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Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations

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Effectuation As Ineffectual? Applying The 3e Theory-Assessment Framework To A Proposed New Theory Of Entrepreneurship, Richard J. Arend, Hessam Sarooghi, Andrew C. Burkemper Mar 2017

Effectuation As Ineffectual? Applying The 3e Theory-Assessment Framework To A Proposed New Theory Of Entrepreneurship, Richard J. Arend, Hessam Sarooghi, Andrew C. Burkemper

Hessam Sarooghi

Effectuation is a proposed new theory of entrepreneurship, with insufficient empirical testing and critical analysis. Drawing on a new, comprehensive set of theory-building criteria—sourced from and complementing those of Robert Dubin and others—we provide the first formal assessment of effectuation as a theory. We highlight its strengths and weaknesses, leveraging the former to address the latter in five different directions that would build on the existing work to improve this theory. The assessment exercise also displays the value of our assessment framework in guiding the evaluation and development of other existing and future theories in entrepreneurship and management.


Effectuation, Not Being Pragmatic Or Process Theorizing, Remains Ineffectual: Responding To The Commentaries, Richard J. Arend, Hessam Sarooghi, Andrew C. Burkemper Mar 2017

Effectuation, Not Being Pragmatic Or Process Theorizing, Remains Ineffectual: Responding To The Commentaries, Richard J. Arend, Hessam Sarooghi, Andrew C. Burkemper

Hessam Sarooghi

We appreciate the opportunity to respond to the provocative Dialogue pieces of Read, Sarasvathy, Dew, and Wiltbank (2016; henceforth, “RSDW”); Reuber, Fischer, and Coviello (2016; henceforth, “RFC”); Gupta, Chiles, and McMullen (2016; henceforth, “GCM”); and Garud and Gehman (2016; henceforth, “GG”), each of which makes several claims in defense of effectuation, as well as describes several ways forward in entrepreneurship- and process-related theorizing. We respond in a manner consistent with the traditional perspective in management theorizing that “good theory is practical” (Lewin, 1945), where “theory is theory” (Simon, 1967; Van de Ven, 1989) based on our discipline’s collective commitment to …