The Influence of Social Capital on Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition Behaviour

The role of micro, small and medium enterprises in a developing nation’s economy is indeed significant. An entrepreneur is the lifeline of small enterprises. Opportunity recognition is a central concept in Entrepreneurship literature. Though researchers have tried to explore the influencers of Opportunity Recognition Behaviour, there is no conclusive answer yet. The researchers are interested in understanding the extent of influence of social capital on Opportunity Recognition Behaviour in Indian environment. This study explores individually the three dimensions of social capital and its influence on the five components of Opportunity Recognition Behaviour of an entrepreneur. 117 Indian entrepreneurs of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which are engaged in Information Technology and Information Technology Enabled Services (IT ITES) and who are members of well known professional organisations, formal or informal business forums are studied to meet the research objectives. The results reveal that the structural dimension of social capital is most important in influencing knowledge acquisition behaviour of opportunity recognition