Unpacking the Antecedents of Effectuation and Causation in a Corporate Context

Abstract

Effectuation and causation are important modes of entrepreneurial decision-making. In this paper, we extend the literature on effectuation into the corporate context. Based on extant theory concerning both individual decision-makers’ human capital and organizational-level characteristics, we develop and test hypotheses concerning the use of effectuation and causation in pursuing new opportunities in the magazine industry. Our results, based on the actions of 246 key decision-makers, show an inconsistent set of antecedents for causation and the four effectual logic principles. As such, our multi-level study helps to unravel some of the complexities of the choice of decision-making logics.