Defining contextual advantage: exploring the contextual relation between effectuation and entrepreneurial marketing for creating new markets effectually

The paper explores the behaviour of the Entrepreneur and the Effectual use of available resources mainly social capital in new market creation. The study dwells on creating a unique ‘Context’ by leveraging these resources to increase the Entrepreneurial orientation of a firm. The paper further attempts to explore whether the Contextual link between Effectuation and Entrepreneurial Marketing helps develop a ‘Contextual Advantage’, which can be used as a mean of developing a unique business model which differentiates the firm in the market. The paper hence explores contemporary theories of Entrepreneurship and Marketing namely Entrepreneurial Marketing, Effectuation and Contextual Marketing by studying their inter-relation. The nature of these theories is under-explored according to the authors and requires further investigation to evolve the field of Marketing and Entrepreneurship.N/

Antecedents and consequences of effectuation and causation in the international new venture creation process

The selection of the entry mode in an international market is of key importance for the venture. A process-based perspective on entry mode selection can add to the International Business and International Entrepreneurship literature. Framing the international market entry as an entrepreneurial process, this paper analyzes the antecedents and consequences of causation and effectuation in the entry mode selection. For the analysis, regression-based techniques were used on a sample of 65 gazelles. The results indicate that experienced entrepreneurs tend to apply effectuation rather than causation, while uncertainty does not have a systematic influence. Entrepreneurs using causation-based international new venture creation processes tend to engage in export-type entry modes, while effectuation-based international new venture creation processes do not predetermine the entry mod

Growth trajectories of the established companies : effectuation and causation in focus

Business growth is one of the key topics of today’s entrepreneurship research. The majority of the publications related to the growth entrepreneurship focus on exploring growth among new companies, and the public economic debate targets high expectations for growth entrepreneurship by new companies and startups. Established companies are generating growth, but their potential seems marginalized in an economical discussion. It is important to consider both new and established companies when expecting new growth from companies. The main objective of this research is to enhance our understanding of the determinants that cause a growth surge among established companies after some years of consolidation. Are these companies adapting to the situation and responding to the demands of the market with their resources (effectuation), or do they follow previously determined plans and proceed toward set goals (causation). The findings indicate the usage of both effectuation and causation logics, between which effectuation appears the dominant approach. This dissertation contributes by building a model showing that causation and Chandler’s (2011) dimensions of effectuation do have an impact on firm-level innovativeness and ultimately business growth. The developed model shows that interaction between flexibility and growth is positive and significant. This study strengthens the recent findings that effectuation and causation can work simultaneously in the same company. Moreover, the results show that effectuation research has moved on from the nascent to an intermediate stage of development, and has already taken the first steps toward the mature stage, where a growing number of scholars are currently engaging in quantitative field research to study the phenomenon in its real environment.Kasvuyrittäjyys on noussut viime vuosina yrittäjyystutkimuksen yhdeksi tärkeimmäksi osa-alueeksi. Valtaosa kasvuyrittäjyyteen liittyvistä julkaisuista keskittyy uusien ja aloittavien yritysten kasvun tutkimiseen, myös julkinen keskustelu lataa kovia kasvuodotuksia nimenomaan uusille yrityksille ja startupeille. Vakiintuneet yrityksetkin tuottavat kasvua, mutta niiden potentiaali pääsee usein unohtumaan talouskeskustelussa. Tämän tutkimuksen päätavoite on lisätä ymmärrystä tekijöistä, joiden seurauksena vakiintuneet yritykset lähtevät kasvu-uralle tasaisen kehitysvaiheen jälkeen. Tarkennettuna, tapahtuuko kasvupyrähdys toimimalla tilanteen ja kysynnän mukaisesti ja vastaamalla markkinoiden vaatimuksiin olemassa olevilla resursseilla, vai onko kasvu pikemminkin seurausta tehtyjen strategisten suunnitelmien noudattamisesta. Tulokset osoittavat sekä tilanteen mukaisen toiminnan logiikan toteuttamisen että strategian noudattamisen vaikuttavan näiden yritysten kasvuun. Hallitsevana logiikkana tutkituissa pk-yrityksissä näyttäisi esiintyvän tilanteen mukainen toiminta. Tämän väitöskirjan osuus tieteelliseen keskusteluun on rakennettu malli, joka osoittaa, että strategian noudattaminen ja joustavuus vaikuttavat yrityksen innovaatiotoimintaan ja sen myötä liiketoiminnan kasvuun. Toinen kehitetty malli osoittaa, että joustavuuden ja yrityskasvun välinen vuorovaikutus on myönteinen ja merkittävä. Tämä tutkimus vahvistaa viimeaikaisia havaintoja siitä, että tilanteen mukainen toiminta ja suunnitelmallisuus voivat toimia samanaikaisesti samassa yrityksessä. Lisäksi tulokset osoittavat, että tilanteen mukaisen toiminnan (effectuation) tutkimus on tutkimussuuntauksena siirtynyt alkukehitysvaiheesta välivaiheeseen ja ottanut jo ensimmäiset askeleet kohti kypsää tutkimusvaihetta, jossa tutkimukselle ominaisia tunnustekijöitä ovat kvantitatiiviset tutkitusmenetelmät ja ilmiön tutkiminen todellisessa tapahtumaympäristössä.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Creating New Ventures: A review and research agenda

Creating new ventures is one of the most central topics to entrepreneurship and is a critical step from which many theories of management, organizational behavior, and strategic management build. Therefore, this review and proposed research agenda is not only relevant to entrepreneurship scholars but also other management scholars who wish to challenge some of the implicit assumptions of their current streams of research and extend the boundaries of their current theories to earlier in the organization’s life. Given that the last systematic review of the topic was published 16 years ago, and that the topic has evolved rapidly over this time, an overview and research outlook are long overdue. From our review, we inductively generated ten sub-topics: (1) Lead founder, (2) Founding team, (3) Social relationships, (4) Cognitions, (5) Emergent organizing, (6) New venture strategy, (7) Organizational emergence, (8) New venture legitimacy, (9) Founder exit, and (10) Entrepreneurial environment. These sub-topics are then organized into three major stages of the entrepreneurial process—co-creating, organizing, and performing. Together, the framework provides a cohesive story of the past and a road map for future research on creating new ventures, focusing on the links connecting these sub-topics

Get it together! Synergistic effects of causal and effectual decision-making logics on venture performance

Entrepreneurs rely on different decision-making logics when starting new ventures, including causal and effectual reasoning. Extant research suggests that venture performance is positively associated with both causal business planning and effectual action-orientation, but studies have not yet tested the synergistic potential of these two logics. We contribute to the debate on entrepreneurial decision making by exploring the interrelationship between causation and effectuation, detailing their main and interactive effects on venture performance. Using survey data collected on 1,453 entrepreneurs residing in 25 countries, we find that ventures benefit from using these two entrepreneurial logics in tandem

Decision-making moon-bridge : SMEs’ usage of causation and effectuation perpetually in motion

The importance of new ventures and SMEs to the economy has been at the forefront of decision-making logic research. The growth and diversity of nascent effectuation have been reported in the literature, without forgetting the effects of the traditional causal approach. Despite the general popularity of the topic, literature on the role of decision-making logic in innovation, internationalization and business relationships is rather limited. To address this gap, this paper draws on causation and effectuation theories to develop: (1) a model that describes; (1a) the interconnectedness of the decision-making logics, (1b) matters that determine the prevailing logic, (1c) focus phenomena affected by decision-making logics, and (1d) how decision-making logic influences companies' reactions to opportunities and obstacles. (2) a concept that will assist entrepreneurs in their decision-making related considerations. The results are based on an abductive multi-case study on six Finnish energy technology firms, three of which are start-ups and three are solidly established SMEs. The main data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and observations within a time period of three years. The data indicate that these two logics are not opposites and most decisions contain at least the seeds of both logics. Actually, the findings confirm that the use of absolute causation or effectuation logic is negligible, and the usage of logics are intertwined and constantly changing. The contribution is a view of the decision-maker's role, the effects of the operational context and the subject matter topic on the definition of the prevailing decision-making logic and its effects.Uusien yritysten ja pk-yritysten tärkeys taloudelle on ollut päätöksentekologiikan tutkimuksen kärjessä. Suhteellisen uuden toimintateorian (effectuation) vahvistumista ja monimuotoisuutta on kirjallisuudessa laajalti raportoitu, unohtamatta perinteisen kausaalisen (causation) lähestymistavan vaikutuksia päätöksen¬tekoon. Kuitenkin, huolimatta aiheen yleisestä suosiosta tutkimukset päätöksentekologiikan roolista innovaatioissa, kansainvälistymisessä ja liikesuhteissa on varsin rajallista. Tämän puutteen korjaamiseksi tämä tutkimus hyödyntää ”causation” ja ”effectuation” -teorioita kehittääkseen (1) mallin, joka kuvaa; (1a) päätöksentekologiikkojen keskinäistä yhteyttä, (1b) tekijöitä, jotka määrittävät vallitsevan logiikan (1c) fokusilmiöitä, joihin päätöksentekologiikat vaikuttavat ja (1d) miten päätöksentekologiikka vaikuttaa yritysten reaktioihin mahdollisuuksiin ja esteisiin. Lisäksi tutkimus hyödyntää näitä teorioita kehittääkseen (2) konseptin, joka auttaa yrittäjiä heidän päätösten tekoon liittyvissä pohdinnoissa. Tulokset perustuvat abduktiiviseen monitapaustutkimukseen kuudessa suomalaisessa energiateknologia-alan yrityksessä, joista kolme on startup-yrityksiä ja kolme vakiintuneita pk-yrityksiä. Merkityksellisin tutkimusdata kerättiin puolistrukturoiduilla haastatteluilla ja havainnoilla kolmen vuoden seurantajakson aikana. Tulokset osoittavat, että nämä kaksi logiikkaa eivät ole toistensa vastakohtia ja useimmat päätökset sisältävät molemmista logiikoista ainakin ituja. Itse asiassa havainnot vahvistavat, että absoluuttisen ”causation” tai ”effectuation” -logiikan käyttö on vähäistä ja toisiinsa kietoutuneiden logiikkojen käyttö on jatkuvassa muutoksessa. Tutkimuksen tuotos on selvä näkemys päätöksentekijän roolista sekä ympäristön, kontekstin ja itse aiheen vaikutuksista vallitsevaan päätöksentekologiikan ja näiden vaikutusten seurauksiin.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Fitting entrepreneurial, firm-level and environmental contingencies for better performance: A study into the complex world of entrepreneurship within Belgium

International audienceThis book reports the outcomes of a BELSPO (the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office) research project. The authors develop and estimate (parts of) a comprehensive model in which the micro-performance of SMEs is determined by a complex web of factors. These are situated at the level of the entrepreneur, organization and environment. In this modeling, a fit between individual, strategy, structure and environment is key to attain better performance in terms of, for example, efficiency or profitability. Strategy is assumed to be the linking pin between the entrepreneur’s (or his or her venture’s) strengths and weaknesses, and the opportunities and threats in the environment. In line with this contingency approach, the authors utilize a multi-disciplinary theoretical lens in combination with analysis techniques that allow for the identification of fits (and misfits), such as the analysis of conditional processes or dynamic multi-level QCA fit analysis

ENTREPRENEURIAL PROCESS ORIENTATION: A CHOICE OF THREE THEORIES

While entrepreneurship has gained in prevalence among universities in recent years (Singer, 2015), many individuals stay out of the arena due to beliefs of their match to necessary entrepreneurial behaviors, as well as lack of outside acceptance as an entrepreneur. The popular view on which behaviors are required for success in entrepreneurship, however, may be incomplete and even misleading. To address this concern, I introduced the new construct of entrepreneurial process orientation (EPO) and studied how this construct, while it possesses the potential to encompass several facets of personality, could be initially explored using variables from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics. Evidence supported that by ensuring proper fit between EPO and founding behaviors undertaken in venture formation, a firm could increase their odds of earning profit within an extraordinarily rare 12-month timeframe

Entrepreneurship Growth During a Recessionary Period

Small business entrepreneurs in the United States often struggled or went out of business during the recession of 2007-2009. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the strategies entrepreneurs needed to grow their businesses during a recessionary period. The conceptual framework for the study was effectuation theory. The population consisted of small business entrepreneurs whose businesses survived the recession of 2007-2009 in Atlanta, Georgia. Data were gathered through semistructured interviews with 20 participants. Data organization and thematic analysis involved coding interview data and using software to categorize themes and subthemes. Major themes that emerged from the study included specification of characteristics of entrepreneurs, approaches to customer acquisition and retention, and decision making strategies. The findings might contribute to social change by adding to entrepreneurship literature and potentially leading to the development of resilient and adaptive entrepreneurs. Small business entrepreneurs who can sustain profitability during economic downturns benefit the community by providing jobs

Entrepreneurial orientation and international performance: the moderating effect of decision-making rationality

This research examines how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) influences international performance (IP) of the firm taking into account the moderating effect of decision-making rationality (DR) on the EO–IP association. Such an investigation is significant because it considers the interplay of strategic decision-making processes supported by the bounded rationality concept in the entrepreneurship field. Drawing from a study on activities of 216 firms in the United States and United Kingdom, the evidence suggests that DR positively moderates the EO–IP association. The findings suggest that managers can improve IP by combining EO with rational (analytical) processes in their strategic decisions