Entrepreneurial cognition and behavior in the discovery and creation of international opportunities

Opportunities ahve become central to the field of international entrepreneurship (IE), but empirical exploration of the concept and its processes is still in its infancy. Based on case studies of 12 internationalizing New Zealand businesses, this paper unpacks the opportunity construct and distinguishes between discovery, which in essence refers to cognitive dimensions of potential opportunities, and their actualizaton or creation through cognitive refinement and entrepeneurial action. Hence, it provides a distinctive way of navigating the discovery/creation debate, with its competing ontological positions. It also identifies the role of entrepreneurial imagination as a significant cognitive source of opportunity discovery alongside knowledge.