Misgivings about dismantling the opportunity construct

The concept of entrepreneurial opportunity has become a fundamental entity organizing entrepreneurship research. Recently, however, the validity of the construct has come into question with scholars noting definitional fragmentation as highly problematic and advocating for dismantling the construct in favor of replacement concepts. This paper articulates misgivings over this movement by identifying several stumbling blocks it creates for the future of entrepreneurship research. These realizations are followed by the notion that agreeing the construct is representationally valuable and accepting systematic variation in construct definition as a function of clarified conceptualizations of the process underpinning entrepreneurship is a more advantageous equilibrium state. Specific benefits associated with a move in this direction are identified.