Entrepreneurs' Behaviors in Politically Unstable Countries: An Entrepreneurial Effectuation Theory Perspective

Political instability is highly prevalent in today's world. This has become especially remarkable following the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet political instability as a context remains markedly underresearched in the management literature, especially in relation to entrepreneurship, a significant contributor to a country's economic activity. This conceptual article refers to four principles of entrepreneurial effectuation theory (the Lemonade principle, the Crazy Quilt principle, the Bird in Hand principle, and the Affordable Loss principle) to offer a typology of entrepreneurs' behaviors in contexts of political instability. This typology draws from and extends the exit–voice–loyalty–neglect (EVLN) framework to the microlevel entrepreneurship literature. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

From Shelter to Platform: The Instituto Bola Pra Frente in the Muquico Complex, Rio de Janeiro

The paper discusses the role of the Instituto Bola Pra Frente in the Muquico Complex, Rio de Janeiro, building from a historical analysis of the region and three theoretical references: the concepts of space and place, as developed by Yi-Fu Tuan;the concept of relational infrastructures, as described by Abdoumaliq Simone;and the effectuation approach to entrepreneurship, as proposed by Saras Sarasvathy. The crossing of these three theoretical references aim to understand some of the phenomena identified in the first stages of research: the dialectical tension between place/space, pause/movement and periphery/city;the fluid forms of action and organization that turn improvisation into a way of life;the numerous examples of creativity/industriousness that go beyond plans and market laws. The paper concludes with an analysis of the Institute's activities during the global Covid-19 pandemic, which coincides with the emergence of a stronger protagonism of the local youth.

An evental pandemic: thinking the COVID-19 ‘event’ with Deleuze and Foucault

As COVID-19 swept the world it also became the subject of a quickly growing body of theoretical scholarship aimed at understanding the social, political and economic implications of the ‘pandemic event’. Taking a step back, this paper draws on Deleuze and Foucault to interrogate whether, and in what way, the COVID-19 pandemic can and should in fact be understood as an event. We first offer a structured overview of existing ‘pandemic theory’ where we highlight that the productivity unfolded by the pandemic event is here either politically or ontologically fixed. Against this background, we show that, in distinct ways, Deleuze’s and Foucault’s concepts of the event caution against reifying a pandemic event. Any political force the pandemic can unfold is always made after the fact, and is contingent on what is (counter-)effectuated from the pandemic, or which discursive dispersions intersect with and unfold from it. We argue for considering the pandemic as evental rather than an event – it is made up of events, and holds the potential to produce events. For critical theory, the significance of the pandemic event is thus in the first place methodological: it gives insight to how (post-)pandemic societies are produced, and where openings for the actualization of alternatives might lie.

An effectual approach to executing dynamic capabilities under unexpected uncertainty

This study investigates how business-to-business (B2B) firms navigate contexts of unexpected uncertainty. Building on the theories of effectuation and dynamic capabilities, the study develops a model that highlights how effectual decision-making logic is manifested in the activities B2B firms employ to sense and seize new opportunities and threats and transform existing business operations. The qualitative data were collected in two phases (before and after the COVID-19 outbreak) and consisted of 24 interviews with 13 B2B firms. The findings demonstrate a strong reliance on managers' effectual decision-making in situations of unexpected uncertainty and provide a set of key activities that help managers to respond to such situations in a rapid and agile manner.

Entrepreneurial action: Redefining the sense and building resilience as coping strategies for SMEs and traditional enterprises facing the new digital and crises environment

The new digital environment and the COVID-19 crisis, having drastically increased the amount of teleworking and e-commerce, seem to have benefited GAFAM and digital platforms. Under the current conditions, SMEs and traditional businesses are forced to look for adaptive strategies. Some researchers (e.g. A. Carmeli and G.D. Markman) argue that they SMEs and traditional businesses need to build entrepreneurial and organizational resilience. And it is in this respect, in particular, that psychology can be usefully mobilized to analyze new forms of economic competition. On these grounds, the authors of the paper defend the idea that the SMEs and traditional businesses will be able to exist and assert themselves against their new competitors. In this new interconnected, turbulent and uncertain environment, this self-assertion passes through a strategic and organizational reconfiguration, but also and above all, through entrepreneurial action in its effectual logic which can lead to resilience and, moreover, to antifragility. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Uncovering the effectual-causal resilience nexus in the era of Covid-19: A case of a food sector SME's resilience in the face of the global pandemic

This research explores the underlying roles of effectuation and causation logic as they impact upon firm resilience in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the unprecedented disruption caused by Covid-19. Because Covid-19 provides a unique and powerful discontinuance to internal and external environments, it requires firm adaptation in a wide variety of areas, as they seek to find a new “normal”. Our study contributes to the literature by applying effectuation to understand how an SME can experiment and learn in the face of disruption, and then subsequently causally adapt their resources and networks to achieve resilient outcomes. It adds to knowledge about the interaction between effectual and causal logic, leading to a more nuanced explanation of how and why an SME might apply each logic when responding to disruption caused by Covid-19.

An examination of effectuation in dynamic sales environments

In this dissertation we examine the entrepreneurial theory of effectuation in a professional selling context. Effectuation is a theory first posited by Saras Sarasvathy (2001) which suggests that experienced entrepreneurs operate in a distinct manner utilizing existing means, flexibility, experimentation, affordable loss and strategic alliances to formulate decisions. We propose the creation of a direct measure of effectuation and posit that a dynamic environment positively moderate the relationship between effectuation and salesperson performance.In essay two, we utilize the same sample and different variables to test effectuation under conditions of COVID-19. We ultimately find that salespeople subject to the greatest COVID-19 based disruption often adopt effectuation-based decision making, which mitigates the negative effect of COVID-19 disruption on performance. This essay also empirically establishes three antecedents: learning orientation, grit and salesperson creativity.The third essay proposes that salesforce control systems are a practical way to introduce effectual selling behaviors into an organization. This essay builds upon and extends the first two essays by suggesting that outcome control systems (focusing on end results) over behavioral control (focus on sales process/techniques) will provide the salesperson with the autonomy to enact effectual selling behaviors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Crisis and arbitrage opportunities: The role of causation, effectuation and entrepreneurial learning

This article examines the process by which entrepreneurs identify and work with an arbitrage opportunity emerging from an episodic crisis. Although prior research has investigated the role of entrepreneurial characteristics and context on opportunity development, the specific manner in which these factors emerge in the course of opportunity development during a crisis remain underexplored. By adopting a qualitative approach grounded in case studies of eight entrepreneurs in the US distillery industry, this article addresses that gap by examining the process of arbitrage opportunity development during COVID-19. Our study reveals the primacy of both causation and effectuation-based entrepreneurial decision logics and the role of double-loop learning, as entrepreneurs interact with the time-compressed duration of the arbitrage opportunity. Implications and insights for entrepreneurs, researchers and policymakers are discussed.

The effect of effectuation and causation approach on entrepreneurial orientation in the presence of leader dominance and self-efficacy

Purpose: Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has witnessed a daunting rise in firm-level practices;to some extent, it has been augmented by the factors such as globalization and technological shift. The wide variety of literature has explained the importance of EO for firm performance. However, it has not yet been explored at a firm-level the approaches of causation and effectuation through the prism of leader traits such as leader dominance and self-efficacy as administrative ability and EO as strategic manoeuvring with strategic decisions obliged as a spin of firms. Design/methodology/approach: The authors used the quantitative method to analyse the proposed relationships. For this reason, the authors targeted the Chinese firms to collect the data through the semi-structured survey from December 2020 to March 2021 and contributed to the literature by investigating 480 valid responses of leaders from Chinese firms. Findings: The findings support the incorporated view of causation and effectuation on EO, which serve as vital strategic manoeuvring along with leader traits for firm stability and growth. Practical implications: This study assists the decision-makers (including the top management team, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer choose the particular approach (effectual or causal) to create the new venture/new product/new process or scale up the existing firm on another level for optimal benefits by considering their existing resources. Originality/value: EO is a unidirectional process with three dimensions: innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking that could directly favour the firm by considering the well-known approaches (effectuation and causation) in crisis circumstances (like Covid-19). These approaches help the executives enhance their firm’s performance and maintain its sustainability and stability in crisis conditions by effectively using the available resources within its boundaries. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Effectuation and causation configurations for business model innovation: Addressing COVID-19 in the gastronomy industry.

The gastronomy sector is among those that are hit particularly hard by a loss of customers and regulatory uncertainty of the COVID-19 crisis. When established ways of doing business become almost impossible, business model innovation (BMI) is a possible reaction to this high uncertainty level. Effectuation and causation are decision-making logics that may lead to BMI and help a firm navigate uncertainty. We investigate configurations of causation and effectuation components associated with a high BMI level during the first wave of COVID-19. We perform fuzzy-set-qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) on a sample of 143 gastronomy entrepreneurs in Münster county, Germany. We identify two paths that lead to a high BMI level: "the planning soloist" and "the hedging networker." We conclude that innovators among the gastronomy entrepreneurs use effectuation and causation components in complex configurations.

COVID-19 and lockdown: Insights from Mumbai.

BACKGROUND: Mumbai is facing the full brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic epidemiologically and economically. OBJECTIVES: The objective was to understand the spatial distribution and trends of the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Mumbai during the lockdown period and draw insights for effective actions. METHODS: Spatial and trend analysis was conducted to trace the spread of the virus during the lockdown period in April 2020. The administrative divisions of Mumbai, in the form of wards and zones, have been used as units of analysis. RESULTS: Greater Mumbai area occupies only 0.015% of the landmass of India, but is contributing to over 20% of the SARS-CoV-2 cases in India. Cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections have increased over 375 times within 50 days of the lockdown. An analysis of trends across the wards during the 3-week period (April 4 to April 25) shows a skewed pattern, with three zones out of six contributing to the vast majority of cases in Mumbai. The wards with higher formal economic activity are relatively less affected than the other wards. The test positivity rate in Mumbai is much higher than the rest of India. CONCLUSION: The study suggests that the virus had already spread to the community in Mumbai before the lockdown started.