Entrepreneurial imagination: A pluralistic scoping review of a sprawling literature

Entrepreneurial imagination (EI) lies at the core of entrepreneurship research. Both early and contemporary scholars have emphasized its central role in visualizing and actualizing entrepreneurial opportunities, shaping decision-making, and enabling venture creation. Perhaps because of its salience and significance, EI has been approached from a wide range of definitional, philosophical, theoretical, and methodological perspectives, fostering a conceptually rich yet sprawling and fragmented body of work. Drawing on a scoping literature review of articles published in leading management and entrepreneurship journals, we synthesize the diverse constructs, processes, and conceptualizations associated with EI. We adopt a pluralistic approach, identifying eight distinct theoretical perspectives that have shaped scholars' understanding of EI over time. Rather than seeking to unify these perspectives into a single framework, we provide a multidimensional account of EI that captures its complexity and explore possibilities for cross-pollination as an agenda for future research. By putting complementary and sometimes contrasting perspectives into conversation, especially where they address similar concerns or compensate for each other's limitations, we aim to inspire novel combinations and spark new questions that can meaningfully advance scholarship on EI. • Establish entrepreneurial imagination (EI) as foundational yet conceptually fragmented in entrepreneurship research. • Conduct a scoping review of the literature to explore EI's diverse constructs, processes, and conceptualizations. • Embrace pluralism in order to recognize the ontological, epistemological, and methodological diversity in EI research. • Identify, develop and review eight distinct theoretical perspectives on EI (e.g., cognitive, linguistic, moral, aesthetic). • Explore opportunities for cross-pollination between perspectives to offer a new, thought-provoking agenda for EI research.