How university drive agribusiness entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation? A knowledge orchestration perspective

Purpose This study aims to explore how university knowledge embedding enables agribusinesses to exploit entrepreneurial opportunities in resource-constrained environments. Specifically, it examines the dynamic transition from passive adaptation to proactive creation in firm-university interactions. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a case study methodology to analyze a university-agribusiness partnership in China’s saline-alkali region. The research follows a five-step process: case selection, multi-source data collection, a three-level coding procedure, longitudinal case analysis and theory model building. Findings This study reveals a two-phase entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation pathway driven by a “context-cognition-behavior-outcome” logic. The first is the passive adaptation phase: it features situated knowledge embedding, cognitive deconstruction and reactive knowledge recombination, resulting in vertically extended related opportunities. The second is the proactive creation phase: it features networked knowledge embedding, cognitive reconstruction and collaborative knowledge recombination, resulting in horizontally expanded related opportunities and the transition between phases is underpinned by a refined knowledge flow mechanism is “knowledge spillover-knowledge absorption-knowledge diffusion.” Originality/value This study offers a novel perspective on the social impact of university expertise, showing how scientific knowledge diffusion serves as a bridge between high-level research and indigenous poverty alleviation.