺的服務創新關鍵。在學術意涵上，本研究提出三個議題。第一，辨識時機需要觀察資源轉換脈絡；第二，辨識時機需要設定資源使用情境；第三，辨識時機需找出資源調合方式。在實務啟示上，本研究提出辨識時機的各種可能，並歸納多樣的隨創原則。進行隨創時，若能掌握在地文化便可以找出適當時機，讓有限的資源拼湊出無限的創新。 / The objective of entrepreneurship is to seek breakthrough innovation within status quo. Entrepreneurs must obtain resources in order to innovate new products or services. But their aspirations often are frustrated due to resource constraints. The dominant approach to entrepreneurial bricolage is to advise new ventures to turnaround adversities by making-do with resources. But, when could entrepreneurs identify opportunity for tinkering limited resources? This is an inquiry worth further investigation. This research selects three case studies of indigenous start-ups while analyzes their entrepreneurial process and challenges within; and examines how they recognize opportunities in creative resource tinkering. This study found that indigenous culture is a kind of critical local resource, which may trigger opportunity recognition in order to guide resource making-do and achieve service innovation. Theoretically, this study suggests that (1) opportunity recognition must understand the context that is suitable for the transformation of resource quality; (2) opportunity recognition must pay attention to resource deployment in situ; (3) opportunity recognition should identify methods of resource blending. Practically, this study proposes several possibilities of opportunity recognition and summarizes a variety of bricolage principles. When engaging entrepreneurial bricolage, if we could get a grip with local culture, it increases our chance to identify the right moment and allow limited resources to enact unlimited innovation.

Bakgrund: År 2022 tog AI-tekniken ett betydande steg framåt i utvecklingen i form av generativ AI. Allmänheten tog a del av utvecklingen samma år som Chat GPT släpptes, vilket är en språkmodell som kan generera innehåll och svara på frågor inom olika ämnen. Bara två månader efter lanseringen hade Chat GPT uppnått historiskt tillväxt. En faktor som gör Chat GPT kraftfull och kompetent i att generera mänskliga och högkvalitativa svar på frågor är den omfattande data som används för att träna modellen. Den snabba tillväxten av AI:s förmågor förändrar entreprenörskapets praktik. Den ökade användningen av generativ AI har potential att revolutionera både hur och vilka möjligheter som identifieras. Framtidens entreprenörer står inför en betydande utmaning som handlar om att effektivt utnyttja AI:s potential, i form av nya möjligheter och produktivitetsförbättringar, samtidigt som de undviker risken att bli ersatta av AI.  Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur entreprenörers förmåga att identifiera möjligheter påverkas av AI. Detta för att bidra med bättre förståelse för till vilken nivå AI kan ersätta eller hjälpa entreprenörerna i sin roll. Genom att adressera denna fråga avser studien att bidra till en ökad förståelse för hur generativ AI kan forma det framtida landskapet för entreprenörer.  Metod: En kvalitativ metod har använts i form av en fallstudie bestående av två delar. I första delen av fallstudien deltog nio entreprenörer och i andra delen av fallstudien deltog tre investerare. I studien undersöks entreprenören tillsammans med AI, AI på egen hand och entreprenören på egen hand i att generera affärsidéer. Affärsidéerna bedöms av investerarna utifrån en skala 1–5 baserad på särskilda faktorer. Studien har ett interpretativ forskningsperspektiv och följer en abduktiv ansats.   Slutsats: Den slutsats som kan dras är att AI identifierar bäst möjligheter. Resultatet visar att AI genererar idéer med hög marknadspotential men behöver entreprenörens expertis för hög differentiering. Entreprenörer betraktar AI som ett värdefullt verktyg men upplever utmaningar i användningen vilket gör samarbetet ineffektivt, särskilt vid bristande teknisk förståelse. AI har förmågan ta över rollen som idégenererare och omdefiniera entreprenörens roll till utvärderare och implementatör av idéer, vilket ökar effektiviteten i processen att identifiera möjligheter. / Background: In 2022, AI technology took a significant step forward in its development. The development became public knowledge the same year Chat GPT was released, which is a tool with the ability to generate content and answer questions on various topics. Just two months after its launch, Chat GPT achieved historic growth. A factor that makes Chat GPT powerful and competent in generating human and high-quality responses is the large amount of data used to train the model. The rapid growth of AI's capabilities is changing the practice of entrepreneurship. The increased use of generative AI has the potential to revolutionize both how and which opportunities are identified. Entrepreneurs of the future face a significant challenge that involves effectively exploiting the potential of AI, in terms of new opportunities and productivity improvements, while avoiding the risk of being replaced by AI.  Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate how entrepreneurs' opportunity recognition is affected by AI. This, to contribute with a better understanding of the level to which AI can replace or help entrepreneurs in their role. By addressing this question, the study intends to contribute to an increased understanding of how generative AI can shape the future landscape for entrepreneurs.  Method: A qualitative method has been used in the form of a case study consisting of two parts. Nine entrepreneurs participated in the first part of the case study and three investors participated in the second part of the case study. The study examines the entrepreneur together with the AI, as well as AI and the entrepreneur on their own in their ability to generate business ideas. The business ideas were evaluated by the investors on a scale of 1-5 based on specific factors. The study has an interpretive research perspective and follows an abductive approach.  Conclusion: The conclusion that can be drawn is that AI identifies the best opportunities. The result shows that AI generates ideas with high market potential but needs entrepreneur's expertise to achieve high differentiation. Entrepreneurs view AI as a valuable tool but experience challenges in its use that makes their collaboration ineffective, especially in the absence of technical understanding. AI has the ability to take over the role as idea generator and redefine the role of entrepreneurs as an evaluator and implementer of ideas, this will increase the efficiency of the opportunity recognition process.

This dissertation presents a multilevel model of national-level factors and their impact on the organizational-level characteristics of social enterprises and their innovations. This study builds on the foundations of two theoretical frameworks: the national systems of innovation, which recognizes economic competitiveness to be a product of several interrelated institutions (e.g. financial, educational, cultural, historical) and where organizational-level innovation drives country level competitiveness; and the comparative social enterprise framework, which contends that national-level institutions (e.g., economic competitiveness, models of civil society) drive the size and shape of the social enterprise sector of a country. Data for this study were collected from multiple secondary global datasets representing 54 countries across seven world regions. Research questions and hypotheses are examined using ordinal and logistic hierarchical generalized linear modeling, two analytical techniques capable of explaining variation at one level (i.e., organizations) as a consequence of factors at another level of analysis (i.e., countries) for non-normally distributed dependent variables. Findings indicate that economic competitiveness, welfare spending, culture and quality of life significantly impact the odds of a business being a social enterprise. Fewer significant relationships were found social enterprise innovations. Conclusions and policy implications are discussed in light of data limitations and the current state of the field.