Below is the title and abstract of an article which was published in the Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 61,
No. 6, page 2265 – 2295. Critically reflect on the abstract and answer the questions that follow.
Entrepreneurial Imaginativeness in New Venture Ideation
Alexander S. Kier and Jeffery S. McMullen
Abstract
Although theories of entrepreneurial action regularly acknowledge the importance of imagination, the ability is rarely defined
or measured, and thus effectively treated as uniform in degree and type. Using a creative problem-solving lens, we identify
and measure three different cognitive skills—creative, social, and practical imaginativeness—that vary across individuals.
Each skill combines the ability of imagination with the knowledge needed to mentally simulate various task-related
scenarios used in generating and selecting ideas for new value creation. We then conduct a quasi-experiment to examine
each skill’s relative effect on new venture ideation. We find that the three imaginativeness skills vary across individuals and
that they predict new venture idea quantity and quality differently over and above the effects of motivation, knowledge, and
experience. We conclude with implications for theory development in entrepreneurship and creative problem-solving.
2.1Elaborate on the motivation for this paper, highlighting the focus of inquiry (i.e. the broad question
of interest).
2.2Comment on the strategic relevance of Kier and McMullen’s (2018) findings and highlight TWO (2)ment on the strategic relevance of Kier and McMullen’s (2018) findings and highlight TWO (2)
key shortcomings of most quasi-experiments.