A dynamic model of the entrepreneurial process: a human agency perspective

This paper presents a dynamic model of the entrepreneurial process based on Weber and Schutz's theories of human agency. It argues that human agents make sense out of their everyday business lives. Their experiences are accumulated into a stock of knowledge that can be used to interpret incoming events, as well as problem-solving. If the incoming events are repeated and familiar, the entrepreneur can utilise the rule of thumb to solve problems without difficulties. If the incoming events are novel, the entrepreneur's interpretation framework may fail to give an adequate account of the new situation. Most entrepreneurs will devise new methods to solve new problems through trial and error. If the new strategy is tested to be feasible in the market, then it will be adopted and routinised as a rule of thumb. The whole entrepreneurial process is thus seen as a process in which the interpretation framework is corrected, adjusted and refined. This model is applied to understand the entrepreneurial process of a Taiwanese firm in mainland China.