Defining, measuring and assessing entrepreneurial capacity: a review of selected literatures

This paper outlines the literature review in a project that aims to define the entrepreneurial capacity of a firm. That is, the capacity of that firm to envisage, plan and execute an innovation transformation process resulting in a sustainable value-creating outcome. The importance of innovation has gained widespread acceptance. The benefits are well documented in the literature. Firms are being forced to innovate to stay ahead of competition and innovative start-ups, especially in industries with short development times such as IT&T. Innovation also provides economic benefits to shareholders and helps create jobs and wealth for the nation in which the firm is based. This paper is concerns a literature review which is part of a large research project directed toward a PhD. The objective of this paper is to: 1. Conduct a literature review of the topic of entrepreneurial capacity at firm level and related areas; 2. Establish the essential elements describing Entrepreneurial Capacity of/within a firm; 3. Establish if a commonly accepted framework for describing entrepreneurial capacity exists, and; 4. Pave the way for future research to operationalise this model in order to create a predictive instrument.