Questions worth asking for futures worth making: an effectual approach

Saras Sarasvathy ()
Additional contact information
Saras Sarasvathy: University of Virginia, The Darden School

Small Business Economics, 2023, vol. 61, issue 1, No 2, 21 pages

Abstract: Abstract It is not unusual in the psychology and economics of entrepreneurship to focus on decision models based on predictive reasoning that explain outcomes such as venture creation (at the micro level), firm performance (meso level), or job creation (macro level). However, in this article, derived from the literature on entrepreneurial expertise, I argue for an embrace of uncertainty, where outcomes are not only unknown, but unknowable, hence undermining predictive criteria for actions and decisions. By focusing on principles and processes that do not entail predictive reasoning, effectuation offers both practical guidance for acting in the face of multiple uncertainties and novel research questions not yet examined through the lens of the entrepreneurial method. Specifically, I offer five possible new ventures for future research built on the five principles of effectuation. These pertain to new futures worth making, without prescribing or predicting what those would, could, or should be.

Keywords: Effectuation; Predictive reasoning; Entrepreneurial expertise; Cocreation; Problem of plenty; Loss aversion; Self-selection; Stakeholders; Negative contingencies; Teleology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D81 D91 E71 I25 L26 M13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11187-023-00747-5 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:61:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s11187-023-00747-5

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... 29/journal/11187/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s11187-023-00747-5

Access Statistics for this article

Small Business Economics is currently edited by Zoltan J. Acs and David B. Audretsch

More articles in Small Business Economics from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().