Effectuation: The concept, its use and diffusion.

Entrepreneurship has been a topic of interest for many scholars in the past decades. In particular, research has been focused on trying to describe “entrepreneurial behaviour”. Besides describing entrepreneurial behaviour, research is aimed at finding common factors among successful entrepreneurs. Research by Saras D. Sarasvathy (2001a) among entrepreneurs active in various industries has shown significant similarities in the way these entrepreneurs think and handle specific situations. She called this “effectual reasoning” that has to be distinguished from “causal reasoning” (Sarasvathy, 2001a). The first part of this thesis is mostly descriptive: I look into the origin of the concept, and its development over time. After the concept is well defined, the second part of this thesis covers the diffusion of the concept. When one investigates more about effectuation, it could be assumed that there is a reasonable valid scientific base to build on. However, brief research shows very little publications about effectuation made by other scholars than Sarasvathy. Why is this? And is the diffusion of the concept effectuation really absent? To answer this question, some research has been done on a global scale, to see whether or not other scholars around the world have adopted or adapted the concept, as well as on a national scale, looking at the diffusion of the concept in The Netherlands. On a global scale, I looked at publications in scientific journals, either about effectuation, or with a similar subject, where effectuation is a primary part of the article. This will be divided into publications in top economic journals, and middle level economic journals; the ranking by the Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM) reflecting the scientific value and impact of journals. Looking at who the author of these publications is might be interesting as well. Obviously, if Sarasvathy makes the vast majority of the publications, then still there is little diffusion. On a national, Dutch scale this is done by a survey, which was sent to scholars linked to several universities and other entities, whom are currently related to research in the field of entrepreneurship.