The aim of the research was to increase the understanding of how the entrepreneur’s process of creativity began and evolved by determining how ideas and opportunities were discovered, recognised and harnessed prior to the advent of entrepreneurship. There appeared to be a shortage of appropriate research studies into the entrepreneur’s creative processes, describing how it began and evolved over time. There also appeared to be few studies that attempted to describe how entrepreneurs discovered their ideas, harnessed them, and converted them into opportunities. It would seem that the majority of the empirical research studies on the subject have focused upon managers and founders of companies compared to studies involving nascent entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs. The objective of the research study was to provide a new synthesis of the research literature in order to create a framework that described the key cognitive processes and personal attributes that were involved in the entrepreneurs’ search and evolution of their ideas. The content and elements of the framework were then compared with the context of the entrepreneurs’ personal histories in order that generic themes could be identified. After a period of one year, further interviews were held with the entrepreneurs in order to monitor any changes to the processes involved. The research began with a review of existing literature relating to the entrepreneur and entrepreneurship. A selective review of the historical research literature on the entrepreneur was followed by an appraisal of some of the entrepreneurs’ attitudes and behaviour patterns. This provided a thumbnail sketch of each entrepreneur, his or her origins, and what he or she did. This was followed by a description of what might be construed as a typical nascent entrepreneur. This description detailed the process from the ‘learning phase’ to the ‘triggering event’ that caused such a dramatic change in his or her career path, i.e. the critical incident that set off a mental chain reaction within the nascent entrepreneur that led to the establishment of his or her entrepreneurial intentions. A review of the research literature concerning the focal theory of the research objectives led to an in-depth appraisal of what is meant by ‘creativity’ and ‘cognitive processes’. The difficulties of researching such subjective actions are shared by previous research literature. The creative variables were then brought together in a number of phases contained in the discovery and evolution processes. The process was then followed through the discovery phase, stressing the importance of the prepared mind to the birth of the idea. The various thinking and analytical processes involved in the evolution of an idea into an opportunity were discussed in the context of an entrepreneur’s core attributes and beliefs. The focal theory review concluded with a framework of the elements appertaining to the research objectives that had been derived from the research literature. The structure and elements of the framework were then compared with the relevant data from the field research study. A number of research questions arose from the key issues raised in the research literature. These concerned, having a prepared mind, happenstance, intuition, self-belief, values, visualisation and goal setting. The sample of the population chosen for the research study comprised fifty Scottish entrepreneurs of both sexes and varying sizes of company, ages of business, turnover and number of employees. The companies with whom entrepreneurs were involved covered various industries and activities. Following the guidance obtained from the research literature, in-depth interviews were carried out. A number of the entrepreneurs interviewed were subjected to a follow-up meeting after one year, in order to monitor any further developments and changes to the themes identified from the first interviews, and to provide the research with a further means of validation. An opportunity was taken at the meeting to share with the entrepreneurs the preliminary findings arising from the previous interviews. The interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed, and data was computerised. The data was then subjected to content analysis, as was the secondary information obtained from publications, newspaper articles and other case studies. The research findings identified many generic themes among the entrepreneurs, particularly in the area described as the discovery and evolution phases of the creative process. A high percentage of entrepreneurs also had beliefs and attitudes that were similar to their business philosophy. The findings supported a number of theories that have been outlined previously in the research literature, as well as confirming many of the traits, characteristics and behaviours attributed to being entrepreneurial. The findings of the research confirmed that many of the entrepreneurial ideas occurred serendipitously, and the use of visualisation and rehearsal techniques was considered by many to be invaluable in the creative process. Goal setting also appeared to provide essential stepping stones to the monitoring and attainment of many successful outcomes, particularly in the evolution stage. The structure and elements of the framework of the process of creation appeared to be well supported by the majority of the entrepreneurs interviewed. Recommendations are made as to how the adoption of some of the research findings could assist in the encouragement and advancement of an enterprise learning culture, and the establishment of a ‘can-do’ attitude towards enterprise creation.

Serendipity is a popular word that captures a rich phenomenon with potentially far-reaching implications from a personal to global level. Serendipity is associated with revelations, discoveries, life events, and innovations, both big and small, and the lack of consensus on its definition reflects this breadth of meaning. Serendipity is defined in this research as an unexpected experience prompted by an individual’s valuable interaction with ideas, information, objects, or phenomena. While efforts are being made to facilitate serendipity in digital environments (e.g., websites, databases, search engines), we know very little about the complex interaction between the individual and the environment and what actually facilitates serendipity. In three phases, this thesis investigated how individual differences and environmental factors influence work-related serendipity and how serendipity may be facilitated in digital environments. Phase 1 explored serendipity through semi-structured interviews with 12 professionals and scholars. Based on findings from Phase 1, in Phase 2 a serendipitous digital environment scale to measure how well a digital environment supports serendipity was developed, assessed, and honed though an expert review by eight researchers and a web-based survey of 107 university students. Phase 3 employed a web-based survey of 289 professionals and scholars. Through exploratory factor analysis, the serendipitous digital environment scale was refined and assessed. Using multivariate analyses, relationships were explored between serendipity, the underlying factors of the serendipitous digital environment scale, type of digital environment, creative environment perceptions, locus of control, extraversion, and openness to experience. My research found that the type of digital environment influences the frequency of serendipity, which in turn shares a relationship with three factors of the serendipitous digital environment scale – enables connections, trigger-rich, and leads to the unexpected. Furthermore, results indicate that individuals’ level of extraversion influences perceptions of serendipity in general. This research contributes to our knowledge of information seeking and use through findings that confirm and augment previous models of serendipity through the identification of what influences serendipity. This research also underscores the potential to design for serendipity in digital environments and provides a tool for developers to assess the serendipitous nature of their systems.

This thesis investigates the role of serendipity, effectuation, and entrepreneurial marketing in fast-growth entrepreneurial firms. Using a qualitative paradigm, multiple case studies and cross-country approaches, the study aims to explore the interrelationships among these constructs and answer the main research question relating to their contribution to fast growth. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty fast-growth firms in New Zealand and Iran from a range of sectors, and causal mapping method was used to map out the growth trajectory of each firm. Causal maps enable the researcher to find in what manner the firms achieved fast growth and what factors contributed to their growth. The results suggest that serendipity is a precursor to fast growth and occurs generally at the start of a growth process. Serendipity is likely to take place at any stage of a firm life cycle, but more likely at the early stage of formation, alongside networks, pure luck, perseverance, environment and high-quality products and services. In addition to reviewing the three patterns of serendipity that are well-known in accidental scientific discoveries, we identify and introduce “Entrepreneurial Serendipity” as another distinctive pattern in entrepreneurship, whereby entrepreneurs look for any opportunity to start a business and explore an appropriate opportunity that comes along. Further analyses illustrate that entrepreneurs believe in the occurrence of serendipity in their day-to-day business; however, it indirectly contributes to fast growth mediated by two important elements: effectual thinking and entrepreneurial marketing. The causal maps demonstrate that the combination of effectuation and entrepreneurial marketing directly and indirectly lead to fast growth. A majority of fast-growth firms start business effectuatively, often with limited resources and relying on whatever available means they possess, but over time, they shift to causation logic with more planning and strategic decisions. Starting from an effectuation base, the participants had an entrepreneurial mindset at the outset and used specific tactics, such as an adapted marketing mix, relying on networks, innovation, ensuring a presence in the market, pro-activeness, and market intelligence through personal observation. These entrepreneurial marketing practices have led to fast growth and were widely employed by entrepreneurs, irrespective of firm size and age. The thesis sheds some light on how fast-growth firms achieve considerable growth by looking at the relationship of serendipitous opportunity exploration and effectuative exploitation using entrepreneurial marketing. It contributes to the literature on serendipity and its development in entrepreneurship, and identifies serendipitous sources of opportunity in fast growing firms. The study confirms that effectuation logic and entrepreneurial marketing are instruments by which entrepreneurs exploit new opportunities and market products or services. Entrepreneurs from both New Zealand and Iran share similar growth trajectories, however, some Iranian entrepreneurs believe that spiritual values are important in exploring new opportunities and achieving fast growth. Finally, the study confirms that growth may start with a serendipitous exploration and continues with effectuation logic and entrepreneurial marketing.

En fonction des connexions entre utilisateurs de ces réseaux, certains contenus peuvent bénéficier d’une large audience et tout d’un coup se transformer en tendance. Comprendre comment du contenu peut se transformer en tendance est donc crucial pour pouvoir expliquer la propagation des opinions ainsi que pour établir des stratégies de marketing sociale. Les précédentes études se sont concentrées sur les caractéristiques du contenu pouvant se transformer en tendance et sur la structure du réseau d’individus dans les médias sociaux. Ce travail complète ces études en explorant les facteurs humains derrières la génération du contenu tendance. Nous nous appuyons sur cette analyse pour définir de nouveaux outils de personnalisation permettant aux individus de repérer le contenu qui les intéresse dans les médias sociaux. Les contributions de ce travail sont les suivantes:une analyse approfondie des individus créant du contenu tendance dans les médias sociaux ce qui permet de découvrir leurs caractéristiques distinctives; un nouveau moyen d’identifier le contenu tendance en s’appuyant sur la capacité des individus spéciaux qui le créent; un mécanisme d’élaboration de système de recommandation afin de personnaliser le contenu tendance.; et des techniques d’amélioration de la qualité des recommandations allant au-delà de la seule évaluation de la précision. Nos études montrent le rôle vital de certains utilisateurs spéciaux dans la création de contenu tendance dans les médias sociaux. Ces utilisateurs avec leur sagesse permettent aux autres individus de découvrir du contenu tendance à leur goût. / Fluctuating along user connections, some content succeeds at capturing the attention of a large amount of users and suddenly becomes trending. Understanding trending content and its dynamics is crucial to the explanation of opinion spreading, and to the design of social marketing strategies. While previous research has mostly focused on trending content and on the network structure of individuals in social media, this work complements these studies by exploring in depth the human factors behind the generation of this content. We build upon this analysis to investigate new personalization tools helping individuals to discover interesting social media content. This work contributes to the literature on the following aspects: an in depth analysis on individuals who create trending content in social media that uncovers their distinguishing characteristics; a novel means to identify trending content by relying on the ability of special individuals who create them; a mechanism to build a recommender system to personalize trending content; and techniques to improve the quality of recommendations beyond the core theme of accuracy. Our studies underline the vital role of special users in the creation of trending content in social media. Thanks to such special users and their ``wisdom'', individuals may discover the trending content distilled to their tastes. Our work brings insights in two main research directions - trending content in social media and recommender systems.

Giving up a certain amount of control can be healthy, productive, and natural. Nature has an important part to play in our lives, and nature is random even as it obeys natural laws. In the same way, creating ceramic objects requires obedience to the laws of nature even as it benefits from freedom from control. Creation requires a certain amount of letting go of control, allowing nature to take its course, and recognizing when good things happen. I have learned that my most successful pieces emerge when I combine conscious control with serendipity. The work in this show reflects that symbiotic, natural relationship between control and serendipity, and it grew out of my struggles with unrealized expectations. I tend to be a problem solver, sometimes obsessively, and as I've worked through various surprises, challenges, disappointments, and disillusions, I've come to realize that I have little control over life's situations. I have learned to rely on the tender mercy of a greater designer and to value the less-than perfect; those lessons have influenced my ceramic art.

This research study is conducted to test Workman, Fiszman, Rindflesch and Nahl's information flow-serendipitous knowledge discovery (IF-SKD) model of information behavior, in a clinical care context. To date, there have been few attempts to model the serendipitous knowledge discovery of physicians. Due to the growth and complexity of the biomedical literature, as well as the increasingly specialized nature of medicine, there is a need for advanced systems that can quickly present information and assist physicians to discover new knowledge. The National Library of Medicine's (NLM) Lister Hill Center for Biocommunication's Semantic MEDLINE project is focused on identifying and visualizing semantic relationships in the biomedical literature to support knowledge discovery. This project led to the development of a new information discovery system, Spark. The aim of Spark is to promote serendipitous knowledge discovery by assisting users in maximizing the use of their conceptual short-term memory to iteratively search for, engage, clarify and evaluate information presented from the biomedical literature. Using Spark, this study analyzes the IF- SKD model by capturing and analyzing physician feedback. The McCay-Peet, Toms and Kelloway's Perception of Serendipity and Serendipitous Digital Environment (SDE) questionnaires are used. Results are evaluated to determine whether Spark contributes to physicians' serendipitous knowledge discovery and the ability of the IF-SKD ability to capture physicians' information behavior in a clinical setting.

Serendipity innebär ett överraskande, lyckligt utfall som introducerar en ny upptäckt av värde för användaren. Till skillnad från dagens algoritmer, som ofta enbart ger rekommendationer baserat på relevans, innefattar design för serendipity fler komponenter för att göra innehåll på sociala medier intressant för användaren. Serendipity beskrivs därför i flera studier som ett lovande sätt för att öka chansen att användare tar del av innehållet. I dagens sociala medier introduceras allt kraftfullare algoritmer för att personalisera innehåll. Detta kan medföra att användaren inte ser tillräckligt varierad information, och riskerar att få en dålig förståelse om varierande åsikter. För att förebygga detta ämnar studien undersöka hur design för serendipity kan användas för att öka användares bredd av exponering av innehåll, även kallat exponeringsvariation. Baserat på den identifierade litteraturen gällande serendipity formulerades tre designförslag, vilka sedan designades in i en prototyp. Designförslagen berör behovet av ett varierat innehåll genom användningen av existerande sociala kontaktnät som kan användas för att uppnå detta, behovet av ett upplevt värde för användaren och användarens behov av kontroll. Då tidigare studier gällande serendipity har identifierat en brist på utvärderingar med användare skapades en prototyp över ett alternativt informationsflöde på Facebook. Informationsflödet har konstruerats i syfte att exponera användarna för nytt och oväntat innehåll och skapa förutsättningarna för att serendipity ska uppstå. Informationsflödet har sedan utvärderats med användare och visar att de upplevt variationen som positiv samt en känsla av kontroll kopplat till större valfrihet. Användningen av designförslagen har således visat hur de kan främja användares exponeringsvariation och även möjliggör för serendipity att inträffa. / Serendipity means a surprising, happy outcome that introduces a new discovery of value for the user. Unlike today's algorithms, which often only provide recommendations based on relevance, serendipity design includes more components to make social media content interesting to the user. Serendipity is therefore described in several studies as a promising way to increase the chance that users take part in the content. Today's social media introduces increasingly powerful algorithms for personalizing content. This can result in users not seeing sufficiently diverse information, and a risk of gaining a poor understanding of varying opinions. To prevent this, we intend to investigate how design for serendipity can be used to increase users' breadth of content exposure, also called diversity exposure. Based on the identified literature regarding serendipity, three design proposals were formulated, which were then designed into a prototype. The design proposals concern the need for a diverse content through the use of the users existing social networking contacts that can be used to achieve this, the need for a perceived value for the user and the user's need for control. As previous studies regarding serendipity have identified a lack of evaluations with users, a prototype was created of an alternative information feed on Facebook. The feed has been designed with the aim of exposing users to novel and unexpected content and creating the conditions for serendipity to arise. The information feed has since been evaluated with users and shows that they have experienced the variation as positive and a sense of control linked to greater freedom of choice. The use of the design proposals has thus shown how they can promote users' diversity exposure and also enable serendipity to occur.

The purpose of this study is to examine if digital public libraries are serendipitous environments. Serendipity in this instance is defined as finding something unexpected and valuable, while searching for something else. A survey was conducted at two Swedish digital public libraries, where the patrons were asked to fill in a questionnaire online. The questions were based on the work on serendipitous digital environments by Lori McCay-Peet, as well as considerations of human factors that could possibly influence serendipity. The result indicate that a majority of patrons experience serendipity at the digital library, although it’s still more common to do so at the physical library or on other web sites. The result also confirms the importance of taking human factors into account when studying serendipity. The patrons who said they didn’t experience serendipity at the physical library or on other web sites, didn’t experience it at the digital library either – or at least only partially. However, the patrons who didn’t experience serendipity at the digital library still did so in other environments. A digital library is an environment with many possibilities for serendipitous encounters and discoveries, but what is missing is a better understanding of how serendipity can actually help in finding information. By teaching patrons to actively seek out serendipity, and by offering a serendipitous digital environment in which to do so, the library can further information literacy in our society.

Abstract Background: Hybrid work arrangements are today a common feature in many modern business models. As less time is spent at a common office, they constitute a potential threat in terms of reduced social barometers necessary for creativity and serendipity to occur.  Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how organizations can maintain and nurture creativity in the context of a hybrid workplace, as well as the occurrence of serendipitous encounters.   Method: Semi-structured interviews with seven participants from well-established organizations who are all working under hybrid work arrangement. A qualitative approach was carried out utilizing an inductive approach, followed by a thematic analysis of the primary data.  Conclusion: The findings suggest several significant factors impacting creativity and serendipity in the hybrid workplace. The study concluded the factors simultaneously supportive of both creativity and serendipity to be the most effective areas to pursue in order to surmount the social deficiencies posed by hybrid work. The results further highlight building awareness around the concept of serendipity as a prerequisite to truly leveraging on its potential and mobilizing it to further areas of operation.

It is a challenging task for interaction designers to find a way to design a digital artefact supporting serendipitous discovery. Its interdisciplinary nature requires sufficient knowledge of information visualization, social navigation and serendipity. Based on literature review and prior relevant works, several traces having potential to aid such exploration were defined. Through creating and testing AniMap, an interactive graph visualization for discovering new anime clips, in this thesis I argue that such an artefact has the potential to support serendipitous discovery, owing to its features of being information visualization, interactive and in a graph layout, coupled with users’ personal interests. Even so, finding details of how to influence serendipitous discovery remain an ongoing challenge considering the dynamic nature of serendipity.