investigation on the affective factors in opportunity recognition: it industry

in recent years, entrepreneurship in it industry has been viewed as a prime factor of economic development. since opportunity recognition is a critical step in entrepreneurship, identification of effectual factors in opportunity recognition is of great significance. the main objective of this study is to examine the effects of individual and social factors in opportunity recognition in it industry. in this research, eight hypotheses were presented and the effects of independent variables (prior knowledge, self-efficacy, systematic search, weak ties, strong ties, mentors and information flow) on dependent variables (opportunity recognition) were tested. the statistical population and sample include 230 and 142 entrepreneurs respectively in it industry in the city of tehran. the data collection instrument was questionnaire and research method was descriptive and correlational research. cronbachs alpha and content were made to test reliability and validity. the results indicated that independent variables  (like knowledge, self-efficacy and mentors) had direct positive  effects on opportunity recognition but other variables did not have any effect on opportunity recognition. by comparing relative influence of strong and weak ties on opportunity recognition, weak ties will be more positively associated with opportunity recognition than strong forms.