Causal vs. Effectual Behavior - Support for Entrepreneurs

“Effectuation” is a new approach to explain the success or failure of entrepreneurs. In contrast to the traditional “causation” approach the entrepreneur is not considered to be driven by a concrete goal and to choose between different alternatives in regard to how well they help to achieve this goal. Instead the entrepreneur evaluates the alternatives, in particular the choice of strategic partners, in regard to their potential for future success. The goals are adapted to the choices and in particular the needs of the strategic partners. Agent-based simulations are intended to help identifying the settings where one approach is more appropriate than the other.