창업자의 계획된 우연 경험 및 활용의 개인적, 사회적 맥락과 상호작용

The purpose of this study is to explore how entrepreneurship is a dynamic process that develops through the interplay of unpredictable environmental factors and the proactive responses of entrepreneurs, and to develop a theoretical model explaining this. To this end, this study introduced and applied ‘Planned Happenstance Theory’ to entrepreneurship research, analyzing the interaction and developmental, dynamic context of personal factors/characteristics and social/environmental factors that complexly influence entrepreneurial success. The research method employed systematic grounded theory, with data collected and analyzed through in-depth interviews with 10 entrepreneurs possessing multi-year entrepreneurial experience. The results confirmed that entrepreneurial success is a complex, expansive structure where personal (attitudes, opportunity recognition), organizational (strategy, resources), and social (policy, institutions, networks) factors organically interact. Crucially, it was established that entrepreneurs are not passive beneficiaries of fortunate opportunities but active agents who drive success through proactive capabilities and efforts to capture, strategically utilize, and organize fortuitous opportunities. Through these analyses, this study reinterprets entrepreneurship not as an individual challenge or a one-time event, but as a continuous process of change and adaptation. Consequently, it presents a new theoretical model capable of predicting entrepreneurial success. This study offers practical guidelines for entrepreneurs to maximize serendipitous opportunities and develop actionable strategies. Simultaneously, it provides systemic and policy implications for fostering a stable entrepreneurial ecosystem and ensuring the sustainability of entrepreneurial outcomes.