Opportunity related absorptive capacity and entrepreneurial alertness

Extending the conceptualization of absorptive capacity, we propose the concept of opportunity related absorptive capacity, defined as an entrepreneur’s absorptive capacity during the opportunity development phase. Alertness, as an entrepreneurial schema bridging internal knowledge-building activities with external opportunity-related knowledge, could be positively associated with opportunity related absorptive capacity. In this exploratory study based on a sample of 93 Swedish entrepreneurs who had at least one patent associated with their venture, alertness is positively associated with opportunity related absorptive capacity.