A Comparison of Students use of

Effectuation and Causation Principles

with that of Practitioners
MSc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Stefan W. Arteaga, Hans-Gunnar E. Grepperud, and

Marie N. Hermansen
May 21st, 2013

 Stefan W. Arteaga, Hans-Gunnar E. Grepperud, Marie N. Hermansen

Year: 2013
A Comparison of Students use of Effectuation and Causation principles with that of
practitioners
Authors: Stefan W. Arteaga, Hans-Gunnar E. Grepperud, Marie N. Hermansen
http://www.duo.uio.no/
Press: Reprosentralen, Universitetet i Oslo

II

Abstract
This thesis tries to answer the following question: How do entrepreneurship students
perceptions of venturing, in the context of causation and effectuation, compare to experts and
entrepreneurs paths to success? To answer this question fourteen subjects were interviewed,
there were four Experts, five were Entrepreneurs, and the last five were Students. The
interviews were coded and analyzed by using S. Sarasvathys (2001) definitions of
effectuation and causation. Each theory has five concepts that were used in this study,
examples of these principles were coded for in the interviews to determine whether the
interviewees were acting in effectual or causational manner. Eventually we determine
prototypes for the different groups which are used to put forth a number of propositions that
were helpful in answering our research question. We found that Students are the least
effectual among the group and that they fall between Experts and Entrepreneurs when it
comes to causational thinking; Experts are the most causational and Entrepreneurs are the
least causational.

III

Foreword
The authors of this thesis are three students from UiO attending the master program
Innovation and Entrepreneurship. We have all worked well together and we have helped each
other improve and correct all sections. However, here is an overview of who has been
responsible for which sections:
Section:
Foreword
Abstract
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
1.1 Who cares?
1.2 What do we know, what don't we know, and so what?
1.3 What will the reader learn?
1.4. Exploratory interview
2. Theory
2.1 Planning or storming the castle
2.2 Effectuation and Causation
2.3 Can entrepreneurship be taught?
2.4 Theory Conclusion
3. Methodology
4. Analysis and Interpretations
4.1 Interview presentations
4.1.1 Experts
4.1.2 Entrepreneurs
4.1.3 Students Centre for Entrepreneurship, UiO
4.2 Interview Analysis
4.2.1 Expert Interview Analysis
4.2.2 Entrepreneur Cross-Case Synthesis/ Analysis
4.2.3 Student Interview Analysis
4.3 Group comparisons
5. Discussion
5.1 Propositions
5.2 Practical Implications
5.3 Limitations of the study
5.4 Future research
5.5 Conclusion

Main Responsibility by:

Ms. Hermansen
Ms. Hermansen
Ms. Hermansen
Mr. Grepperud
Mr. Grepperud
Mr. Grepperud
Mr. Arteaga
Ms. Hermansen
Mr. Grepperud
Ms. Hermansen
Ms. Hermansen
Mr. Arteaga

Ms. Hermansen
Mr. Arteaga
Mr. Grepperud
Ms. Hermansen
Mr. Arteaga
Mr. Grepperud
All
All
Mr. Arteaga
Ms. Hermansen
Mr. Grepperud
Mr. Arteaga

Table 1: Main responsibility list

Throughout the thesis period we have each interviewed a handful of people and in the paper
these are the people we have analyzed and written about:
Mr. Arteaga: Entrepreneurs B and E, and Students B and E.

IV

Mr. Grepperud: Expert B, Entrepreneurs C and D, and Students A and D.

Ms. Hermansen: Experts A, C, and D; Entrepreneur A; and Student C.
The personal information about the individuals can be found in Appendix 1.1.

Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all the Experts, Entrepreneurs, and Students who were willing to let
us interview them. Without their time and their sincere answers we would not have been able
to write anything of this magnitude. We would also like to thank our supervisor Truls Erikson
who has helped us from a thesis on a fast course to nowhere to a thesis with a concrete
direction and substance. Thank you!

VI

VII

Table of Contents
Abstract .................................................................................................................................... III
Foreword .................................................................................................................................. IV
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. VI
Table of Contents .................................................................................................................. VIII
Table of Figures ....................................................................................................................... XI
1

Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1
1.1

Who cares? .................................................................................................................. 1

1.2

What do we know, what don't we know, and so what? ............................................... 2

1.3

What will the reader learn? .......................................................................................... 3

1.4

Exploratory interview .................................................................................................. 3

Theory ................................................................................................................................ 5
2.1

Planning or storming the castle ................................................................................ 5

2.1.1

The Arguments for Planning ................................................................................ 7

2.1.2

Storm the Castle .............................................................................................. 13

2.2

Effectuation and Causation ........................................................................................ 15

2.2.1

The short story.................................................................................................... 17

2.2.2

Predictions about something non-existent.......................................................... 17

2.2.3

Concepts of Effectuation and Causation ............................................................ 18

2.2.4

Effectuation is a method ..................................................................................... 21

2.3

Can entrepreneurship be taught? ............................................................................... 22

2.4

Theory Conclusion .................................................................................................... 23

Methodology .................................................................................................................... 24
3.1

Research design ......................................................................................................... 24

3.1.1

Research question ............................................................................................... 25

3.1.2

Research Strategy ............................................................................................... 26

3.1.3

Choice of cases ................................................................................................... 27

3.1.4

The unit of analysis ............................................................................................ 29

3.1.5

The quality of research ....................................................................................... 29

3.2

Research methods ...................................................................................................... 32

3.2.1
VIII

Research setting.................................................................................................. 32

3.2.2
3.3

Data analysis .............................................................................................................. 36

3.3.1

Coding process ................................................................................................... 37

3.3.2

Analysis strategies and techniques ..................................................................... 38

Analysis and Interpretations ............................................................................................. 39

4.1

Interview presentations .............................................................................................. 39

4.1.1

Experts ................................................................................................................ 39

4.1.2

Entrepreneurs ..................................................................................................... 41

4.1.1

Students Centre for Entrepreneurs, UiO ......................................................... 41

4.2

Interview Analysis ..................................................................................................... 46

4.2.1

Expert Intra-Group Analysis and Synthesis .................................................... 46

4.2.2

Entrepreneur Intra-Group Analysis and Synthesis .......................................... 53

4.2.3

Student Intra-Group Analysis and Synthesis .................................................. 64

4.3
5

Data collection.................................................................................................... 35

Cross-Group Comparisons ........................................................................................ 70

Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 74
5.1

Propositions ............................................................................................................... 74

5.2

Practical implications ................................................................................................ 76

5.3

Limitations of the study ............................................................................................. 78

5.4

Future research .......................................................................................................... 80

5.5

Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 81

References ................................................................................................................................ 82
1

Appendix .......................................................................................................................... 84
1.1

Interviewee Summaries ............................................................................................. 84

1.1.1

Expert A ............................................................................................................. 84

1.1.2

Expert B.............................................................................................................. 85

1.1.3

Expert C.............................................................................................................. 86

1.1.4

Expert D ............................................................................................................. 87

1.2

Entrepreneurs ............................................................................................................. 90

1.2.1

Entrepreneur A1 ................................................................................................. 90

1.2.2

Entrepreneur B ................................................................................................... 93

1.2.3

Entrepreneur C ................................................................................................... 94

1.2.4

Entrepreneur D ................................................................................................... 96

1.2.5

Entrepreneur E.................................................................................................... 97
IX

1.3

1.3.1

Student A ............................................................................................................ 99

1.3.2

Student B .......................................................................................................... 100

1.3.3

Student C .......................................................................................................... 102

1.3.4

Student D .......................................................................................................... 104

1.3.5

Student E .......................................................................................................... 105

1.4

Students ..................................................................................................................... 99

Interview Questions ................................................................................................. 106

1.4.1

Entrepreneurs and Experts ............................................................................... 106

1.4.2

Students ............................................................................................................ 107

Table of Figures
FIGURE 1: THEORIES OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP COMPARED WITH PREDICTION AND CONTROL ........................................................ 6
FIGURE 2: BENEFITS OF PRE-STARTUP PLANNING (CASTROGIOVANNI, 1996, P. 807)............................................................... 8
FIGURE 3: CAUSATION ON THE LEFT, EFFECTUATION ON THE RIGHT (S. D. SARASVATHY, 2001). ............................................... 16
FIGURE 4: THE PROCESS OF EFFECTUATION (WWW.EFFECTUATION.ORG, 2011) ..................................................................... 21
FIGURE 5: RESEARCH STAGES ....................................................................................................................................... 25
FIGURE 6 EXPERTS EFFECTUATION AND CAUSATION INDEXES .............................................................................................. 52
FIGURE 7: ENTREPRENEURS EFFECTUATION AND CAUSATION INDICES .................................................................................. 64
FIGURE 8: STUDENTS EFFECTUATION AND CAUSATION INDEXES .......................................................................................... 70
FIGURE 9: NORMALIZED SCORE OF THE PROTOTYPES (EXPERTS, ENTREPRENEURS, & STUDENTS) PREDICTION VS. CONTROL INDEX... 73

XI

1 Introduction
1.1

Who cares?

Entrepreneurship is introduced as a teachable knowledge in a growing number of study

programs around the world. The intent of such programs seems to be to teach and learn
entrepreneurship as a method. It lies within the nature of entrepreneurship that one idea
behind such programs is to make sure that the technology, services, and social systems we
need in the future is driven with the best possible conditions to become a reality. One of the
more newfound methods for entrepreneurship is effectuation, which was and continues to be
developed by Saras D. Sarasvathy. In this thesis we look at differences between Students,
Entrepreneurs, and Experts in the context of effectuation and its opposite causation.
Motivation for this thesis sprung from our experience as students of entrepreneurship, our
interviews with CEOs of startups at the local incubator Research Park, and discussions on
effectuation theory with our supervisor. We were further motivated from our failed attempt to
start a new business and the competing debates in entrepreneurship literature between
predictive and non-predictive planning. Additionally, there is limited research on the results of
entrepreneurship education. Due to both effectuation being quite new in entrepreneurship
literature, and how there is very limited research on the result of entrepreneurship education
we find the following research question interesting for entrepreneurship research:
How do entrepreneurship students perceptions of venturing, in the context of causation and
effectuation, compare to experts and entrepreneurs paths to success?
This question has, at least as far as the authors of this thesis know, never been addressed
before. At the same time we believe that this will become an important topic and question for
entrepreneurship educational programs.
The main objectives of this research are:
1

To examine perceptions of venturing approaches and practices of entrepreneurial

students and entrepreneurs.

To examine the similarities and differences between three groups: expert

entrepreneurs, experienced entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurship students.

1.2

What do we know, what don't we know, and

so what?
Sarasvathy interviewed 27 entrepreneurs, which she defined as experts. These were
entrepreneurs with a continuous high level of entrepreneurship. In her book Effectuation
Elements of Entrepreneurial Expertise Sarasvathy shows how she found how these expert
entrepreneurs used effectuation when creating ventures (S. Sarasvathy, 2008, pp. 21-23).
Effectuation is the opposite of causation, which was the general view on entrepreneurs prior to
Sarasvathys work. Experts acting out effectuation have a worldview where you rather do
non-predictive planning, this is the opposite of causation where you do predictive planning
(www.effectuation.org, 2011). Effectuation is a method, just like the scientific method, and
due to this it can be taught (S. Sarasvathy, 2008, p. 308). However, it is stated by Henry, Hill,
& Leitch in their Entrepreneurship education and training: Can entrepreneurship be taught?
Part2 article that the art and gut-feeling of entrepreneurship seems unteachable (2005b). The
authors of this thesis see a connection where effectuation gives room to play out the art and
the gut feeling of entrepreneurship.
What we do not know is if and how entrepreneurship students perception of what it takes to
start up a venture matches the knowledge and experience that is the practical part of venture
start-up by Norwegian entrepreneurs, and expert entrepreneurs.
The reason why this is an important and interesting topic lies in the opportunities to look at
the practical value of such study programs teaching entrepreneurship. There may also lie
implications within a study like this on how to steer the curricula in the direction of expert
entrepreneurs, when to teach the students how it's done and not purely focusing on the
academic, theoretical side of entrepreneurship.

1.3

What will the reader learn?

Our study indicates Students, Entrepreneurs and Experts are mainly effectual. However,
Experts are the most causational and are concerned with avoiding surprises. At the same time
Students are causational in their hunger for getting investors to fund their venture. From this
the thesis presents ten propositions, which both confirms Sarasvathys work and also gives
input on a possible gap in the perception students attending entrepreneurship programs have
on how Experts and Entrepreneurs actually do entrepreneurship. This is especially in the sense
of their concern for attracting venture investments.

1.4

Exploratory interview

During the previous semester we individually interviewed CEOs of a young technology based
start-ups. The interviews led to a trial case study as new researchers. This was also an
opportunity for us to work as a new academic research team. After the trial case study project
we embarked on developing a thesis research topic with our advisor. The topic was originally
unrelated to the trial case study.
We first looked into pursuing a first person research methodology for implementing and
researching effectuation theory as an entrepreneurial process. The complexity of such an
undertaking became too burdensome and unwieldy to complete in the allotted time. However,
during this process we became familiar with effectuation and causation theories. Additionally,
we came to recognize hints of the two processes in distinct interviews from the trial case
study.
The exploratory interviews and trial case study had focused on the challenges of the
technology based start-ups. However, post-trial case study, we realized two interviewees gave
impressions of pursuing two different processes of venturing: effectuation versus causation.
One CEO (A) discussed and emphasized the importance of setting ones sights on ones goals
and developing clear and attainable milestones. The other CEO (B) seemed to be more
interested in exploring ideas to see what works and then narrowing his focus. Both firms had
signs of growing success and potential of being highly successful. CEO A expected to breakeven within a couple of months, and CEO B had landed an important partner who had a
slightly different focus from his earlier ideas. The latter is involved in the IT industry, which
3

provides a higher degree of flexibility from CEO As firm in biotechnology. While CEO B is
a new entrepreneur, CEO A has been involved in several start-ups.
The contrast between CEOs As and Bs apparent approach to business venturing, led us to
question how entrepreneurship students perception of the venturing process compares to those
of practicing entrepreneurs. Further, what are the differences between different types of
entrepreneurs?

2 Theory
2.1

Planning or storming the castle

There has been a large debate regarding the usefulness of business planning for new and
young firms (i.e. Castrogiovanni (1996); Delmar and Shane (2003); Honig and Karlsson
(2004); Liao and Gartner (2006); Brinckmann, Grichnik, and Kapsa (2010)). This debate has
gone on for an extended period of time and the different sides of the story have been given
several different names (Brinckmann et al. (2010); Wiltbank, Dew, Read, and Sarasvathy
(2006); Brews and Hunt (1999)). However, all these articles are trying to determine the same
thing: the impact, if any, of business planning on the successfulness of new or young firms.
Wiltbank et al. (2006) collected much of the previous literature and designed a figure
explaining how different views compare with each other (Figure 1). The main focus of the
figure is to differentiate between theories that emphasize prediction from those that emphasize
control. There are four categories that define the levels of prediction and control; Planning,
Adaptive, Visionary, and Transformative. The Planning category is the oldest and most
commonly known of all, it is positioned in the top left corner, this means that the emphasis on
prediction is high while the emphasis on control is low. They define: The rational planning
view predicts that as uncertainty increases, organizations that work more diligently to analyze
and predict more accurately the changing situation in which they operate will outperform
those that do not. (Wiltbank et al., 2006, p. 985) This is where the theory of Causation fits
in; this theory will be explained in detail in chapter 2.2.
Still, in the bottom left quadrant of the figure is the adaptive theories. The theory places little
emphasis on both control and prediction. The adaptive theories are described by the
following: organizations learn what to do next by minimizing the use of predictive
rationality, and instead experimenting and moving quickly to capture new opportunities
(Wiltbank et al., 2006, p. 985).

Emphasis on Prediction

Planning

Visionary

Adaptive

Transformative

Emphasis on Control

Figure 1: Theories of Entrepreneurship compared with Prediction and Control

When moving to the right side of the figure the Visionary approach is located at the top, these
theories have a high emphasis on both control and prediction. Wiltbank et al. wrote: This
type of strategy emphasizes constructing an organization and its environment by imagining
future possibilities and proactively bringing them to fruition (Wiltbank et al., 2006, p. 990).
The last square is at the bottom right and there we find the Transformative theories, they have
a high emphasis on control, but a low emphasis on prediction. It is written: expert
entrepreneurs use an effectual logic that is transformative without calling for prediction or
vision in creating new markets and new environments (Wiltbank et al., 2006, p. 991). This is
the quadrant where the theory of effectuation falls, this theory will also be described in more
detail in chapter 2.2.
As mentioned, a more detailed description of effectuation and causation will be given in a
later chapter. However, first we will take a closer look at the larger picture of the discussion
on predictive planning versus non-predictive planning and in effect the top left quadrant and
the bottom right quadrant of Figure 1.

By looking at previously published papers we can understand the history and significance of
this discussion. The next sections presents in chronological order previous authors and
researchers works covering these different schools of thought on whether an entrepreneur
should plan ahead or just storm the castle (Brinckmann et al., 2010).

2.1.1

The Arguments for Planning

The planning debate can be traced back to the 1970s (Thune and House (1970); Ansoff
(1979)) and probably longer than that, but going back 40 years does not seem pertinent. In the
article Pre-Startup Planning and the Survival of New Small Business: Theoretical Linkages
from 1996, Gary J.Castrogiovanni (1996, p. 803). The main reason he focuses on business
survival is that most ventures fail within the first five years, so survival should be on every
entrepreneurs mind. Most entrepreneurs strive for growth and profitability and without
survival this cannot be possible. The definition of pre-startup planning is defined by Sexton
and Bowman-Upton (1991, p. 118) as written by Castogiovanni: the process by which the
entrepreneur, in exploiting an opportunity, creates a vision of the future and develops the
necessary objectives, resources, and procedures to achieve that vision. (Castrogiovanni,
1996, p. 803)
Depending on the degree of planning, Castogiovanni says there are planning benefits that
leads to business survival. These planning benefits are symbolism, learning, and efficiency.
Figure 2 explains some of Castrogiovannis propositions; it is shown that the degree of prestartup planning can positively affect symbolism such as financing which again leads to
business survival. The degree of pre-startup planning also leads to the entrepreneur learning
more about the proposed business which then leads to symbolism and efficiency which all
leads to a greater chance of business survival. Lastly the image explains that if one conducts
pre-startup planning it can lead to operational efficiency which again leads to business
survival.
With these propositions Castogiovanni breaks down what pre-startup planning will do and
how it will affect a new or young business.

Figure 2: Benefits of Pre-Startup Planning (Castrogiovanni, 1996, p. 807)

Castogiovanni then goes on to state that there are contextual conditions as well, he calls them
environmental conditions and founding conditions and he states how these affect the degree of
planning, the planning benefits like symbolism, learning, and efficiency, and business
survival.
But no matter when the planning is done, there is much debate regarding when it is helpful
and in which context it is helpful in (Castrogiovanni, 1996).
Delmar and Shane (2003) have also looked into whether planning helps a new venture
become successful: We examine the effect of business planning on three aspects of new
venture development: product development, [], venture organizing activity, [], and
disbanding. (2003, p. 1165)
They define three advantages for people who are attempting to start and improve their new
business if they partake in planning:
1

Planning facilitates faster decision making by identifying missing information

without first requiring the commitment of resources (Delmar & Shane, 2003, p. 1167).

By planning ahead an entrepreneur will be able to make a quick decision when an event
occurs because he or she will have all the facts available instead of making the decision by
using trial-and-error (Delmar & Shane, 2003).
2.

Planning provides tools for managing the supply and demand of resources in a

manner that avoids time-consuming bottlenecks (Delmar & Shane, 2003, p. 1167).
If an entrepreneur plans ahead he or she will be able to see where their resources are going to
as well as plan for what future resources will be spent on so that there will not be a hold-up
once the resource is acquired.
3

Planning identifies action steps to achieve broader goals in a timely manner

(Delmar & Shane, 2003, p. 1167).

Because of the usually short time between when an entrepreneur of a new venture makes a
plan and when it is executed it is easier to see that the plans and goals made were successful,
and when the plans and goals are successful it helps the entrepreneur continue onto their next
plans and goals (Delmar & Shane, 2003).
Hypotheses

Description

Conclusion

Hypothesis 1

Business planning reduces the hazards of new venture disbanding

Supported

Hypothesis 2

Business planning facilitates product development in new ventures

Supported

Hypothesis 3

Business planning facilitates venture-organizing activity in new Supported

ventures

Table 2: Hypotheses as defined by Delmar and Shane (2003)

From the above statements and what other researchers at that time concluded, Delmar and
Shane (2003) produced 3 hypotheses as listed in Table 2.
As a continuation of their research they completed a longitudinal study of 223 new ventures
that were established in Sweden in 1998. They went to great lengths to make sure that their
sample was completely random. To test their hypotheses they completed a series of statistical
analysis and they came up with a few implications. As implications for practitioners Delmar
and Shane (2003, p. 1182) writes:
The results show that firm founders will enhance the likelihood of their new ventures
survival and facilitate product development and venture organizing efforts if they engage in
business planning.

From this statement it is understood that in general Delmar and Shane supports the notion that
an entrepreneur should partake in business planning before they attempt to start a new
business venture.
In 2006 Liao and Gartner published a paper where they are trying to determine when certain
entrepreneurs should plan. They differentiate between entrepreneurs who are confident that
they have control in certain areas versus those who are not. The three areas they focus on are
financial certainty, competitive uncertainty, and operational certainty, as defined by Liao and
Gartner (2006, pp. 25-26):
Financial uncertainty describes the nascent entrepreneurs perceptions of the likelihood of
obtaining start-up and working capital, bank loans and investors.
Competitive uncertainty involves the nascent entrepreneurs perception of environmental
factors that affect the strategic viability of the new firm: such as the likelihood the emerging
firm will attract customers, successfully compete with other firms, keep up with technological
advances in the industry, and comply with government regulations.
Operational uncertainty involves the nascent entrepreneurs perception of the likelihood the
emerging venture can be efficient in such activities as: obtaining raw materials, attracting
employees, and obtaining supplies.
Taking these definitions into account and examining authors like Delmar and Shane (2003),
Shane and Delmar (2004), Honig and Karlsson (2004), and Castrogiovanni (1996) Liao and
Gartner (2006) come up with several hypotheses to test, these hypotheses are listed in Table 3.
These hypotheses are basically saying that if the entrepreneurs venture is safe, and by safe it
is meant that there are what Liao and Gartner (2006) calls environmental certainty, it is better
to not plan, or at least, plan late. However, if the venture is not safe it is better to plan early.
To test these hypotheses they did statistical analysis of 276 entrepreneurs who either had an
operating business, was a part of an active or inactive start-up, or who no longer worked on
their start-up. It seemed that Liao and Gartner (2006) found support for their first and second
hypotheses and that the third, operational certainty, didnt seem to affect emerging ventures
either way. They found no support for their fourth hypothesis.

10

Hypotheses
Hypothesis 1a
Hypothesis 1b
Hypothesis 2a

Hypothesis 2b
Hypothesis 3a

Hypothesis 3b
Hypothesis 4

Description
Conclusion
Planning early in situations of perceived high financial uncertainty Confirmed
is likely to increase the likelihood of new venture persistence
Planning late in situations of perceived financial certainty is likely Confirmed
to increase the likelihood of new venture persistence
Planning early in situations of perceived high competitive
uncertainty is likely to increase the likelihood of new venture
persistence
Planning late in situations of perceived competitive certainty is
likely to increase the likelihood of new venture persistence
Planning early in situations of perceived high operational
uncertainty is likely to increase the likelihood of new venture
persistence
Planning late in situations of perceived operational certainty is
likely to increase the likelihood of new venture persistence
The absence of planning in situations of perceived environmental
certainty (financial, competitive, and operational) is likely to
increase the likelihood of new venture persistence

Confirmed

Confirmed
Not
Confirmed
Not
Confirmed
Not
Confirmed

Table 3: Hypotheses as defined by Liao and Gartner (2006)

So, Liao and Gartner (2006, p. 36) writes: It is better, in general, to complete a business plan
during the process of venture creation, than to not plan. This is generally true, they wrote,
however, it depends on the financial situation the entrepreneur is currently in and the amount
of competition there is in the market. If there is a high uncertainty when it comes the finances,
it is better to plan early, but if the financial situation is quite certain it is better to plan a little
later, and if there is high certainty of competition it is better to plan early, while if there is
hardly any proof that there will be much competition it is more pertinent to plan later (Liao &
Gartner, 2006). As a conclusion they write:
Engaging in pre-venture planning would likely increase nascent entrepreneurs
knowledge, and thereby reduce uncertainty. In contrast, for those nascent
entrepreneurs who were confident about their knowledge of their competitive and
financial situation, engaging in pre-venture business planning would be perceived as a
way to enhance knowledge they already have. Planning for these entrepreneurs would
be less relevant to their business formation activities early on their venture creation
efforts. Yet, as the emerging venture develops, nascent entrepreneur do plan (i.e., late
planning) which increases the chances the emerging venture will persist.
(Liao & Gartner, 2006, p. 38)
By this statement Liao and Gartner (2006) is saying that all entrepreneurs should plan, it just
depends on when planning is needed. Even in later stages planning is needed to be able to
11

continue keeping ahead. At certain times the business plan or business model will need to be
updated to be able to successfully keep up with the market (Aspara, Lamberg, Laukia, &
Tikkanen, 2011).
Further supporting the planning side is a 2010 article by Jan Brinckmann, Dietmar Grichnik,
and Diana Kapsa, it is called Should entrepreneurs plan or just storm the castle? A metaanalysis on contextual factors impacting the business planning-performance relationship in
small firms. The articles authors especially wanted to focus on the planning-performance
relationship. By planning-performance relationship they mean to figure out how planning
affects performance in new small firms. Looking at previous works and taking into account
the two different schools of thought they define 4 hypotheses as listed in Table 4.
Hypotheses
Hypothesis 1
Hypothesis 2
Hypothesis 3
Hypothesis 4

Description
Business planning in small firms increases performance
Business planning increases performance more in established small
firms than it does in new small firms
The outcome of business planning has a greater effect on firm
performance than the business planning process
Business planning has a greater effect on firm performance in cultures
with low uncertainty avoidance than it does in cultures with high
uncertainty avoidance

Conclusion
Confirmed
Confirmed
Rejected
Supported

Table 4: Hypotheses as defined by Brinckmann et al. (2010)

To continue their research they decided to test their hypotheses by using a meta-analysis.
After an extensive search of current literature they ended up with 47 studies that contained
data for 52 different new and established firms. They compared these firms using these
measures: Performance, which measures growth, profitability, and survival; Business
Planning, which measured whether the firms were concerned with assessing either the
outcome of business planning or the process of business planning; Newness, they defined
firms being younger than 8 years as new firms and firms that were older than 8 years were
defined as established firms; Cultural uncertainty avoidance, to measure this they applied the
uncertainty avoidance index (UAI) that was developed by Hofstede and Hofstede (2005); and
Controls, they controlled for when the sources used different factors such as survival versus
growth or profitability measures, objective or subjective performance measures, and whether
the studies were longitudinal or cross-sectional. By completing several different statistical
measures they were able to answer some of their hypothesis as shown in Table 4. As a
conclusion they found support for hypothesis one, two, and four, but not for three. They state
Our findings determine a positive relationship between business planning and
12

performance. (Brinckmann et al., 2010, p. 35) They also conclude that there is more value in
planning for the average small firm than for the new small firm basically because new firms
lack experience and routines that makes planning more constructive.
These publications all support some sort of planning before an entrepreneur starts on a new
venture, however, none of them are able to say with 100% certainty that it was because of the
planning that certain ventures survive or excel. The follow section discusses articles that find
themselves on the other side of the debate and provide good evidence that new ventures
should not partake in much planning or plan in a less predictive way.

2.1.2

Storm the Castle

Perhaps it would be wrong to suggest to entrepreneurs to not do any planning, but it is

important for them to know the significance and importance of the planning. This of course
depends on the characteristics of the entrepreneur and the business he or she is trying to start.
Especially in smaller ventures where it is difficult for much planning to take place because of
the limited financial situation these ventures are usually in, Bhide (2000, p. 198) writes:
Small businesses cannot cover significant upfront research planning expenditures.
High uncertainty limits the value of prior planning. In lieu of prior planning and
research, the founders of promising start-ups rely on their capacity to adapt to
unforeseen problems and opportunities
According to Fernandez-Guerrero, Revuelto-Taboada, and Simon-Moya (2012) the business
plan quality (when considering economic, financial, and commercial viability) does not
indicate whether a new start-up will survive or not. Honig and Karlsson (2004) paper
hypothesizes that if companies write and have business plans, they have a higher probability
of survival and they are more likely to reach profitability (Table 5 - hypothesis 4 and 5).
However, they found no support for hypothesis 4 and hypothesis 5 was rejected. Honig and
Karlsson (2004, p. 43) concludes that: It appears that new organizations do not write
business plans to improve performance, rather, they do so in order to conform to institutional
rules and to mimic the behavior of others.

13

Hypotheses
Description
Conclusion
Hypothesis 1 Nascent organizations whose founders contact public support agencies Upheld
have a greater propensity to produce business plans than those without
such contact
Hypothesis 2 Nascent organizations in industries where business planning is deeply
rooted have a greater propensity to produce business plans than those
in other industrial fields
Hypothesis 3 Nascent organizations whose founders have a business education have
a greater propensity to produce business plans than those whose
founders do not have a business education
Hypothesis 4 Producing business plans will increase the probability of nascent
organizations survival
Hypothesis 5 Producing business plans is positively correlated with the probability of
a nascent organizations reaching profitability

Upheld

Rejected

Not
supported
Rejected

Table 5: Hypotheses as defined by Honig and Karlsson (2004)

Many times a business plan is only written to help with getting funding, but there might be a
better way for public agencies or venture capitalists to measure the quality of the business idea
or the entrepreneur (Fernandez-Guerrero et al., 2012). Fernandez-Guerrero et al. (2012) say
venture capitalists should look into the experience and education of the entrepreneur, his or
her motivation to start the business, and also the number of employees a new business has. By
examining these categories public agencies and venture capitalists might get a better idea of
whether the business will survive or not and if it is a viable idea to invest in (FernandezGuerrero et al., 2012).
These articles do not advise entrepreneurs to not plan during their venture, they are only
trying to make sure people know that planning is not always related to positive effects and
that different research conclude different findings. However, the definition of what planning is
might be different to different entrepreneurs. There are many reasons why companies and
entrepreneurs do partake in planning, whether it is predictive planning, or non-predictive
planning, either way there are many positive and negative sides to planning. In Table 6,
Vesper has listed the Pros and Cons of Planning (1993, pp. 25-26).
As mentioned, some of the reasons why planning is good or bad is in Table 6, however, there
are other reasons as well and researchers will continue to look for them in the future.
The theory of effectuation is a form of planning that has a high emphasis on control and a low
emphasis on prediction (Wiltbank et al., 2006). This theory of effectuation is the basis of the
transformative category and the bottom right quadrant of Figure 1.

14

In the next chapter a detailed description of effectuation and causation will be given to let the
readers understand what we base our research on.
Pros of Planning
Cons of Planning
To test all or pieces of the venture concept and Time cost of gathering more information, rather
make go/no go decisions about them
than reprocessing what is already known, and of
having to redo the plan as conditions change and
new information makes old obsolete
To find ways of refining aspects of the product
or service and the start-up process so they work
better
To look for ways to improve upon the design
goals and concept of the venture itself
To look for other venture opportunities

Danger of reinforcing misleading fantasies about

how things will develop, thereby producing poor
decisions
Risk of becoming discouraged by envisioning so
many complexities that it all seems impossible
Drugery of abstract activity with no-real world
feedback or results until action is taken
To anticipate needs that may require advance Discouragement from review by others who are
preparatory time
better equipped to discover weaknesses than to
add reinforcements and reveal directions for
further opportunity
To anticipate and head off potential problems in Pain of being wrong, a likely experience in
the start-up
planning
To prethink future decisions so they can be made
faster and better later
To get started on long lead time parts of the task
in a timely fashion
To get the benefit of others thinking
To reach a common understanding of
cooperative tasks
To learn about venturing by thinking through
what may be involved in it
Table 6: Pros and Cons of Planning as written by Vesper (1993, pp. 25-26)

2.2

Effectuation and Causation

Effectuation and causation belong to a terminology known by the authors of this thesis from
the work of Saras D. Sarasvathy. Her work is our main source of information in this chapter.
Effectuation is the result of Sarasvathy and others looking into what makes entrepreneurs
entrepreneurial

(www.effectuation.org).

Sarasvathy

found

through

interviewing

27

entrepreneurs with repeated high success (expert entrepreneurs) that they used effectuation
as a method when starting ventures (S. Sarasvathy, 2008, pp. 22,48). This chapter will initially
start with a definition of both effectuation and causation, then we will try to explain this
terminology in a simple way with the form of a short story, and lastly we dive into those
details which will become important for the rest of this thesis.
15

In the article Causation and effectuation: Toward a theoretical shift from economic
inevitability to entrepreneurial contingency Sarasvathy defines causation and effectuation as
the following:
Causation processes take a particular effect as given and focus on selecting between
means to create that effect. Effectuation processes take a set of means as given and
focus on selecting between possible effects than can be created with that set of means
(2001, p. 245).
This is shown in Figure 3. Here you can see how the left side represents causation; the focus
is on achieving a wanted goal through a set of means. Since the goal is set pre-start of a
venture, the search and select process which causation is will be a static one (Read,
Sarasvathy, Dew, Wiltbank, & Ohlsson, 2011, pp. 6-7). While effectuation on the right side of
the figure is testing different effects from the set of means, this is more of a dynamic process.

Figure 3: Causation on the left, effectuation on the right (S. D. Sarasvathy, 2001).

The short story is made as a practical example trying to simplify both causation and
effectuation. The short story is inspired by Sarasvathys story Curry in a Hurry from her
article Causation and effectuation: Toward a theoretical shift from economic inevitability to
entrepreneurial contingency (2001).

16

2.2.1

The short story

Imagine yourself as a painter. You are hired to paint a picture of a couple. They know exactly
what they want, and you know what they want. You go out and buy your needed colors and
equipment and eventually you finish the picture as ordered by your customers. This would be
causation. The well planned result, and the planned for effect.
However, acting within effectuation you would start in a different way. First of all you would
not have any clear plan for how the outcome would become. You would look in your
cupboards to see what kind of colors you already have, and you would start with a blank
canvas, not knowing the exact outcome of what you just started. Eventually you will come up
with a result. To take this even further - when making inquiries with other painters, you
discover how you are really good at throwing the best art viewings. So instead of finishing
your painting, you rather end up running your own showings for local painters. You chose
one effect out of several different effects.
As this story tries to emphasize, effectuation is the process where you have a set of means and
then you focus on choosing between different effects that can be created from your means.
While causation on the other hand takes the effect as given, and is focusing on choosing
between different means to be able to create that exact effect (S. D. Sarasvathy, 2001).

2.2.2

Predictions about something non-existent

When starting a business today, in our time of decreasing regulation and planned economies,
there is a great chance of not actually knowing precisely what you will end up creating (S. D.
Sarasvathy, 2001). Sarasvathy exemplifies four questions barley discussed in management
and economic curricula:
How do we make the pricing decision when the firm does not yet exist?
How do we hire someone for an organization that does not yet exist?
How do we value firms in an industry that did not exist five years ago and is barely
forming in the present?
At the macro level, how do we create a capitalist economy from a formerly
communist one?
(2001, p. 244)
17

Sarasvathy further informs us how each of these questions involves the problem of choosing
particular effects that may or may not implement intentional goals. She further states:
...if we knew precisely what type of firm we wished to create, we could use existing
theories and principles to create the firm. But usually all the entrepreneur knows when
he or she starts out is something very general, such as the desire to make lots of money
or to create a valuable legacy like a lasting institution, or, more common, to simply
pursue an interesting idea that seems worth pursuing (2001, p. 244).
In effectuation you have more an idea of creating something instead of creating that thing
(S. D. Sarasvathy, 2001). This leads us to the next chapter, how effectual entrepreneurs take
sufficient control with the use of the different concepts of effectuation.

2.2.3

Concepts of Effectuation and Causation

When acting out effectuation you are working with five concepts that is part of the effectual
cycle. In Table 7 we are presenting these concepts, and also what the contradictory
causational view is on each of these concepts.
Read et al. (2011) explains further how the Bird-in-Hand principle works. In effectuation
theory it is not necessary to start out with the perfect idea. The idea will become a result of
you, as an entrepreneur, actually starting it up. Examples of means, What I have or the
resource pool, consists of traits, abilities and attributes of the entrepreneur, whom the
entrepreneur knows, his or her education, his or her social network, and so on. Knowing this,
the entrepreneur can ask him or herself What kind of effects can I create from this? The
entrepreneur looks to several courses of action and the consequences of these courses will be
uncertain (Read et al., 2011, pp. 72-74).
Here we can find a connection to what we earlier found in the work of Fernandez-Guerrero et
al (2012) after stating that a business plan is only something the entrepreneur creates in regard
to getting hold of funding, they looked for better ways for government organizations and
venture capitalist to measure the quality of an idea or an entrepreneur. Government agencies
or venture capitalists should look into the entrepreneur's experience, education, motivation
and so on, here we make a connection to how government organizations and venture
capitalists should look into the means of the entrepreneur (2012).

18

Concept
Bird in hand vs.
Pre-set goals or
opportunities

Effectuation
-There are three types of means: Who I
am, what I know and whom I know.
-The entrepreneur can imagine
possibilities from these means.

Causation
-In causation you are choosing
between/gathering different
means after a goal is set.

Affordable loss vs.

Expected return

-The affordable loss is how entrepreneurs

understand what they can afford losing at
each step on the way.
-The entrepreneurs are not doing all or
nothing bets, they rather choose options
where there will be an upside even if there
is a downside happening.
-Expert entrepreneurs look at surprises
rather as new opportunities than a
showstopper. The contingency may be a
clue to create a new market.
-As a result expert entrepreneurs invite
surprises, instead of setting up what if
settings for worst case scenarios.

-In causation you look at the

expected return and to
minimize risk from this target.

-Expert entrepreneurs are early on

building partnerships with self-selecting
stakeholders. They are trying to get pre
commitments and partners early on in the
ventures life.
-Reduces uncertainty and interested
partners will co create a new market.
-The future is made. Not found, nor
predicted.
-Focusing on activities within their
control, expert entrepreneurs know their
actions will result in the desired outcome.
-In effectuation, the entrepreneurs have
sufficient control. Not full control. This to
be able to move ahead and take another
step (Read et al., 2011, p. 175).

-You look at other players

rather as competition than
partners.

Lemonade vs
Avoiding surprises

Patchwork quilt vs.

Competitive
analysis

Pilot-in-the-plane
vs. Inevitable
trends

-In causation you look at

surprise events as something
to minimize the risk of.

-In causation you rely on the

market forces to reveal the
future.

Table 7: Adapted from What is effectuation? (www.effectuation.org, 2011)

Sarasvathy writes in her article called The Affordable Loss Principle (2006) how the
Affordable Loss shows how the entrepreneur estimates the downside to figure out how much
the entrepreneur is willing to lose in the process of starting a venture. In this process the
entrepreneur is building relationships and brings other stakeholders on board to get hold of
and leverage resources. At every choice there is created another option in the future (Saras D.
Sarasvathy, 2006).
The Affordable Loss varies from entrepreneur to entrepreneur, and is all about where in life
and in what environment the entrepreneur is at. It does not depend that much on the business
19

itself. Affordable loss is therefore an estimate for the entrepreneur on which venture to start
up. Entrepreneurs using the effectuation method do not need to use other predictions than the
affordable loss in itself. If we look back at the questions Sarasvathy (2001, p. 244) asked, we
see a set of predictions about the future to be made. This is not necessary when calculating the
Affordable Loss, all you need is your own financial situation and your own psychological
commitment to a worst case scenario (Saras D. Sarasvathy, 2006)
The plunge decision is the moment when an entrepreneur decides to start up and gives a
good example on the Affordable Loss principle. In the school of effectuation the plunge
decision would mean you would ask yourself: How much am I willing to lose to start up this
venture? Then you may answer: I have X amount of money that I can put up, and I have the
opportunity to go back to the job market in the next five years. In contrast the causational
entrepreneur would answer: I need to raise Y amount of money to start this company, then I
am dependent on breaking even at time Z. It is important to notice how the effectuator is
making decisions based upon known facts within his or her control. On the other hand, the
causational entrepreneur is making predictions about the future, and which is outside the
control of the entrepreneur. There is no rule against effectual and causational entrepreneurs
working together, when the effectuator is looking for stakeholders he or she might end up
with someone willing to make a commitment which is working out of the causation method
(Saras D. Sarasvathy, 2006).
The Lemonade principle is where the effectual entrepreneur leverages surprises, in
effectuation theory simply stated as the famous saying When life gives you lemons, make
lemonade. In the real world of an entrepreneur a pre made plan leads you away from
surprises and helps you overcome or coexist with them. If this is what the entrepreneur is
doing, then he or she is missing out on one of the key elements in effectuation - the upside
opportunity by surprises, that even negative surprises may give you. In effectuation, surprises
are looked upon as a resource in the creation of ventures. A surprise, or a contingency, is
things that may or may not occur. There is no logical necessity for them to actually happen.
Surprises can happen without a specific known cause. Surprises play an important role in
shaping most individuals means, and the entrepreneur should consider how he or she can
alter these (Read et al., 2011, pp. 140-145).
Henry et al. wrote how the gut feeling or the art of entrepreneurship is not teachable
(2005b). We see how a connection to effectuation can be made. We see how the Lemonade
20

principle in effectuation gives more room for doing the art and using those gut feelings. How
you leverage contingency can be looked upon as creative room in entrepreneurship.
The authors of this thesis see yet again how effectuation is a circular process. Lemons or a
surprise, in the form of information, people, events, or the like, will again become an asset in
the entrepreneurs pool of resources, namely his or her means (may also add to goals) which is
the beginning of the effectual process.
A map of how it works
Figure 4 shows the cycle of effectuation. The process starts with the entrepreneur assessing
his or her means and is moving towards setting goals. When eventually the entrepreneur has
made inquiries and is making pre-commitments, the process becomes circular. You get new
means, new goals, or both. Meanwhile, surprises or Lemons add to both the means and goals.

Figure 4: The process of effectuation (www.effectuation.org, 2011)

2.2.4

Effectuation is a method

Sarasvathy informs us in her book Effectuation, Elements of Entrepreneurial Expertise how

entrepreneurship should be looked upon as a method, just as the scientific method is a method
(2008). Sarasvathy states ...an effectual logic fuels the entrepreneurial method, just as the
scientific method operates through the logic of experimentation (S. Sarasvathy, 2008, p.
308). This means that effectuation is something that can be taught, and is not something
mystical that some people have access to and others not (2008).

21

Many researchers discussed in this thesis (Brinkmann et. al, 2010; Honig 2004; Delmar 2003)
mention the questions regarding the teachings of entrepreneurship.

2.3

Can entrepreneurship be taught?

There is an ongoing discussion in the entrepreneurship academy whether or not

entrepreneurship can be taught (Fiet (2001a, 2001b); (Henry, Hill, & Leitch, 2005a; Henry et
al., 2005b); Bchard and Grgoire (2005)). The literature regarding what should be taught in
programs and lectures are extremely well covered by academics throughout the world.
However, not many have done research on the topic of whether or not entrepreneurship
actually is taught. It is clear that the interest for entrepreneurship from an educational
perspective has grown tremendously since the 70s. According to Fiet (2001a) in 1971 there
were only 16 colleges and universities in the United States that taught entrepreneurship, and
by 2001 there were over 800 colleges and universities in the United States that had
entrepreneurship classes, programs, and initiatives.
It is said that entrepreneurship can be divided into two by separating the art of
entrepreneurship from the science of entrepreneurship. The science of entrepreneurship can be
defined as the business and management functions (Henry et al., 2005b). In a classroom
situation, the topics that would cover the science of entrepreneurship would be writing a
business plan, researching the market, writing a financial plan, creating a strategy plan, and
learning how to present business plans. These topics are teachable (Henry et al., 2005b) and
are often taught by introducing students to theories and previous research. These topics also
represent the principles of causation. However, when looking at the art of entrepreneurship it
can be defined as the creative and innovative attributes of entrepreneurship (Henry et al.,
2005b, p. 164), this part of entrepreneurship seems to be non-teachable (Henry et al., 2005b).
The artistic part of entrepreneurship is more challenging to define in the classroom because of
its nature. The art of entrepreneurship includes what is considered the gut feeling as well as
how a person behaves as an entrepreneur, and it answers the question: What sets an
entrepreneur apart from other people? Even though it is difficult to teach the art of
entrepreneurship, according to Henry (Henry et al., 2005b, p. 165): most commentators
believe that at least some elements associated with the subject can be developed and
enhanced via education and training. It is difficult for entrepreneurial teachers to teach
entrepreneurial students what they know, because they probably learned most of it through
22

experience as Timmons and Stevenson (1984) suggests, as written in Henry et al. (2005a, p.
104): There is a limit to what can be taught in entrepreneurship training programmes, and
the only way to learn is through ones own experience. Also Fiet (2001b, p. 10) says
something to the same effect: A theoretical teaching has limited usefulness as a guide for
instructing aspiring entrepreneurs about their prospects for future success. He also goes on
to state that: The objective of entrepreneurship theory is to help entrepreneurs to understand
the consequences of their decision. Fiet (2001b, p. 11) However, the effectuation cycle may
provide a framework for approaching and incorporating the art of entrepreneurship. The logic
of affordable loss and surprises as opportunities could show students how and when to make
gut decisions and creative solutions to go around barriers.
From these statements it is difficult to conclude whether or not entrepreneurship can be taught
as there is research supporting both side of the debate. However, it was availed that a common
belief is that the science of entrepreneurship can be taught, but the art of entrepreneurship is
more difficult to teach.

2.4

Theory Conclusion

The discussion within the literature shows debates on entrepreneurial planning, different
planning logics, and entrepreneurship education. Along with these opening remarks we want
to make sure it is understood that we do not look upon causation as planning and
effectuation as not planning. Both causation and effectuation are planning methods. The
difference is if it is predictive or non-predictive planning.
As shown in the previous section at least some parts of entrepreneurship can be taught. Which
is a good thing as the authors of this paper are three master students who are about to finish a
program of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, for us it is interesting to learn if entrepreneurs
do as we have been taught. As described in detail in earlier sections the debate of how and
when to plan is ongoing and detail research has been done on the subject and on the theories
within entrepreneurship. However, we were unable to find current research on whether
students in an entrepreneurship program actually learn methods of thinking and performing
that are similar to what real entrepreneurs think and do.

23

3 Methodology
The newness of effectuation and causation theory, particularly as it applies to non-expert
entrepreneurs and students, compels the inductive approach of exploratory research. Further,
the

entrepreneurship

teach-ability

debate

deserves

comparative

look

between

entrepreneurship students and practicing entrepreneurs. Wilson states exploratory research is

viable where there currently exists very little, if any, earlier work to refer to (2010, p. 103).
Investigation of the entrepreneurial participants perceived process of business venturing
further warrants a subjectivists ontology and interpretivism epistemology (Wilson 2010: 10 12). In light of these methodological considerations and interest across different types of
entrepreneurs as they measure up to one another, an exploratory approach of multiple cases
using replication logic and cross-case analysis is viewed to be appropriate.

3.1

Research design

Multiple case design was followed as a means to answer our research question. The state of
the literature on non-expert entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship students is an opportunity to
further research the extent of effectuation theory beyond expert entrepreneurs, as defined by
S. Sarasvathy (2008, p. 21). Case study design is justifiable when studying complex systems
occurring in daily life (K. Yin, 2009, p. 4). Use of multiple cases is similar to performing
several experiments to investigate and elicit intra- and inter-group similarities and differences
(K. Yin, 2009, p. 54). Additionally, use of several cases often increases the robustness of a
studys results when compelling and appropriate implementation of multiple case study
design is achieved (K. Yin, 2009, p. 53). Researching entrepreneurship students and two types
of entrepreneurs through an effectuation theory framework represents theoretical replication
and warrants multi-case research design.
In this study we were interested in three distinct groups: Experts, Entrepreneurs, and Students
(all defined in 3.1.3: Choice of Cases). Implementing multiple case design, we are able to use
both replication logic through explanation building prototypes of Experts, Entrepreneurs, and
Students; and, cross-case synthesis to bring greater context to our research question. The
approach allows for a valid analysis of how these three groups differ from or are similar to
one another in relation to various aspects of effectuation and causation processes.
24

Figure 5 illustrates the four stages of the research process. The jumping off point presented
itself after interviewing young technology based startups CEOs and discussions with our
supervisor. The stages clarified the steps needed to complete our research in setting up a
research calendar. The research design process was based on our research question, the
phenomenon investigated, and available resources. Propositions and theoretical implications
are discussed in the Discussion chapter.

Figure 5: Research Stages

3.1.1

Research question

Based on the continuing debate laid out in chapter 2, the Theory chapter, there is much to
investigate in selecting an entrepreneurial process and its impact on the success of the venture.
An important note to make is that these processes were delineated from researchers
observations of entrepreneurs and may not be consciously practiced.

25

Additionally, effectuation theory offers a new perspective on the process of entrepreneurial

venturing. Though, few have applied the theory in research, particularly when making
comparisons between students and entrepreneurs.
Further, educational programs intrinsically endorse the idea entrepreneurship is teachable
offering courses and whole programs on the subject. The United States has seen university
programs offering entrepreneurship grow by a factor of 50 in the last thirty years of the
twentieth century (Fiet, 2001a). The result has been an increasing number of business
programs with varying degrees of entrepreneurial focus on the two competing schools of
thought the planning versus storm the castle mentalities. These programs aim to educate
aspiring practitioners similar to professional studies with known methodical processes.
However, the current literature bares little research on entrepreneurship study programs and
their overlap with practicing entrepreneurs.
Exploratory interviews with CEOs of young technology based startups, the continuing debate
in the literature on venturing processes, and our experience as entrepreneurship students
inspired the following research question: How do entrepreneurship students perceptions on
venturing, in the context of causation and effectuation, compare to experts and entrepreneurs
perceived paths to success?

3.1.2

Research Strategy

According to Yin, multiple case studies are appropriate when employing replication logic to
the study (K. Yin, 2009, p. 54). Replication logic in multiple case studies dictates both
attempts at exact replication and slight alterations of the original study to test robustness (K.
Yin, 2009, p. 54). Yin further asserts (emphasis added):
The ability to conduct 6 or 10 case studies, arranged effectively within a multiple-case
design, is analogous to the ability to conduct 6 to 10 experiments on related topics; a
few cases (2 or 3) would be literal replications, whereas a few other cases (4 to 6)
might be designed to pursue two different patterns of theoretical replications.
(2009, p. 54)
Effectuation theory, as described in the chapter 2.2, was developed by S. Sarasvathy (2008) to
describe the process she observed from studying expert entrepreneurs. In contrast to the
26

effectuation process, S. Sarasvathy (2008) classified causation theory as existing practices in

management theory. Therefore multiple cases in this research can be used to achieve literal
replication (Expert) and two divergent replications (Entrepreneurs and Students). In the
context of these two contending theories, our approach is within the scope of an exploratory
step away from the literature presented in the chapter 2.2. Due to the time constraints of this
thesis and availability of Experts, all interviews were carried out prior to full analysis of the
individual cases. However, as part of the research process, we discussed our first impressions
from the interviews and ways to improve data collection during the interviews. For example,
after interviewing a couple of students, it became clear the hypothetical questions could be
vague, so we asked them to think about how they had previously dealt with surprises and
other relevant situations. Interview questions can be found in Appendix 1.4.
To strengthen multiple case studies, when a higher degree of certainty is needed or dealing
with subtle theory, Yin recommends increasing the number of literal replications. (2009, p.
58) To this end we managed to complete four interviews with Experts, for a total of four
literal replications.

3.1.3

Choice of cases

The three groups of interviewees Experts, Entrepreneurs, and Students were chosen for the
purpose of answering our research question. The groups and the cases were based on the
classes of information-oriented selection key, outlier, and local knowledge cases.
Interviewees considered Experts are based on an adaptation of S. Sarasvathy (2008)
definition1, due to access and time issues. Rather than using her initial public offering criteria,
we determined expert entrepreneurs based on their companies annual turnover of greater than
10 million Norwegian kroner, positive profits, and a customer base spread around the world.
Experts were accessed through our personal network. However, Expert B was initially in the
Entrepreneurs group. He was re-categorized as an Expert after the interview. During
discussion of Expert Bs interview, we realized he fit our Expert definition. Due to the limited
research time frame, geography, and the busy schedules of these participants, there were four

"a person who, either individually or as part of a team, had founded one or more companies, remained a fulltime founder/entrepreneur for 10 years or more, and participated in taking at least one company public (S.
Sarasvathy, 2008, p. 21)"

27

interviewees classified as Experts. One of which was conducted over the phone and another
via email of the interview questions. The remaining two interviews were conducted in person.
Selection of Entrepreneurs was based on leaders or founders of companies located at
Forskningsparken a research park in Oslo. Entrepreneurs are defined as those whose
companies have reached or surpassed break-even in their operations. The intention is to
identify entrepreneurs who have demonstrated some measurable success. Doing so provides
contrast to S. Sarasvathy (2008, p. 21) expert entrepreneurs from whom she developed the
theory of effectuation. Financial results, publically available from PROFF The Business
Finder website2, were used to identify companies, leaders, and founders who had reached or
surpassed the break-even point in their operations. The most recent year's data at the time of
candidate selection (February 15, 2013) was from 2011. The original list of companies
included biotechnology, chemicals, IT, geotechnology, and specialty equipment firms.
Interview request emails were sent out to all firms on the list. The final interviewees
represented IT, chemicals, specialty equipment, and robotics firms.
Five in person interviews were granted of the 24 requests; approximately a 20 percent
response rate. Additionally, three Entrepreneurs declined due to a lack of available time, and
contact information for two other Entrepreneurs was no longer valid. The response rate is
considered reasonable for a short study period and the busy nature of the participants. Firms
and Entrepreneurs located at Forskningsparken were selected due to the researcher's close
proximity, access to the facilities, and the research parks close alliance to the University of
Oslo and internship partnership with students from the Centre for Entrepreneurship. The time
constraints of the research also limited the scope to remain focused on a close partner
organization.
Five Students were chosen for their enrollment in the Centre for Entrepreneurship master's
program for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. The researchers gained access to the Students
due to their co-enrollment in the program. Three subjects are in their first year of the program,
and two are in the second year. Limited fraternization between the researchers and the first
year students helped limit interpersonal relationship bias from injecting itself in the research.
This likely limited subject and observer biasing. The two second year students were included

www.proff.no

28

to increase granular data on the educational outcome between the two years. Increased
granularity at the expense of objectivity, so long as granularity provides useful insights for the
study, was viewed as worth the cost. However, we attempted to limit biasing providing the
same level of information to the second years as with the other participants. Additionally, we
kept the threat of biasing in mind during the interviews and worked to keep the same level of
distance between all participants and ourselves. The student interviewees were selected based
on responses to in person and email requests sent to the students.

3.1.4

The unit of analysis

Multiple holistic analyses: Several cases with one unit of analysis per case (i.e. several
individuals Experts, Entrepreneurs, and Students process of venturing are the cases and
the unit of analysis)
There were fourteen cases and thus units. Three types of interviewees classified the cases
units: Experts, Entrepreneurs, and Students.
Experts and founders of companies at Forskningsparken (Entrepreneurs) were interviewed
about their experience starting and running profitable or break-even ventures. Five students
from the University of Oslo master of Innovation & Entrepreneurship program were asked
questions adapted from the original questions to account for the hypothetical situation
Students face none of them had founded a startup. The aim was to gain insight into their
perspectives of the entrepreneurial process.
Additionally, all interviewees were asked about their previous experiences (including
education), and their knowledge about the two competing theories of entrepreneurship
processes (causation and effectuation). The participants provided valuable information on
intra- and inter-variations of each case type.

3.1.5

The quality of research

Due to the nature of the research question of how different categories of entrepreneurs views
on the venturing processes compare, most data was obtained directly from the research
participants during the interviews. Thus, the primary threat to reliability is the use of semi
structured interviews as the main source of data. This can result in subject biasing in the
29

results. However, the intention of the research was to gain the perspective of the interviewees
venturing style and process. To improve reliability, we followed Yins three principles for
data collection: using multiple data sources, creating a case study database, and maintaining a
chain of evidence (2009, pp. 114 - 124). Additionally, two case study protocols were
developed, one for the Experts and Entrepreneurs, and a second for the Students.

Multiple sources
While semi structured interviews were the primary source of data on the participants,
additional data was collected from their firms websites, PROFF The Business Finder website,
and social media pages (i.e. LinkedIn). This data helped triangulate facts from the interviews.
However, these secondary sources of data did not provide much verification of the opinions or
attitudes of the interviewees. Yin suggests comparing behavioral data with other similar
participants (2009, p. 109) Though, multiple cases do not serve as corroborative evidence to
counter subject bias, it does improve the robustness through replications across cases and
building prototypes of the Experts, Entrepreneurs, and Students.

Study database
All material pertaining to this study was collected in a database. The database includes advisor
meeting minutes, interview protocols, list of potential participants, interview recordings,
interview transcripts, interview notes, emails with the interview subjects, and secondary data
(i.e. profile information from social media and firm websites). The interviewee data was
organized by category (Expert, Entrepreneur, and Student). Summations of the participants
answers to our interview questions were made and collected in spreadsheets. Coded data were
organized into documents and tables.

Chain of evidence
We took the following steps to establish chain of evidence: the case descriptions, cross-case
analyses cite the relevant interviewees thus referencing the case databases coded material;
and the case database contains the full collection of raw and coded data, and the data
collection circumstances.

30

Validity
Fourteen cases and three prototypes were explored and analyzed in relation to effectuation and
causation theory, and the research setting. Findings in this study provided insight into the
individual cases and prototypes. However, care should be taken in extending the results to a
broader setting. The following steps were implemented to improve the validity of the research.

Construct: Prior to beginning data collection, our research question and interview
questions went through an iterative process. This included reading relevant literature
and review of our interview and research questions by our supervisor. Interviews
conducted in Norwegian were translated and then corroborated by the interviewees to
confirm accurate translation. We sent the case reports to our interview subjects for
review as a means to corroborate the essential facts and evidence presented in their
case description, as suggested by Wilson (2010, p. 122). Additionally, use of multiple
sources of evidence and establishing a chain of evidence bolster construct validity
(Ario & Ring, 2010)

Internal: For internal validity, our general analytical strategy relied on effectuation and
causation theory in guiding the organization and analysis of our case evidence. Our
dominant analytical procedures were explanation building and cross-case synthesis.
We used the theoretical framework of the five principles in the effectuation and
causation processes to build explanations of the different venturing practices and
perspectives of our participants. The two processes were used as rival explanations of
one another. Further, the same framework of principles was used to build prototypes
of the Experts, Entrepreneurs, and Students through cross-case synthesis. Following
Eisenhardt (1989) advice, the process permitted us to look for within-group
similarities coupled with intergroup differences. We put data in tables for comparison
of effectuation and causation principles. From this, the developed prototypes we
created effectuation and causation indexes to make inter-prototype comparisons.

External: Creation of prototypes formed the basis for establishing replication

conditions.

31

3.2

Research methods

3.2.1

Research setting

To understand how students perceptions on the venturing process compares to actual actors
in the field, the previously described multiple-case study design was employed. Performing a
longitudinal cross-case study of the three groups (Experts, Entrepreneurs, and Students)
would have been preferred, but the time was not available for this thesis project.
A snapshot of their perspectives must suffice for this initial study. Thus, interviews to
ascertain their current perspectives were the best option. Fourteen cases broken down into
four Experts and five cases for both Entrepreneurs and Students is sufficient data to achieve
replication according to Yin (2009, p. 54). Twelve of the fourteen participants were
interviewed in person, one Expert was interviewed over the phone, and another expert was
sent an email with the interview questions. Our promise of anonymity to interviewees was
meant to protect their identities and permit them to be more comfortable providing honest
answers. The following is a brief introduction to our cases.

Expert A
Expert A is the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at a global corporation that has customers in
more than a 100 countries. The firm has offices in 30 countries and approximately 2450
employees worldwide. We conducted a phone interview with Expert A in Norway. Expert A
has an engineering degree from England and he has been in the marketing sector most of his
career before landing his current position as CMO.

Expert B
Expert B earned his degree in Biochemistry from the University of Oslo. However he
explained to us that he is first of all a merchant. Expert B leads a biotechnology company he
helped found in the early 1990s. Since the firms founding, Expert B has held many
leadership roles within and outside the firm. The firm has customers worldwide and provides
custom production services. The interview was in person at Expert Bs office.

32

Expert C
Expert C is a software engineer who was educated in China where he was also born and
raised. For a long time he worked for a Swedish company in the US. After which he left to
start his own IT consultancy company. Expert C has several business ventures in China.
Expert C answered the interview questions via email.

Expert D
Expert D completed 2 years of photography educated in Sweden. He worked as a
photographer for a large newspaper in Norway before he was promoted to photo editor. Now
he is the CEO of his own software company that he started in 1994. The firm has partners and
customers all over the world. The interview was held in person at Expert Ds office.

Entrepreneur A
Entrepreneur A has a small company founded in 2011. Currently they are two full time
employees (the two founders) and one part time employee who helps out with finances a few
hours a week. The company serves as an IT consultancy company while the two founders
come up with one great idea that they can work with for the rest of their lives. Entrepreneur A
has a masters degree in informatics from the University in Oslo and has attended
Grnderskolen courses on entrepreneurship. The interview was carried out by two of the
researchers at Entrepreneur As office.

Entrepreneur B
Entrepreneur B is a professor of chemistry and leads a research group at a Norwegian
university. He has no formal or informal business training. He started his first company as a
way to invoice his services and commercialize technology developed in his research group.
The company sells specialty research equipment. The interview was held at Entrepreneur Bs
office.

Entrepreneur C
Entrepreneur C has his background from automatisation and cybernetics, he has no formal or
informal entrepreneurial training. However, he has started two firms, and is in the process of
33

starting his third company. The company he now spends his time with is a company which he
categorizes as a company working with industry systems. The interview was in person at the
office of Entrepreneur C.

Entrepreneur D
Entrepreneur D has a background in IT from University of Oslo, and he has no entrepreneurial
training. The company he now works for is the first and only he has started, which he
categorizes as a company in the IT industry. Entrepreneur D was interviewed in person at his
office.

Entrepreneur E
Entrepreneur E has a background in chemistry and several years experience in the
pharmaceutical industry, but has no formal training in business or entrepreneurship. He has
started one company, which he classifies as in the chemicals industry. The interview was held
at his office.

Student A
Student A has a background in construction engineering at the Oslo University College.
Student A started the Innovation and Entrepreneurship program, as he wanted to start up a
company. The interview was held in person at UiOs new IFI building where the Centre for
Entrepreneurship is housed.

Student B
Student B has a background in computer science and worked for a couple of years in IT
consulting prior to joining the Innovation and Entrepreneurship masters program. He is
pursuing the masters degree to pivot his career focus away from a purely technical role and to
fulfill his ambition of working for himself with innovative technologies. The interview was
held in person at UiOs new IFI building where the Centre for Entrepreneurship is housed.

34

Student C
Student C is a student who has a bachelor in informatics from the University in Oslo. She
started the Innovation and Entrepreneurs master program because while she was completing
her informatics bachelor she felt that she and her classmates came up with many great ideas
and products, but she noticed that most of them werent able to take the ideas and products to
the next level. The interview was held in person at UiOs new IFI building where the Centre
for Entrepreneurship is housed.

Student D
Student D has his background as a civil engineer in robotics. He is planning to start up a
company, and still is after he has been studying Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He attended
the Innovation and Entrepreneurship program due to him believing that Norway is a lowinnovation country so the Norwegian government will need to have a huge focus on this
program. The interview was held in person at UiOs new IFI building where the Centre for
Entrepreneurship is housed.

Student E
Student Es background is in engineering. She is unsure on whether to she wants to start a
company; she expressed a preference of working at a startup. Student E wanted to change
career track away from a purely technical field, so she joined the University of Oslos
Innovation and Entrepreneurship program. The interview was held in person at UiOs new IFI
building where the Centre for Entrepreneurs is housed.

3.2.2

Data collection

To achieve our research goal, we interviewed the three groups on their perspectives of the
venturing process. Interviews were deemed the most appropriate approach, as the target
groups perspectives are, by definition, their personal views on a complex process. Further,
Crang and Cook (2007) pointed out interviews provide a means for researchers to gain
insights into peoples complex lives.
The interview questions were developed to answer our research question using effectuation
and causation principles as the framework for analysis. The interview questions were also
35

designed to serve as a base of our semi-structured interviews. This gave room for new ideas
and questions during an interview through the free exchange of ideas. By having the question
guide, we could explore unexpected information without going too far off track from our
research objective. Prior to conducting interviews, the interview questions were shared with
our supervisor for approval.
Interview request letters were sent out via email to the identified suitable candidates. The
letter requested an interview no longer than an hour and offered anonymity for the participants
and their firms. The candidates interviewed replied typically within a week. Nonresponsive
candidates were contacted by both a second follow up email and phone call. However, no
additional candidates were acquired this way. Student candidates were contacted directly in
person and via email.
According to Wilson, interviews conducted in a comfortable and familiar location for the
interviewee is ideal (2010, p. 138). On site interviews were held in an attempt to help put the
interviewees at ease. The face-to-face interviews were held at the offices of two Experts and
the five Entrepreneurs. The Students were interviewed in private at the building that houses
the Centre for Entrepreneurship, thus providing a familiar and comfortable setting for the
students to speak candidly. All participants were assured of their anonymity prior to starting
the interview. Audio recording of the face-to-face interviews were made with the permission
of the interviewees. During the interview, notes were made as well. However, priority was
given to engaging in a full conversation with the interview subjects.

3.3

Data analysis

The research question informed the analytical approach, while the research design and
theoretical lenses guided the coding process. Prior to analysis, the raw data from interview
audio recordings, interview notes, and follow up email questions and answers were
transcribed. Once fully transcribed, we took steps to familiarize ourselves with and code the
data.

36

3.3.1

Coding process

Familiarization with the data involved rereading the transcripts and forming short synopses of
the interviewees answers to the guiding questions of the interviews. The synopses were
organized in a spreadsheet according to interviewee and question. This was followed by a
review of the synopses and transcripts by the other two researchers.
In order to code the data, we used both priori and emergent coding techniques. The interviews
were first coded for the five steps in the effectuation cycle. Second, we coded the interviews
by the corresponding five steps in the causation process. In parallel with these two coding
events, we tagged interesting statements for discussion with all researchers. An acceptable
process given Wilson definition that [c]oding is simply selecting the elements of your data
that you believe are both interesting and relevant to your research (2010, p. 258). Early in
the coding process statements were highlighted for further discussion when we were
individually unsure of the correct code. Discussion of some of the highlighted statements led
to an emergent category. The statements involved contradictory thinking such as:
its probably much more important to kind of show this business plan to some
investors in a way, but personally I want to first establish a company, make it run and
then maybe use some more time, make it run and yeah, perhaps have a few people.
And then go out and get money if you need it
Entrepreneur A
The entrepreneur is demonstrating an effectual tendency, but believes its better to follow a
causal approach. This and similar quotes were coded as do effectuation/think causation.
The above quotes demonstrated the need for allowing emergent themes in a coding frame. The
familiarization and coding steps enabled the fracturing and organization of the data to analyze
the cases. We organized the coded quotes by effectuation and causation principles, and two
groups (Experts & Entrepreneurs, and Students). Tables with the ten principles (five
effectuation and causation) and emergent themes were made for each participant to better see
similarities and differences among them. Indeed, the method provided perspective and insight
into each case, which is difficult to obtain from listening to the interviews or reading the
transcripts.

37

3.3.2

Analysis strategies and techniques

Interviewees and their perspective on the venturing process were treated as individual cases
for holistic analysis. Developing case descriptions and examining rival explanations were the
two general case analysis strategies followed. Yin warns developing case descriptions is a less
preferable strategy than using theoretical propositions (2009, p. 131). However, the nature of
the research fits better with developing case descriptions to explore effectuation theory
beyond Sarasvathys expert entrepreneurs (2008, p. 21).
Replication logic based on the effectuation and causation processes served as the analytical
framework. The two counter processes acted as rival explanations to one another. The Experts
were a test of literal replication to Sarasvathys (2008, p. 21; 2001) effectuation theory,
whereas the Entrepreneurs and Students pushed the research into two separate pattern
replications.
Further, as a multi-case holistic study, cross-case synthesis is an especially relevant analytical
technique (K. Yin, 2009, p. 156). A uniform framework of the effectuation and causation
characteristics was developed for both intra- and inter-group cross-case analysis of the three
types of entrepreneurs (Expert, Experienced, & Student). The cross-case framework was
derived from the coding framework described in the coding subchapter. Additionally,
effectuation and causation indices were calculated for each participant as well as the three
groups averages. The index calculations were based on participants coded use of the
principle from effectuation or causation principles. Participants were allocated a point for data
supporting their use of each principle. The principles were organized into two axes:
effectuation and causation. Averages for each group formed the prototypes. The prototypes
were normalized for comparison. The results are plotted in figures at the end of each analysis
of the groups.

38

4 Analysis and Interpretations

Case descriptions were developed from the raw data and are presented in Appendix 1.1 and
Table 8 through Table 13. The cases were examined through the lenses of effectuation and
causation principles during the explanation building process. Intra-group synthesis was used
to build the prototypes of Experts, Entrepreneurs, and Students for determining replication.
Cross-case analysis of the prototypes was interpreted in developing propositions presented in
chapter 5; Discussion.

4.1

Interview presentations

In this chapter we present two set of tables. One table for where Experts, Entrepreneurs, and
Students showed evidence of effectual behavior and one table where they showed causational
behavior. There is written a short explanation or statement where the interviewee showed
evidence of a principle. If the interviewee did not show any evidence in that principle, nothing
was written. A more complete case description of the interviewees is in the appendix.

4.1.1

Experts

As mentioned in the Methodology chapter we interviewed four Experts. In Table 8 and Table
9 an overview is given of which of the principles of effectuation and causation the Experts
showed evidence of. Table 8 lists the Effectuation theorys principles while Table 9 lists the
Causation theorys principles. Short statements about what the Experts said or did are placed
in the box corresponding to the principles in question. Where we did not find evidence of
Experts practicing one of the principles, the section was left blank.

39

Effectuation
Bird-in Hand

Expert A

Expert B

Expert C

Expert D

He used his means to get what he wanted

Expert B was assessing his means when

asking people he knew with the needed
experience when doing something new

He always uses his network to expand his

business and tap into new market and new
businesses

Using friends and connections in different

places he started his company with funding
from his employer

Having a plan A and B and only taking the

risk he can afford

When Expert D started his company he

knew that if he failed he still had a job and
an income from his previous company

Expert C made his previous employer

become his largest customer once he started
his new firm

From the beginning they knew they wanted

to use partners as a way of selling their
software. They got pre-commitments early
in the venture from partners wanting to sell
their software

Affordable Loss
Lemonade

Making all marketing events something that

would benefit his company, even the
negative ones

Patchwork
Quilt

He keeps close contact with all the

companies they are in contact with

Expert B stated that it is important to find

people who has gone through what you are
going through before and learn from them

They focus on activities within their control

like changing their goals and activities to fit
with reality

Pilot-in-Plane
Table 8: Expert Effectuation Example Synopses
Causation
Pre-set
Goals
and
Opportunities
Expected
Return

Expert A

Avoiding
Surprises
Competitive
Analysis
Inevitable
Trends

He is always prepared for any question,

good or bad

Table 9: Expert Causation Example Synopses

40

Expert B

Expert C

In a large company such as this there are

milestones and goals to work towards and
there are plans to follow

Expert D
Expert D mentioned that as they are getting
bigger they are more focused on plans and
certain goals

Expert B is concerned about investor

relations - we look at this as expected return.
Expert B says that risk has been dealt with
since the investors has been willing to put in
more money

Writing business plans to the best of his

knowledge

Expert B seems concerned with how a

protection to an idea is very important

Thinking 5-10 years ahead

Expert B follows the market that is already

out there and accepts how things are without
trying to change them

4.1.2

Entrepreneurs

Five Entrepreneurs were interviewed, as introduced in the Methods subchapter. An overview

of the five cases is presented in Table 10 and Table 11. The tables are a breakdown of the
principles of effectuation and causation theories, respectively, as demonstrated by the
Entrepreneurs. The Entrepreneurs showed evidence of both effectuation and causation. Short
statements about what the Entrepreneurs said or did are placed in the box corresponding to the
principles in question. On the occasions we did not find evidence of an Entrepreneur
practicing one of the principles, the section was left blank.

4.1.1

Students Centre for Entrepreneurs, UiO

As mentioned in the Methodology section we have been able to interview five Students
attending the two year Master of Science in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University
of Oslo. Students A and B were attending their first year in the program, while student C, D
and E were in their second year. Full summaries of their case reports are listed in the
Appendix. In Table 12 and Table 13 an overview is given of the evidence demonstrating their
use of the theories of effectuation and causation. Table 12 lists the Effectuation theorys
principles, and Table 13 lists the Causation theorys principles. Short summaries or statements
by the Students are placed in the box corresponding to the principles in question. Where we
did not find evidence of a Student practicing one of the principles, the section was left blank.

41

Effectuation
Bird-in Hand

Entrepreneur A

Entrepreneur B

Entrepreneur C

Entrepreneur D

Entrepreneur E

He knew he wanted to work with

his current partner because of the
chemistry they had together
during school

Started company to take advantage

of his expertise in his research field
and generate income from what he
was already doing for free

Entrepreneur C financed his own

company of product development
by using 50% of his time doing
consultancy

The Entrepreneur used means

available to him and his prior
knowledge to start his company

Entrepreneur E explained he had

worked on a technology for some
years and decide he wanted try and
commercialize it

Affordable Loss

To start his current company he

said they just went for it. The
risk wasnt that high and they
knew that if they failed they
would have no problems getting
a new job

Entrepreneur B said he could afford

to fail or lose his business venture.
Particularly since he still had his
primary job

Entrepreneur C was sure he could

go back to a normal job in the
industry, due to having job offers at
several companies. He did neither
have any loans or greater financial
values to lose, if things were going
to go bad

Entrepreneur D explains how

people with the same kind of IT
education as himself has a very
good job market, and that it is
relatively easy to get a well-paid
job in the market today. However,
it is the drive to do something on
his own that has made him start up
his own venture

Entrepreneur E said its important

not to have high expectations that
would get him into a difficult
situation and have a hard fall

Lemonade

He likes being in a chaotic startup situation where there are

many problems to solve and he
wants to be involved in
something from beginning to end

Originally wanted the company to

provide scientific services and
develop own materials, but was
unable to get talented scientists.
Instead found a computer wizard
and the company is developing
scientific software

Patchwork
Quilt

When he starts his next project

he wants to make sure he has a
pre-commitment
from
a
customer or potential partner
before he starts

Forskningsparken
had
been
encouraging him to start a company
for many years, so when he decided
to, it triggered many systems to
support him

He uses is network and reputation

to good effect in getting partners
and commitments from customers

Pilot-in-Plane

By waiting for one great idea

they can work with they are
focusing on activities within
their control and they know that
their actions will result in their
desired outcome

Knows he cannot control future

customers, so controls stock
materials to minimize exposure to
low turnover

He said he was no economist. And

he had no knowledge on how the
economy was looking 3-4 years
from now. He was neither keen on
making business plans as it took up
too much time, and he did not
know how to do it. He said he did
not have any knowledge on how to
do any of those things - we can see
how he rather kept things within
his control

Do Effectuation/
Think
Causation

The Entrepreneur wrote a

business plan only to get funding
from Innovation Norway. He
also
mentioned
that
for
companies
who
need
investments it is probably a good
idea to have a business plan

Knows he cannot control future

customers, so controls stock
materials to minimize exposure to
low turnover

Table 10: Entrepreneur Effectuation Example Synopses

42

Had to redirect projects and

production in new direction
because they werent successful,
but his technology is very flexible
and he enjoys the research this
allows him to do
He offers his software for free to
get pre-commitments

Does product development from

what customers are specifically
asking for

Entrepreneur explained he can

control what he purchases based on
the companys available funds, but
does not make budgets since he
cannot predict future sales

Entrepreneur D seemed to only

have written a business plan to
please the system/incubator he was
starting his company with

Causation
Pre-set
Goals
and
Opportunities

Entrepreneur A

Entrepreneur B

Entrepreneur C

Entrepreneur D

Entrepreneur E

Knows he cannot control future

customers, so controls stock
materials to minimize exposure to
low turnover

Expected
Return

He is on the board of a second

company that is selling a dream
and will first have high expenses
before any possibility of a return

Avoiding
Surprises

He designed the business model to

have not costs until someone
orders their product

Competitive
Analysis
Inevitable
Trends

Thinks entrepreneurs need to know

their market very well

The Entrepreneur minimizes risk

by having an insurance

See his initial estimate of market

and demand for his product is
behaving
according
to
his
predictions

Table 11: Entrepreneur Causation Example Synopses

43

Effectuation

Student A

Bird-in Hand

Student B

Student C

Identify a problem and based on

his background, how can he fulfill
the need

Based on what Student C has

learned the last year she says that a
great team can help you do
anything

Student D

Believes ones ideas and team are

more important than having
financial backing
Recognizes that potential rewards
run parallel to risks, but she is not
interested in big risks

Affordable Loss
Lemonade

Student A answered that he would

work around unforeseen events

Thinks it important to make the

most of surprises and look for their
positive sides

Patchwork Quilt

Student A is keen to network, talk

to people and to get hold of the
best human capital. Student A
would like to get out there and
test an idea

Thinks its important to look at

how an idea is relevant and good
for everyone

Pilot-in-Plane

Student A said that he would put

up milestones, but change them as
the market changes

Do Effectuation/
Think Causation

Table 12: Student Effectuation Example Synopses

44

Student E

Sees value in not being averse to

making changes and being light on
ones feet
Student D believes that sometimes
you have customers that tell you
how they are willing to buy your
product, without even having a
business plan
While student C completed her
bachelor her and her classmates
came up with a lot of good ideas
and products, but no one knew
how to take them to the next
level so she wanted to learn what
she could do within her control to
publish or commercialize them
Even though she says to not worry
too much about problems, she says
that there should be someone who
can take care of them while the
entrepreneur goes for it

Student D does not try to make

predictions about the future, he
says that he will meet an
unforeseen problem with an
unforeseen solution

Would approach people about her

opportunity get people that believe
in the idea a self-selecting group
of colleagues

Causation
Pre-set
Goals
and
Opportunities

Student A

Expected
Return

Student A wants investments from

Innovation Norway when he starts
up a new venture

Avoiding
Surprises

Competitive
Analysis
Inevitable
Trends

Student B

Student D

Student E

Thinks its important to ID a

problem, visualize a solution and
develop a business plans with firm
goals

Student C

Student D says one should set

milestones and strive to achieve
them

Sees the startup process as having

a lot of upfront costs and need the
initial capital during that period

Thinks it is important to do market

and financial analysis to determine
the needed resources and then
pitch idea and search for funding

Key obstacle is to get hold of

money

Needs to be confident about fully

fleshed out idea before looking for
partner or money

Would use risk management

process and contingency plans in
the business plan to avoid
unforeseen problems, risks, and
uncertainty

Would read a lot about trends to

determine whats happening and
reduce uncertainty by getting the
facts

Table 13: Student Causation Example Synopses

45

4.2

Interview Analysis

This section is devoted to analyzing the different groups internally; comparisons of what the
different members of the groups say and what their actions mean. In the end a prototype of
each group (Expert, Entrepreneur, and Student) will be given demonstrating literal
replications.

4.2.1

Expert Intra-Group Analysis and Synthesis

Bird-in-hand versus Pre-set Goals or Opportunities

From the pool of Experts who were interviewed, all of them partook in the Bird-in-hand or
Pre-set Goals or Opportunities discussion. Expert B and C followed the effectual side of the
discussion, while Expert A and D showed examples of both effectual and causational sides.
Expert B looked for people who had the experience and know-how to share with him.
Well, you just have to dive into it. And constantly look at who one can use as support.
If you sit down and say, I'll have to read this to do it on my own. That won't work. You
need to figure out - who has gone down this road before. Who can I ask? Who has the
knowledge?
Expert B
By taking that step towards finding new people, and in effect new means he is using the
effectuation theory of Bird-in-Hand. In a similar way Expert C said that he always uses his
network to expand his business and tap into new markets and new businesses. Similarly
Expert D used his friends and connections in different places to start his company and he used
funding from his employer.
Expert A said that in a large company such as the one he works for there are milestones and
goals to work towards and there are plans to follow. However, this type of thinking might
only be because of the rules of the company that he works for, he also mentioned that because
he had worked for the company for 15-16 years he was able to get the position of CMO. This
may show that by using his means he got what he wanted and in turn followed effectual
46

thinking. At the end of the interview Expert D mentioned that as they had become a larger
company they now have more goals and plans. Of course the bigger you grow the more firm
plans you need. So right now we are working more deliberately towards certain goals
compared to some years ago. - Expert D
From looking at what these Experts say they all mention network as something that is an
important part of venturing. However, it is the way or intention that these networks are used
that determines if they act effectually or causatively. Expert Ds comment is demonstrative of
how entrepreneurs use their network effectually:
I think everybody says you have to believe in it, you have to understand the market
and you have to have the right timing. But, very few of those points, they fall down
every time you do it, but we were quite lucky, we had the right timing, we had the right
know-how, and we had the right means to do it.
Expert D
We feel that Experts B, C, and D represent the Expert group as Expert A works for a large
corporation. Expert As comments about the practices of pre-setting goals is representative of
standardized protocols for employees to follow at large companies and may be less
representative of Experts. Also, Expert Ds comment about having goals and plans seemed to
only be because the company is now larger and a certain framework for goal-setting has to be
made. Due to the manner Experts B, C, and Ds use their networks, and Expert As personal
networking behavior, we can say the Experts follow the Bird-in-Hand principle.

Affordable Loss vs. Expected Return

Three out of four Experts mentioned the Affordable Loss and Expected Return discussion.
Two of the Experts mention different actions that fall into both the Affordable Loss and
Expected Return categories and one Expert falls into the expected return category.
Expert B has followed the expected return mentality because he has written a lot of business
plans, which is considered having an ultimate goal. Further, the company he is currently
running is dependent on investors and this is also considered causational.
Yes, we wrote business plans all the way, as we went on...Ha-ha You work a lot
with that and also you play a bit ball towards the investors, then you come back and
47

so on...but it is also how you are sitting and writing that business plan. .it is really
hard to...it is really hard to sit down and say this is my plan.
Expert B
Expert B was not the only one amongst the Experts to write a business plan. Expert C said he
wrote a business plan to the best of his ability. This shows that Expert C is causational by
following Expected Return thinking. However, he is also effectual in the sense that he always
has a plan A and a plan B and this is considered Affordable Loss as he also said he only takes
the risk that he can afford.
Expert Ds actions follow an effectual viewpoint; he said that when he started his company he
knew that if he failed he still had a job and an income from his previous employer. He said:
The good thing was that we were still, we had [parent company] there as something we
owned, so if everything had collapsed we would still have jobs, an income. This is
considered Affordable Loss because he has chosen goals and actions that even if they result in
failure he will not be ruined. However, Expert D also mentioned something that is considered
Expected Return and causational.
because that was my interest, I wanted to develop the newspapers and keep the
customers, then we realized we had to make something new, otherwise we would just
lose them to foreign companies, English, American companies
Expert D
By having a goal to make something new because of the fear of losing customers to
competitors is like trying to reduce the risk of operating. Reducing risk and their fear of
competitors can be interpreted as Expected Return.
From the statements above it would be difficult to classify Experts following either
Affordable Loss or Expected Return, as there are almost an even number following each
concept. And that two of the Experts portray both theories. It is inconclusive whether or not
Experts exclusively use one or the other category. Differences in industry, educational
background and training, or cultural norms may result in application of Affordable Loss
versus Expected Return logics. Further in depth study focused on these Expert differences
would be needed to make conclusive remarks.

48

Lemonade vs. Avoiding Surprises

Out of the four Experts that were interviewed, three of them mentioned something that fit into
either the causational side or effectual side of the Lemonade versus Avoiding Surprises
debate. They all said something that fit with Avoiding Surprises, but Expert A also talked
about an action that fit with the Lemonade principal.
Expert A mentioned that he had to make sure that he could turn any marketing event into a
positive one, even if they were negative. This is a classic example of creating lemonade out of
lemons. However, he also said that he always had to be prepared for any question during a
press conference or just talking to people, this is considered avoiding surprises.
During his interview Expert B seemed very concerned with how a protection to an idea is
important; he wants to make sure he has the correct IPR in place before he continues working
with a product. He talked about the TV-show Dragons Den where entrepreneurs show their
ideas to investors:
A lot of the people on that show has already taken up a large mortgage. And some of
those people may be asked the question what on earth were you thinking when you
did that? For instance you have something that cannot be patented, what is so unique
then? why can't a Chinese copy this
Being so concerned about patents is considered Avoiding Surprises and causational, if he had
been more effectual he would perhaps look upon this as a chance to find a new market.
Expert C is definitively thinking causational when he states that he always thinks 5-10 years
ahead, this is a classic example of Avoiding Surprises.
When it comes to Lemonade versus Avoiding Surprises it is clear that most of them do not
invite surprises and this is considered causational. It is interesting that this is a contradiction to
Sarasvathys expert entrepreneurs who do invite surprises. From this we conclude that the
Experts in our interview pool follow causation when it comes to surprise avoidance.

Patchwork Quilt vs. Competitive Analysis

All of the Experts mention something that fall within the Patchwork Quilt versus Competitive
Analysis. Actually, they all fall within the Patchwork Quilt category and effectuation.
49

Expert A said that he keeps close contact with all the companies they are in contact with;
some of these companies are partners while others are customers. As the CMO, Expert A has
to be good at networking and this follows the thinking of the Patchwork Quilt and
effectuation.
Expert B stated that it is important to find people who have gone through what you are going
through before. He tries to find these people and learn from them. We interpret that this is as
Patchwork Quilt because he is going out to find other people with knowledge he needs and he
tries to get a commitment from them.
Well, you just have to dive into it. And constantly look at who one can use as support.
If you sit down and say, I'll have to read this to do it on my own. That won't work. You
need to figure out - who has gone down this road before. Who can I ask? Who has the
knowledge?
Expert B
By going out and actively trying to find people who can help him, Expert B is thinking
effectually and using the Patchwork Quilt theory. Expert C also uses the Patchwork Quilt
theory and this is shown when he made his previous employer become his largest customer
once he started his new firm. This is Patchwork Quilt and effectuation as he got precommitments from his previous employer before he started his venture.
From the beginning Expert D knew he wanted to use partners as a way of selling their
software. Expert Ds firm got pre-commitments early in the venture from partners wanting to
sell their software and be a part of their venture.
to sell something you need to have a distribution channel. In Norway we could
handle those customers ourselves. So that was quite easy, we knew the newspapers
and, I personally knew them all, so we could very easily approach them and sell new
things. It was really like selling ice cream in the Sahara at summer time.
Expert D
Here Expert D states that he knows newspapers and many of the customers personally, so then
to go out and get pre-commitments or sales from them was as he said: like selling ice cream

50

in the Sahara at summer time. These actions show that he is thinking effectual and that he
follows the Patchwork Quilt theory.
As all four of the Experts talked about actions that fall within the Patchwork Quilt category
we can interpret this as the Experts acting effectual in this category. This shows that getting
pre-commitments is an important part of being an entrepreneur.

Pilot-in-the-plane vs. Inevitable Trends

Out of the four Experts we interviewed only two of them mentioned anything that would fit in
the Pilot-in-the-plane and Inevitable Trends discussion. Expert Ds company focuses on
activities within their control like changing their goals and activities to fit with reality. When
asked if his goals had changed he answered:
"I think they have changed all the time according to reality, of course you want to
have some goals, but sometimes you just have to admit that the goals were wrong or
the market was different and you have to change it. This is good with a small
organization so that you can change directions very quickly. If things are going well
you can do more in that area, if it goes bad you can change it very quickly. The good
thing for us is that we have the financial resources to, more or less do exactly what we
want; we dont have to ask anyone. And thats the big big advantage.
Expert D
This shows that Expert Ds company focus on actions within their control and this is effectual
thinking and in turn it follows Pilot-in-the-Plane theory.
However, Expert B was on the other side of the discussion when he said the following:
So [company name] as it is today did continue to produce products To start with
our plan was to produce for the end user around the world, and use the internet as a
marketing channel, yet again we were a bit too early out there. It is the last years that
web shops, logistics and so on have taken off. But we also chose a market where there
was a couple of super strong international players, so, so it was a bit like David
against Goliath.
Expert B
51

This is causational thinking as he is accepting the market how it is and he does not do
anything to change it. To solve this problem they hired a new CEO that would move them to a
new market that was also already established.
Evidence of a worldview in either the Pilot-in-the-Plane or Inevitable Trends categories only
came out in the discussion with Expert B and D and they each made opposing statements on
the Pilot-in-the-Plane versus Inevitable Trends discussion. Thus, it is difficult to make a
general conclusion about Experts.

Expert Prototype

Experts
5

Causational Answers

A
3

B
C
D

Prototype

0
0

Effectual Answers
Figure 6 Experts effectuation and causation indexes

Experts demonstrated effectual patterns when it comes to assessing their means and
opportunities, as well as using their networks to get the pre-commitments necessary.
However, they do attempt to avoid surprises which are considered causational. We can see
from Figure 6 that three of the four Experts are mostly effectual and one of them, Expert B is
52

more causational than effectual. We can see from both the Intra-group explanation building
and Figure 6 that the Expert prototype is more effectual than causational. Further the figure
demonstrates clustering around the prototype Expert. Thus we can interpret this as
demonstrating literal replication. As a conclusion we can say that Experts are effectual, except
that they seem to avoid surprises. This could perhaps be accounted for because of the current
financial crisis that seems to be affecting everyone and how they run their business.

4.2.2

Entrepreneur Intra-Group Analysis and Synthesis

Bird-in-hand versus Pre-set Goals or Opportunities

All the Entrepreneurs recounted moments demonstrating their use of the Bird-in-Hand
principle in the startup phase of their firms. They each made statements referring to a
combination of their available resources (tangible or intangible) to start a venture. However,
full evaluation of ones means was most clearly expressed by Entrepreneur B in answering
why he started his firm:
I guess two reasons. One was this encouragement that we should do that kind of
thing. That was one. The second thing was that I saw some people in around science
that were earning money on science. Like having consultancy companies and other
companies that sold its services to research. I thought, at that time I thought my salary
was pretty low and, I mean, it was the future, and or economical future of being a
professor. I thought it would be nice to have a company that I can use as a tool if I
take a job for Sintef or someone, and I should get paid rather than just doing
everything for free. Which is what we usually do. The company would a good way to
write invoices and things like that. So, starting a company is a good idea, in general, I
thought. Lets try it. And the third thing three things is that we had then we were
looking for something to start a company based on and we had everyone in our
business used a particular product.
He recognized he had a supportive community (also expressed by Entrepreneur D), valuable
knowledge in demand, and knew of a product used by everyone in his line of work.

53

Four of the five Entrepreneurs (A, B, C, & E) made particular reference to the need to
maintain income or generate revenue immediately. Entrepreneurs C perhaps best captured this
sentiment in the statement:
I started the individual enterprise as a consultant. To earn money. I started to
make some internal products. I had a good idea at the time. And this led to doing 50%
consultancy to survive, and 50% product development. So in this way I financed
myself, without investors.
Recognizing his knowledge as a valuable asset which is common across this group of
entrepreneurs Entrepreneur C was able to fund his venture through consulting work on the
side. In fact, Entrepreneur E was the only member of this group who did not specifically
mention doing consulting work. Though, he did recognize the value of his knowledge. Three
Entrepreneurs (B, D, & E) made specific comments regarding how to commercialize their
intellectual property means. Entrepreneurs B and E distinguished between selling an idea or
dream to investors versus selling a tangible product from the get-go.
Either you can sell your idea and someone is buying it and investing money into your
ideas. Or, actually what we more are doing here is actually we...the ideas are
generating products that are attractive and can be sold.
Entrepreneur E
Interestingly, they both have similar academic training and chose to sell a tangible product
over selling a dream. However, Entrepreneur E decided to use his intellectual property as a
process to generate specialized products for his customers. Meanwhile, Entrepreneur B chose
to sell his knowledge directly to customers as a standardized product. These are examples of
how all the entrepreneurs are trying to capitalize on of their unique knowledge beyond
consulting work. After all, none of the entrepreneurs ultimate intention was to start a
consultancy firm. The limits to consultancy work and the value of their time as a means is best
stated by Entrepreneur D:
If you are doing consultancy, which is one of the things we figured ourselves doing.
Spending a lot of time in, being our focus. Then you can only sell one hour one time. If
you are using that hour at one customer, then you cant sell that hour multiple times.
You have an upper limit on your income. You have an hourly price, on how much you
54

need for a given hour. Then it is a limited amount of hours every day. And that gives in
a practical sense how much you can earn during a day and during a month and so on.
That. You can adjust how many hours you work and you can adjust the hourly price.
Apart from that it is very limited how much you can earn as a consultant. To grow you
need more staff, but again you then need to pay out more salary. So it isif you then
compare this to software development, then you can develop a proprietary software
solution, so you can sell, there is no limit on how many time you can sell that hour you
spent developing that solution. This is a calculation we have done with time.
Entrepreneur B is the only interviewee who made comments suggesting he also started with
Pre-set Goals or Opportunities. Due to the subjective nature of interpreting subtle meanings,
careful analysis is needed. In speaking about his companys industrial sector, Entrepreneur B
highlighted his belief in the importance of a firms purpose and goals. Pre-defining goals and
clearly defining a single opportunity is associated with causal behavior. To this end, it may be
easy to see Entrepreneur Bs statement below as causational thinking. You know when you
start a company; you have to define whats the purpose of the company. Effectuation theory
starts by pre-defining ones means to identify a variety of potential effects or opportunities
to pursue (See Figure 3). The focus on identifying multiple paths to follow, in effectuation
theory, does not preclude setting goals and defining a purpose once a decision to take a certain
route has been made. Indeed, it is hard to imagine not having some sense of what one is doing
as an entrepreneur. Further analysis of Entrepreneur Bs interview reveals he defined his
firms goals broadly; he aimed to commercialize science research originating from his
university. The goal provides a large degree of flexibility and leaves the firm open to several
effects.
While defining goals can help sharpen focus, these entrepreneurs have used the Bird-in-Hand
principle to first identify which opportunities are available to them based on means they can
control. This is the starting principle in effectuation theory. We can say our pool of
Entrepreneurs is effectual in their actions regarding Bird-in-Hand and the plunge event.

Affordable loss versus Expected Return

All five Entrepreneurs from this group gave answers using Affordable Loss rationale for why
they started their ventures. The two IT Entrepreneurs (A & D) and Entrepreneur C (the
robotics engineer) were confident they could easily find a normal job if their firms failed. The
55

three of them know there is a strong job market for IT and robotics skills and knowledge in
Norway. A fourth, Entrepreneur E, stated he would have to return to the job market, neither
expressing the confidence or great concern of finding work. Entrepreneur B retained his
professorship position and so did not need to worry about lost income.
Entrepreneur A acknowledged his priorities had shifted between his first startup and his
current venture. As a student, Entrepreneur A had minimal financial obligations and student
financial aid from the state, which he invested in his first startup. Thus, he had little to lose
and much to gain from his first venture. This line of thinking was also replicated in
Entrepreneur Cs logic for business venturing:
Yes So the risk I had was really nothing. I made sure of that It was mostly
economically. If I had owned an apartment, had a mortgage, the only thing I had was
the study loan, then there isn't much you lose if things goes to hell.
Minimal debt obligations, personal net worth, and general cost of living expenses were not
tying up future capital of Entrepreneurs C and during Entrepreneur As first venture. In
addition to market assurances such as job opportunities and consulting work, Entrepreneurs A
and C could easily control their personal economy. Their greatest cost being their forgone
potential earnings: I could apply for a job and I would earn more there than with what I
was doing. Times three, for sure. And you lose nothing (Entrepreneur C).
Now that Entrepreneur A has children and a mortgage, he has changed his financial metrics.
However, he still demonstrated use of the Affordable Loss principle. Entrepreneur A knew he
could not sacrifice a steady income for more than a couple months, but also knew he could do
consulting work on the side. Additionally, if he were desperate, he is confident he could find a
normal job in IT within a couple of hours. Thus he could sacrifice a couple months pay and a
steady job to start a new firm.
Entrepreneur E expressed an intrinsic motivation for starting his firm and application of
Affordable Loss logic. He could not afford to lose acting on an opportunity. A keen interest in
science and research, Entrepreneur E could afford to quit his job he no longer enjoyed to
pursue his own projects:
I mean, I would rather put my time and efforts into something I believe in, than what
I dont believe in...So, I decided to try that out myselfIf this is going to be the life in
56

future. You know, somebody decides something and you have to jump, you know. Its
like this all over, in this world these days; in our business. Mergers, layoffs here and
there, so on and so on. I mean, why not try to do something on your own? And be be a
little independent.
Beyond the plunge event, Entrepreneur E has continued to practice Affordable Loss logic,
best expressed in the exemplary statement: Dont put yourself in a difficult position. Dont
raise your expectations so much so that you fall too hard.
Two interviewees from this group (Entrepreneurs B and D) also expressed following the
causal practice of Expected Return. Entrepreneur B serves on the Board of a second company
that is selling a dream and will not generate income for several years. In selling a dream of
future revenues, Entrepreneur B and the company are selling anticipated future revenue to
investors who have an Expected Return on their investment. Entrepreneur D, on the other
hand, discussed how they employ Expected Return principles to minimize their risk exposure
through corporate structure and insurance purchases.
Of the five interviewees in this group, Entrepreneur E best exemplified use and application of
the Affordable Loss principle. However, he is not representative of the group. A prototypical
Entrepreneur uses Affordable Loss logic during the plunge decision, but will also shift
towards using Expected Return logic in some decision making such as in corporate structure
and apparent risk factors covered by insurance plans. We conclude that the prototype
Entrepreneur employs Affordable Loss thinking to effectuate on their means.

Lemonade versus Avoiding Surprises

Three Entrepreneurs (A, B, & E) in this group have contended with unforeseen events; most
venture, business or otherwise, will experience surprises. Further, the three Entrepreneurs
explained how they have dealt with such events. However, Entrepreneur A was the only
Entrepreneur to express a desire to seek out surprises in his choice to leave his job to do
startups:
it was totally different from the small startups where everything is chaos and you
kind of have to do everything, so, but to me it was very clear that after a year I wanted
to be in these small startups like where everything is chaos and you have to find out,
and do all of these things from the beginning and find solutions. While in McKinsey it
57

was more kind of [inaudible]numbers and look at plans and find out where to,
yeah, where should we go and what should we go into and what companies should we
buy, and it got so far away, kind of, from the real, that we didnt get real dirt on your
hands and so, to me it was much more fun to go back to startups.
The above quote is exemplary of the differences between startup culture of leveraging
surprises into learning events and opportunities versus corporate risk and opportunity
assessment. While Entrepreneur A was the sole interviewee to express his desire to seek out
chaos, this may be in part due to his contrasting experiences as a founder and corporate
consultant. He clearly expresses a preference towards finding solutions in a chaotic
environment. An interesting and plausible alternative process of surprise seeking behavior is
the experimental mentality as applied by the two scientists in the group, Entrepreneurs B and
E:
Im a scientist and I like to think about what Im doing; I like to try and see if its
understandable. Not understandable. How can I learn to understand it? And if you do
start to learn how to understand something that nobody else understands, you might
be on your own trail in a way. And I might be totally wrong and hit a wall. Or, you
might be right and you actually find an area, for example, that nobody else has
explored. Thats a pretty good situation if you want to file patents.
Entrepreneur E
Essentially using the experimental process in science, Entrepreneur E is looking to leverage
surprising solutions to gain insight and a commercial advantage over competitors. This is
similar to Entrepreneur B, who believes continuously exploring his various ideas is necessary
to innovate and stay competitive.
Beyond surprise seeking, two Entrepreneurs (A & B) recounted events in which they turned a
negative situation into a positive opportunity. The resulting changes were in their customer
base, products, or target markets. The challenges ranged from available human resources to a
crowded industry (See Table 14). However, Entrepreneur E said his general approach is to not
worry about what he cannot control. When asked how he dealt with unforeseen events,
Entrepreneur E answered:

58

I mean, I hadnt really had any I didnt really go into this with a lot of thoughts.
Its just that Im getting fed up by this expected my career expectancies from an
employment and I think that I should try something else. So, that was my I think that
it can be more interesting. Thats my expectancy. And, theres nothing unforeseen
there. Its always been much more pleasant than any other way I could have think
thought of.
While interpretation can be difficult, the quote demonstrates Entrepreneur Es unperturbed
attitude towards unforeseen and thus uncontrollable events.
Entrepreneur
A

Challenge
I think we stopped to late, because we were hoping
for, because we were earning some money, so if it would
just continue now, probably the other companies would
die, and they did, but there were coming new companies
there all the time.
Originally wanted the company to provide scientific
services and develop own materials, but was unable to
get talented scientists.

Solution
So, then we had to stop and we changed
everything to just becoming a real, a pure
provider of technology.

Instead found a computer wizard and the

company is developing scientific software.

Table 14: Entrepreneurs' practicing the Lemonade principle

Perhaps the only indication of practicing the Avoiding Surprises principle, involved issues of
control. Entrepreneur B structured his firm to minimize upfront costs. That is, the firm keeps a
sparse inventory and builds to order. This way he is able to avoid or minimize exposure and
cost of surprise economic shocks such as the 2008 global recession.
We can say a typical Entrepreneur will encounter unforeseen events and will therefore make a
choice to shift towards a positive result. Most of the entrepreneurs demonstrated this behavior
and three of them were surprise seeking. So, we conclude they employ the Lemonade
principle in effectuation theory.

Patchwork Quilt versus Competitive Analysis

In building up their firms and competencies, each interviewee in this group has benefitted
from activities expanding their network. The Entrepreneurs appear to make particular use of
the Patchwork Quilt principle by acquiring self-selecting stakeholders. Due to their various
industries and types of products, this partnership building process was described similarly
across Entrepreneurs A, B, D, & E. These four Entrepreneurs looked for pre-commitments
from either customers or potential partners before either pursuing an effect or developing a
new product.
59

For example, Entrepreneur A is looking for both an idea that excites him and to get customers
prior to starting a new project. Further, he explained how he is able to get his first customers
in building a patchwork of stakeholders:
these projects we are starting is something that I have been burning for so its kind
of, I feel kind of very full of energy doing these projects and I dont think it is not
necessary that difficult to get this first customer, as long as they dont have to risk that
much.
Entrepreneur A
While Entrepreneur A did mention identifying the customers pain, he also sees minimizing
the risk they take on for gambling with an untested enterprise.
Entrepreneurs D found an interesting way to decrease his customers risk by developing a two
tiered product. He offers free software and a premium support service. The approach allows
him to get buy-in from customers with little risk and upsell support services. In providing
support services, Entrepreneur D has listened to the needs of paying customers to shape and
improve his product as a service. Similarly, Entrepreneur E has used customer purchases to
formulate new products according to their needs. Thus, both Entrepreneurs D and E have used
pre-commitments from customers to do product development.
Prior to deciding to take the plunge into business venturing, Entrepreneur B had been solicited
by a future stakeholder, the research park:
Ah, that was easy because we were here [Forskningsparken] for ten years not doing
anything. And sometimes because I meet these persons saying: Come on
[interviewee's name], when are you going to start a company? Come on start a
company! So, when you say: Ok, I start a company now. And suddenly you trigger a
lot of systems
This is a classic case of getting or having stakeholder pre-commitments during the startup
phase. Entrepreneur B had taken the first steps of effectuation and then quickly got
stakeholder buy-in from the local research park. The research park then helped shape the
future company. Meanwhile, Entrepreneur C has used networking and his reputation to good
effect in getting partners and commitments from customers:

60

There I had some other customers. And I created a name for myself. Because I made
two large systems by myself - which led to my name being known. This led to me being
able to... I was not agreeing with my old boss, and I had the opportunity to quit and I
started on my own. Without I did not steal any customers or anything like that, I
took nothing from them, so I was very loyal with them. But I had a name, and I got this
project. It started with one, and are they happy the will talk to people. I have never
done any marketing...It does only go through network.
While Entrepreneur C has been building a network through customers, Entrepreneur A also
applies the Patchwork Quilt principle internally for his firm to find self-selecting partners.
But we know that in order to attract good people, we know we kind of have to get
them as partner and that is kind of the advantage we have compared to an IT
company, Telenor, Statoil, whatever, you know, so, they can give good salaries and
they have good careers and all that stuff, but we need to find people that want to be
more controlling all the aspects from the beginning, and Yes, we can kind of give the
same salary more or less, but itll be more unsure and yeah, this is the difference I
think.
This demonstrates Entrepreneur A recognizes the need to get the right people involved and the
relative disadvantage he is in as an employer.
In effect, all the Entrepreneurs have used self-selecting stakeholders and pre-commitments to
start and develop their firms. We can say this group of interviewees has practiced the
Patchwork Quilt principle of effectuation in their ventures.

Pilot-in-the-plane versus Inevitable Trends

Four of the five Entrepreneurs (A, B, C, & E) appear to have used Pilot-in-the-Plane actions
and worldview. The Entrepreneurs revealed decisions to choose controllable actions
throughout their interviews when discussing a variety of aspects to running their firms.
Entrepreneur A best expressed the control view when stating [b]ut I think the most important
is to been in charge of the processes and play with ideas and what you like to do and have
that freedom.

61

Part of Entrepreneur As Pilot-in-the-Plane method is seen in his initiative to found an IT

consulting firm while searching for an idea. Unlike at his previous employer, Entrepreneur A
has more control over the projects he works on and allows him to search for and explore
potential venture ideas. In this manner, he is taking actions he can control that will eventually
lead to the desired outcome to find that thing that we really want to spend the next 10
years or so on.
On the other hand, as an equipment manufacturer, Entrepreneur B has identified two key
aspects he can control to achieve the results he wants. First, tight controls on inventory and
production allow Entrepreneur B to be able to take charge of networking capital. Rather than
using production output driven sales, he flipped the equation to have sales driven production
output. Similarly, Entrepreneur said he bases purchasing decisions on available funds,
expressing the same line of thought. In fact, Entrepreneur E does not prepare budgets, since he
cannot control or predict future sales. Foregoing formal budgetary planning, Entrepreneur E
counters Aspara et al. (2011) argument for updating plans as the need arises. The market
changes too fast or is simply too uncertain. Second, focusing on quality and customer
satisfaction, Entrepreneur B takes ownership of his firms reputation. Both activities
demonstrate a Pilot-in-the-Plane mentality of Entrepreneur B. However, he also expressed an
Inevitable Trends predisposition in his calculus of his firms total addressable market and total
likely sales falling in-line with his estimates. Interestingly, Entrepreneur B did not provide
any indication he has focused on pushing sales. Rather, he spent a good portion of the
interview describing his interest in finding solutions for his customers, even at the expense of
reduced profit margins.
Perhaps the most interesting commonality of all five Entrepreneurs is their disregard for
business plans, yet each of them either wrote or attempted to write one. For example,
Entrepreneur C said he was no economist, and that he lacked knowledge on how the economy
would look like in three to four years from now. He was neither keen on making business
plans as it took up too much time, and he did not know how to do it. He said he did not have
any knowledge on how to do any of those things - we can see how Entrepreneur C would
rather keep things within his control.
The Research Park, grant applications, and investors all required business plans. While the
Entrepreneurs all view business plans as a waste of time, they still engaged in the ritual. After
all, it is a relatively low cost and controllable action to get stakeholder commitments and build
62

legitimacy. Writing a business plan was about getting funding and partners, not so much about
planning. They already had a high degree of certainty or confidence in the market.
While writing a business plan would hint at Entrepreneurs following the Inevitable Trends
logics, it can be interpreted as a control tactic for gaining pre-commitments and making their
future. In light of the additional evidence demonstrating control behavior, we can conclude the
Entrepreneurs follow the Pilot-in-the-Plane principle and are effectual.
Entrepreneur

Consulting

Product type

A
B
C
D
E

YES
YES
YES
YES
NO

IT
Equipment
Equipment/automation
IT
Materials

Table 15: Entrepreneurs and their consulting work.

Entrepreneur Prototype
The Entrepreneurs in this group did employ some causational logics, but the overriding
tendency in all categories was interpreted to be effectual. The prototype, as seen in Figure 7 is
overall an effectual actor. Four Entrepreneurs had indices clustering around the prototype. The
fifth Entrepreneur, while not close to the prototype, is both causational and highly effectual.
Thus we can comfortably interpret the prototypical Entrepreneur as achieving literal
replication of effectuation. The typical Entrepreneur will work with what they have to create a
more certain environment; they are effectual.

63

Entrepreneur
5

Causational Answers

B
C
D

E
Prototype
1

0
0

Effectual Answers

Figure 7: Entrepreneurs effectuation and causation indices

4.2.3

Student Intra-Group Analysis and Synthesis

Bird-in-hand versus Pre-set Goals or Opportunities

We see that four out of five students were part of the Bird-in-hand versus Pre-set Goals or
Opportunities discussion. Students B, C and E represented the effectual Bird-in-Hand
principle, while Student D was on the side of the causational Pre-set Goals or Opportunities.
Student B would identify a problem or a need and based on his background he would see how
he could fulfill that need. Student B wants to use his education to get a job to gather
experience. This experience is what he plans to use when starting something on his own. He is
then looking for an effect to create from the means he is gathering, as he states: My plan is to
have a bit more experience in mobile technology. Thats the thing I like so far. And then,
maybe in 5 years have already something.
64

It is also interesting to see how he is not sure on what exactly what to create, but more sure on
creating something. This again fits well with the definition of effectuation itself.
Student C is very concerned about the team, and people in your network are part of your
means. Student C stated Well, based on what I know, or what Ive learned now is that having
a great team! I think, well of course the demand, but I think you can do a lot with a great
team.
Student E believes that one's idea is more important than financial backing. So, she is more
focused on what her means can give her, than an Expected Return setting 3. Student E is also
concerned about the upfront cost of starting a business, which can be interpreted as a
causational Pre-set goal.
Student D followed the causational path. He is concerned about milestones, and that one
should strive to achieve them. Following milestones in such a way is pre-planning and also
static which fits well with the causational process.
Three out of four who discussed this principle used the Bird-in-Hand. We therefore see that
Students tend to follow the Bird-in-Hand principle.

Affordable loss versus Expected Return

Four out of five students partook in the Affordable Loss versus Expected Return debate. All
of these students showed the causational approach of Expected Return. However, there were
also tendencies of the effectual Affordable Loss in student Es interview, who seemed to
follow a bit of both Affordable Loss and Expected Return.
Student A wanted investments from Innovation Norway when launching his venture. This is
Expected Return in the way you raise money. Student B thinks it is important to do market
and financial analysis to determine the needed resources and then pitch an idea and search for
money. This is a classical way of doing it, and also causational in the way you raise money.
Like the market, like the financials, like the resources you will need. And then, after
this you can start trying to look for investors right. Start pitching the idea to all the

Expected Return is not the opposite of Bird-in-Hand. Expected Return is the causational opposite of Affordable Loss

65

different entities which are in this context. Then once you have pitched your idea, you
can start looking for funding and other resources.
Student B
Student D says that the key obstacle of starting a business is to get hold of money. This is very
pre-planned, and Expected Return. Student D is then following the logic of how you need to
raise a set amount of capital to be able to go through with your venture.
Student E is concerned about having everything work out, and then go out and search for
money, which is causational Expected Return. However, she also states how she is not
interested in big risks. Neither causational nor effectual entrepreneurs like big risk, but they
cope with risk in different ways. Since Student E also had an acceptance for the Lemonade
principle, we see this as effectual Affordable Loss tendencies. You are dealing with risk at
every step of the way, avoiding all or nothing opportunities. So student E follows a bit of both
theories.
Since all students who discussed the Affordable Loss versus Expected Return-debate followed
the causational option, the prototype of Students follows Expected Return.

Lemonade versus Avoiding Surprises

Only three of the students partook in the Lemonade versus Avoiding Surprises debate. All
three showed how they followed the Lemonade principle. However, Student B followed both
Lemonade and the causational Avoiding Surprises approach.
Student A, who had tried out the effectuation principle in real life, said he would work around
unforeseen events. This is clearly finding contingencies, and seeing an upside in the
downside. Student A stated:
Then I would have tried to work my way around it. I would not have quit for that
reason. When you first start. But there might be a lot of other openings. You can twist
your product into a new direction, without stepping on a patent. As an example.
Student B said that he would make the most out of surprises. While he, at the same time, in a
more casual way said that he would like to have contingency plans and risk management,
written in a business plan.
66

Student E is showing Lemonade principle tendencies with being open to making changes. She
does not seem very rigid, and she is more or less inviting surprises by saying: I guess the
key is to be light on your feet and flexible. And, not too averse to making changes to whatever
comes your way. All three students who partook in this debate followed the Lemonade
principle. We interpret this to signify the prototype of students follows the effectual
Lemonade principle.

Patchwork Quilt versus Competitive Analysis

Four out of five students partook in the Patchwork Quilt versus Competitive Analysis debate.
All of those four followed the effectual principle of Patchwork Quilt.
Student A was keen on networking, talk to people and get hold of the best human capital. He
would also like to get out there and test the idea. This may not be a strong evidence of
Patchwork Quilt; however the attitude fits with how you go out and make inquiries to get precommitments. Student E would in a similar way approach people, try to get hold of people
that believed in the idea. Trying to get out there and get people to commit to your venture. We
see this as Patchwork Quilt in the same way as we see this for Student A.
Student B thinks it is important that an idea is relevant and good for everyone. This in itself
may not be a strong evidence of Patchwork Quilt. However, initially believing that this is
relevant to everyone is an open mindset you need to make others commit. You are causational
if you believe that every other market player is a competitor.
Student D believed that sometimes you have customers already signed up for an idea, without
even having a business plan, he stated:
It would be most noble and efficient perhaps to have a complete business plan; the
thing is though, that sometimes you just got the idea for it. And you can hear a lot of
people saying already I want to pay for it. And that. That might not always be
necessary to make that business plan.
We interpret this as a pre commitment and Patchwork Quilt. This may not be a cooperator, but
it is persons committing to buying a product.

67

Since all students who partook in the Patchwork Quilt versus Competitive Analysis-debate
followed the effectual Patchwork Quilt principle, the prototype student follows the Patchwork
Quilt principle.

Pilot-in-the-Plane versus Inevitable Trends

Four out of five students partook in the Pilot-in-the-Plane versus Inevitable Trends debate.
Three followed the effectual Pilot-in-the-Plane, while student B followed the causational
Inevitable Trends path.
Student A starts with saying how he would put up milestones, this in itself is more of the
causational pre-planning, however, he continues to say how he will change them with how the
market changes. This is someone being able to make milestones, which are within things he
can control. He is not concerned about making future predictions of something he cannot
control; he rather make changes as needed. So in total we see that this statement, which
initially looked causational, however, we interpreted it as the use of the effectual Pilot-in-thePlane.

Student C wanted to learn what to do with a product within her control to be able to
commercialize them. We see this as Pilot-in-the-Plane; she wants to get a product within her
control, or at least get sufficient control.
Student D answered in an interesting way when asked about unforeseen problems. He showed
how he is not pre-planned, and rather copes with something unforeseen when the unforeseen
is happening. He stated: Because how would I deal with unforeseen problems. Probably as
for (mumbling) with unforeseen actions. Student B, the only one following the causational
path, would like to read trends. Reading trends is classical predictive work, and Student B
would do so to reduce uncertainty.
I think its about talking to people those that are really experts in some specific
field. Reading a lot of trends. For example, Garner reports about the top trends.
Well, I think it pretty much depends on where you want to start the company. I think
the context or the environment is one factor
Student B
68

Out of four students discussing the Pilot-in-the-Plane versus Inevitable Trends debate, three
followed the effectual Pilot-in-the-Plane principle, while one used the causational Inevitable
Trends principle. We interpret this to mean the Students follow the Pilot-in-the-Plane
principle.

Student Prototype
When looking at the students we could not find a connection between which year of the
program they were attending, and which theory they were following.
Students were concerned about the causational Expected Return. However, overall they
followed the effectual option in the four remaining categories. Principally effectual thinking
and practices seemed to dominate their thinking and approach to entrepreneurship. We can
also see from Figure 8 three students were clearly effectual, while two were in the middle
between causational and effectual. In total we can see that the prototype is more on the
effectual side than the causational side. Our cross-case explanation building demonstrates
students are effectual. Figure 8 further shows clustering by the prototype, and we can interpret
their effectual preference to demonstrate literal replication.

69

Student
5

Causational Answers

B
C
D

E
Prototype
1

0
0

2
3
Effectual Answers

Figure 8: Students effectuation and causation indexes

4.3

Cross-Group Comparisons

Looking at how the Expert, Entrepreneur, and Student prototypes compare with each other,
we attempt to answer our research question: How do entrepreneurship students perceptions
of venturing, in the context of causation and effectuation, compare to experienced
entrepreneurs paths to success? Our analysis revealed the prototypical Expert is mostly
effectual, except for a tendency to avoid surprises. We also found the prototypes for the
Entrepreneurs and Students are effectual. Looking at Figure 9, we can see the prototypes for
Students and Experts are relatively close compared with the Entrepreneur prototype.
However, Students seemed very concerned about getting investments. In fact, they discussed
it far more than the Experts and Entrepreneurs.
The close proximity of the Student prototype to the Expert prototype is encouraging.
However, care should be made in reading too much into this as a reflection of high quality
training. After all, their close positions do not take into account the nature of representing

70

entrepreneurship students and successful entrepreneurial individuals. Their context and

implementation of causational and effectual principles may be quite different. For example,
the Expert prototype is reflecting the perspectives of those who have come a long way from
just starting up. Meanwhile, the Student prototype is a representing the views of students
discussing a highly hypothetical situation. With this in mind, there are still useful insights to
draw from as a guide to future research.
Table 16 presents a breakdown of which principles the different interviewees were effectual
(E), causational (C), or both (E/C). Here we can see the Experts and Students reflect a similar
breakdown of the effectuation and causation logics. The largest difference being between their
emphasis on Avoiding Surprises (Experts) and Expected Return (Students). However, the
difference between the two is not terribly large. It is interesting that Experts are by definition
likely to have more to lose than Students.
Effectuation / Causation

Experts
A
B
E/C E

Bird-in-Hand/Pre-set
goals and opportunities
Affordable Loss /
Expected Return
E/C
Lemonade / Avoiding
Surprises
E
Patchwork Quilt /
Competitive Analysis
Pilot-in-the-Plane /
Inevitable Trend
Table 16: Collected coded response
to the principles.

C
E

D
E/C

Entrepreneur
A B
C D
E E/C E E

E
E

A
-

Student
B
C
E
E

D
C

E
E/C

E/C

E/C

E/C

E/C

E/C

E/C

E/C

E/C

of the interviewees. Empty cells represent interviewees without data coded

One reason Experts may be more causational when it comes to using Expected Return and
Pre-set Goals and Opportunities is that their firms are more established and could have more
entrenched interests. Most of the Experts have stakeholders in their companies that require
results, reports, goals, and contracts obligations to be met. Further, institutional norms may
impose expectations on performance through predictions of the future.
Entrepreneurs and Students may have more freedom to pursue various effects using their
means. As Sarasvathy put it, in describing pursuit of effects through means, it can be "to
simply pursue an interesting idea that seems worth pursuing (2001, p. 244). The statement is
a stark contrast to an organization's decision process. As mentioned in section 4.2.1, Expert D
talked about how his companys focus has changed a bit because the company has gotten
bigger: Of course the bigger you grow the more firm plans you need. So right now we are
71

working more deliberately towards certain goals compared to some years ago. In the same
line of thought, many of the Experts have more to lose than Entrepreneurs, especially more so
than Students. These contextual elements may explain the Expert prototypes more cautious
approach to planning than both the Entrepreneur and Student prototypes processes.
Reviewing Table 16, we can see the Entrepreneurs and Students overlapped in Bird-in-Hand,
Lemonade, Patchwork Quilt, and Pilot-in-the-Plane principles. However, we also find
Entrepreneurs were more effectual in their business venturing actions. This may be due in part
to the Entrepreneurs real business experience and being in the thick of it, whereas the
Students were often discussing hypothetical situations. The Students further distinguished
themselves from the Entrepreneurs in discussing more causational startup processes. The
strong tendency to focus on investors and business plans was opposite from the Entrepreneurs.
Rather than focusing on Expected Returns, the Entrepreneurs focused on the Affordable Loss
principle. Additionally, the Entrepreneurs saw writing a business plan as a means to an end;
they wrote them due to institutional norms and organizational prerequisites, such as the
requirements of Forskningsparken. On the other hand, the Students seemed to believe
investors were necessary for a startup. Perhaps bringing the greatest contrast to the Students
concern for investors is Entrepreneur Bs comment regarding investors:
So, I think they are so different that I think you can have a professional view on this
and say Im an entrepreneur and I start businesses. And, four out of five will go
bankrupt and I dont feel sorry for anyone. The investors, I dont feel sorry for them.
Theyre rich usually.
One reason for why the Students seems to be so concerned about investments and Expected
Return, in comparison to the Experts and the Entrepreneurs, might lie within the focus of the
program the Students are attending. Students seem concerned about raising money before
starting up, instead of using the Affordable Loss principle, which focuses on the downside of
risk. Maybe Experts and Entrepreneurs, who we also find effectual, are focusing more on
things they can control when it comes to generating capital. They believe in or know what
they are doing on a day-to-day basis can create an income. This is an effectual Pilot-in-thePlane-like worldview on investments, and not causational Expected Return. Perhaps students
have learned that one cannot start a venture without having your investors set. A more
effectual view on investments could be added to the program.

72

Prototypes
1

Causational'

0,8

0,6
Expert
Entrepreneur

0,4

Student

0,2

0
0

0,2

0,4

0,6

0,8

Effectual'

Figure 9: Normalized score of the prototypes (Experts, Entrepreneurs, & Students) prediction vs. control index

Another interesting finding is how several of the Entrepreneurs and one Expert are doing
effectuation while they seem to be thinking causation, or at least they gave the impression that
they are thinking causation. They seemed concerned about giving a well planned-impression,
especially when it comes to business plans. They mentioned business plans, but were only
using them to get investors, and not as a part of developing the venture itself. Entrepreneur A
said: I think the plans that I have been writing have been, yeah. It hasnt given me very much
value except for one I had to write in order to get support from Innovation Norway for
instance.

73

5 Discussion
5.1

Propositions

From the analysis of Experts it was shown that we achieved literal replication; they behave in
a way that is more effectual than causational. As shown in Figure 9 it is clear that while
Experts are effectual they are also causational in certain areas. From this we propose:
Proposition 1a: Experts are more effectual than causational.
However, our evidence suggests Experts try to avoid surprises. Accordingly, we make the
following proposition:
Proposition 1b: Experts are causational in their surprise aversion.
Following from our analysis of Entrepreneurs, we found our Entrepreneurs to demonstrate use
of effectuation logics during their venturing process. Leading us to advocate the following
proposition:
Proposition 2a: Entrepreneurs appear to unintentionally follow Sarasvathys effectuation
principles.
The demonstration of literal replication of Entrepreneurs using effectuation principles does
not require their awareness of the theory. Indeed, it was not a surprise none of the
Entrepreneurs had heard of effectuation theory, as it is relatively new and four out of five had
no formal entrepreneurial or business training. Their lack of intention does not limit the
replication, as Sarasvathy (2005; 2008; 2001; 2002) developed effectuation theory from
observation and analysis.
Our analysis also found Entrepreneurs did use causational devices such as business plans.
However, writing business plans, we found, was less about predictive planning and more
about meeting the Entrepreneurs stakeholder requirements.
Proposition 2b: Entrepreneurs write business plans to fulfill institutional norms.
Honigs and Karlssons (2004) research found new firms and ventures write business plans to
conform to institutional rules and to mimic the behavior of others. Similarly, Fernandez74

Guerrero et al. (2012) found business plans are often used to attract funding, but also
recommended such organization use other metrics to measure business opportunities. There
are other ways of planning, and as Sarasvathy (2001) has asserted, other decision logics for
planning can be used. Castrogiovannis (1996, p. 803) proposed definition of pre-startup
planning, then, becomes relevant to the type of planning logics to follow. Further,
Castrogiovanni (1996) discussed the symbolism of degrees of planning and learning for
business survival. Thus, while there may be other ways for interested parties to assess
opportunities, our research showed our Entrepreneurs needed business plans to signal
appropriate planning to at least one of their stakeholders. These were the contextual
conditions at Forskningsparken.
Additionally, we found the Entrepreneurs leverage their education and skills through
consultancy work to reduce financial uncertainty in the early stages. Consulting income gives
them greater security while making the plunge decision. This further showed their ability to
use their means to achieve an end using effectual logics in their planning. So, we propose the
following:
Proposition 2c: Entrepreneurs often do consulting work to reduce financial uncertainty
during the plunge event, and thus knowledge or know-how serves as valuable means.
Our analysis of students revealed their use of mostly effectuation principles, as seen in Table
16. However, analysis of the Student interviews highlighted their focus on investors and
investments. These observations lead to two propositions:
Proposition 3a: Students are mostly effectual.
Proposition 3b: Students are highly concerned with finding investors.
We find both propositions significant. First, awareness of effectuation theory did not appear to
distinguish between more or less effectual Students in our interpretation and analysis of the
data. Second, much of the education literature has been on the scientific side of teaching
entrepreneurship. Defined by Henry et al. (2005b, p. 164) as the business and management
functions of a firm. Indeed, the first semester in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship
program at the University of Oslo includes three courses on management: Financial
Management, Marketing Management, and Dynamic Organizing ("Programme structure,"
2012). The early focus on management and understanding financial management could also
75

help explain proposition 3b. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship program might be too
focused on investments in an Expected Return setting.
The cross-case synthesis between the three prototypes showed Entrepreneurs applied
effectuation logics more often than the two other prototypes, Experts and Students.
Answering, in part, our research question, we advocate:
Proposition 4a: Entrepreneurs are more effectual than Experts and Students.
The differences between Experts and Students revealed from the cross-case analysis and
illustrated in Figure 9 lead us to make the following statement:
Proposition 4b: Experts are more effectual and causational than Students.
Wiltbank et al.s (2006, p. 990) diagram of control and predictive planning shows us Experts
may be closer to the visionary approach to business venturing; using both causational and
effectual principles as predictive and control logics. The visionary, according to Wiltbank et
al. (2006, p. 990) is not only building an organization, but also its environment through
imaging the future possibilities. Visionary planners are proactive in shaping the future. This is
a preliminary interpretation of early nascent research.
We found Students to be more focused on investments and the investment process than the
Entrepreneurs and Experts. To this end, Students differ from the two other prototypes:
Proposition 4c: Students are the most concerned with investments.

5.2

Practical implications

Our study demonstrates effectuation and causation can serve as analytical tools for studying
entrepreneurs in Norway. Further, replication of effectuation logics in two groups of
practitioners in Norways entrepreneurial community4 strengthens effectuation theory as a
valid business venturing process. Additionally, replication in the entrepreneurship students,
three of whom had little to no prior knowledge or understanding of effectuation, plus their use
of causation principles is evidence of training in entrepreneurial thinking. Clarifying the

One 13 of the 14 interviewees are based in Norway.

76

differences and principles of both theories could foster a community with visionary
entrepreneurship competencies.
Further practical implications of our propositions should be considered. For example,
Propositions 1b states experts are causational in their surprise aversion; it could be that they
are adjusting their planning logics away from opportunity recognition. This could lead to
situations of being blind to disruptive innovations. Conversely, by better understanding and
continuing to incorporate both causation and effectuation processes, they could be moving
towards leading visionary organizations.
Proposition 2a Entrepreneurs unintentionally follow the effectuation principles5 supports
the process as a valid delineation of entrepreneurial activity and the idea non-experts can also
be effectual. Increasing awareness of alternative planning logics, such as effectuation,
visionary, and adaptive the Entrepreneurs could have better frameworks to show their
planning. Similarly, Proposition 2b enforces the idea that Entrepreneurs write business plans
to fulfill institutional norms. As such, perhaps organizations such as Forskningsparken could
change their entrance requirements to reflect the different styles of entrepreneurs planning
logics and help bring changes to institutional norms in Norway6. Perhaps there are better ways
for organizations to assess an entrepreneur and his or her ideas. Regarding Proposition 2c,
which states that Entrepreneurs often do consulting work to reduce financial uncertainty
during the plunge event, it could be that aspiring entrepreneurs may want to find a way to
commercialize their knowledge through both consulting and products. Using the consulting
income to limit outside funding and increase exposure to opportunity identification.
Additionally, we find Proposition 2c important in reinforcing the value of non-material
resources.
Our findings that Students are mostly effectual, Propositions 3a, supports entrepreneurship
educations imparting of at least some of the planning logic tools of effectuation theory and
(implicitly) traditional business education. However, the impact can only be known once
entrepreneurship students start business ventures. Students concern with finding investors,
Proposition 3b, reinforces the Centre for Entrepreneurships ability to teach the predictive
planning logics of causation as well. The program could find a way to more clearly develop
5

This was shown by a few Entrepreneurs describing personal styles in line with effectuation
theory, but who also mentioned they think one should probably be more prediction based.
6
All Entrepreneur interviewees are based in Norway and located in Forskningsparken.
77

the different planning logics. For example, dedicated instruction on the venturing processes of
causation and effectuation could provide a more methodical understanding of the two process
employing predictive and control decision logics, respectively.
If Propositions 2c, 3b, and 4c are indeed true; then the Centre for Entrepreneurship would be
advised to adjust its curriculum to include more focused training for students to assess their
means.
Propositions 1b and 4b together remind us of the possibility our Expert prototype could fall
into the visionary category of Figure 1. The causation principle of Avoiding Surprises through
planning would likely need to distinguish between those who do not seek surprises, but have a
knack for turning them into opportunities versus those who see them only as barriers. Surprise
aversion among our Experts included attempts at reducing operational and competition
uncertainty, as defined by Liao and Gartner (2006, pp. 25-26). Experts operational and
competition surprise avoidance in parallel with Proposition 4b is thus an indication of
visionary potential. This is further bolstered by Delmar and Shane (2003, p. 1167) idea that
Planning facilitates faster decision making by identifying missing information without first
requiring the commitment of resources. Knowing what critical information is missing may
count as an important step towards shaping their environment.
Continuing with this interpretation from Proposition 4b, we can see Propositions 3a and 4a
would indicate Students and Entrepreneurs would benefit from further incorporation of both
causation and effectuation logics. Further, the replication of effectuation in both Entrepreneurs
and Students indicates Forskningsparken and the Centre for Entrepreneurship may be
transformative

organizations.

Based

of

these

early

interpretations

of

the

data,

Forskningsparken and the Centre for Entrepreneurship are advised to assess their
organizational frameworks to perhaps include both causation and effectuation theories. After
all, if our interpretations and Wiltbank et al. (2006, p. 985) are correct, then further
extrapolation to Figure 1 suggests Forskningsparken and the Centre for Entrepreneurship have
the potential to support or be visionary organizations and business leaders.

5.3

Limitations of the study

Though this has been an extensive exploratory study of Experts, Entrepreneurs, and Students,
a limitation has been the short time period of this research project. This study is only a
78

snapshot of the participants viewpoints while a longitudinal study would improve the results
greatly. Aspects that could be improved by performing a longitudinal study are the response
rate and insight into the evolution of the participants perspectives. We contacted 32 possible
participants and 14 were willing to let us interview them. Three of those were contacted
because of the researchers network connection to them and another fiver were students who
we have had previous contact with. Not considering these, only six out of 24 unknown
participants answered our request for an interview. That means that we only had 14 subjects
for review and when comparing that to for example the article by Brinckmann et al. (2010)
where they had a total of 52 firms to study, it is clear we are at a bit of a disadvantage when
trying to present absolute proof.
Because of the limited response rate we only had two female participants, this, however,
should not affect our study greatly. Sarasvathy only had male participants in her study (2008,
p. 22); however, she mentioned that this was not a limitation because of the small percentage
of female highly successful entrepreneurs. We only had two female entrepreneurs who fit our
criterion from Forskningsparken and they were not available for our interview. Unfortunately
we knew no female Experts that we could interview; however, two of the students we
interviewed were females.
Another limitation of this study is its difficulty to interpret the action of participants and
distinguish between effectual and causational logics. The actions mentioned in this study were
described by the participants and then analyzed to the best of our abilities. However, to get a
deeper understanding if their actions were effectual or causational, time would be needed for a
longitudinal study of the process around the actions in question.
We would like to remind the reader that our Experts do not meet Sarasvathys exact definition
(2008, p. 21). Our justification for a modified definition of expert entrepreneurs is made in
chapter 3.1.3. The alteration serves as a limitation of the Experts literal replication in this
study. However, the Entrepreneur and Student literal replications are not constrained by this
limitation in our Experts definition.
One limitation that applies only to the Student participants is that most of them do not have
any actual experience in the matters we are investigating, so they are only talking about
hypothetical situations and plans. This limitation could be eliminated by first interviewing a
group of students as we have done, then repeat the interview after a timeframe where the
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students have achieved some experiences within the entrepreneurship field. By doing this over
a period of time we would be able to compare their answers from the different periods and see
if and how experience in the field has changed their answers.
Last, another interesting group of participants that could have been added to this study are
entrepreneurship teachers and lecturers. This would add another dimension to the study that
would solidify our results.

5.4

Future research

There are a number of avenues to continue researching. One possibility is to study Students as
they become entrepreneurs to see if they change in the way they act, in the context of
causation and effectuation. Or, one could study Entrepreneurs in their evolution as they
succeed or fail in their ventures.
Another interesting topic would be to find the reason why Students are so concerned about
investments in an expected return setting. Here one can do comparative studies with other
programs, to look at similarities and differences among students.
Another possibility for future research is a longitudinal study of Entrepreneurs, given the
resources for further research, could use logic model analysis for a more in-depth study of
their venturing process. Logic model case analysis deliberately stipulates a complex chain of
events over an extended period of time. Either events are staged in repeated cause-effectcause-effect patterns, whereby a dependent variable (event) at an earlier stage becomes the
independent variable (causal event) for the next stage (Peterson Bickman, 1992; Rog &
Huebner, 1992) (K. Yin, 2009, p. 149). Such studies may reveal how significant the
differences are between the three prototypes.
It would also be interesting to look into Fernandez-Guerrero et als (2012) view on how a
business plan is only something entrepreneurs use to get hold of funding, and how venture
capitalists and public agencies should measure the quality of an idea or entrepreneurs in a
different way. They should rather look into the entrepreneurs experience, education,
motivation and so on (Fernandez-Guerrero et al., 2012). As we made a connection to
effectuation, with the meaning that venture capitalists and public agencies should assess the
means of an entrepreneur, when looking at a potential investment case. Here one could look at
80

the effectual means of successful entrepreneurs, compared to not so successful entrepreneurs.

Potentially through interviewing a number of entrepreneurs, and then following them over a
longer period of time. This could be used as a way to verify a more appropriate way of
measuring quality of potential entrepreneurs as investment cases.
Our last proposed topic for future research is looking into how the effectual way of inviting
surprises also means that you are giving yourself room to perform the art of entrepreneurship.
This makes sense in the way that Sarasvathy found in her book Elements of Entrepreneurial
Expertise how expert entrepreneurs used effectuation, and how people with the skill or art in
entrepreneurship use effectuation as a method. Which, we believe may create room for
performing the art. In this way it could be interesting to see if it is possible to make a
connection between effectuation and the art, which again can become interesting in the way
effectuation is taught as a method (Henry et al., 2005b; S. Sarasvathy, 2008).

5.5

Conclusion

Our propositions shed light on the possible answer to our research question. The students are
less effectual than the Entrepreneurs and Experts when employing effectuation logics. As
Figure 9 shows, Students also fell between Experts (most causational) and Entrepreneurs
(least causational) in their discussion of business venturing. This could demonstrate the
education provides good grounding in prediction logics for business venturing. The exception
being in the Students financing perspective, who were more causation oriented when
discussing investments and financial planning. These three findings indicate the educational
program might benefit from dedicating more focus on control logic methods such as
effectuation. However, this is a preliminary analysis of early stage research and the findings
warrant more in-depth inquiry. Further research should be done to test these propositions and
investigate the extent of these differences. Expanding the research into longitudinal and event
specific differences would better our understanding of the impact of entrepreneurship
education and differences or similarities among the three prototypes.

81

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1 Appendix
1.1

Interviewee Summaries

1.1.1

Expert A

Expert A is the CMO of a global corporation that has customers in more than a 100 countries.
The firm has offices in 30 countries and approximately 2450 employees worldwide. We were
able to have a phone interview with Expert A in Norway. Expert A has an engineering degree
from England and he has been in the marketing sector most of his career until he landed the
position as CMO. He got this job because he has over 15 years of experience with marketing
and he has worked for Company A for about 15-16 years in three different periods. Expert A
does not have any formal business training and he had never started a company.
He stated that the most important aspect of running his department is to be dynamic and to be
able to adapt according to what the needs in the market are. To be able to be dynamic he says
it is important to have good connections with all of the companies they are in contact with.
This is an example of forming partnerships and the Patchwork Quilt from the effectuation
theory. By keeping close contact with partners and customers they are able to reduce
uncertainty and they co-create new markets with current and new partners and customers.
To deal with unforeseen problems or events he states that it is important to be fast and
responsive. Even if there is a negative event that happens, he mentioned that sometime it can
become positive marketing. This can be interpreted as the lemonade principal in effectuation
theory. To deal with risk, the Expert A states that he is very careful of what he says and he has
to make sure that he is prepared for any question. Being planned out and cautious can be
considered causational and can fit with the principle of Avoiding Surprises, he always tries to
be prepared and does everything in his power to stay ahead of problems.
Since he has been with the company so long it is not strange that he says his goals, milestones,
or objectives have changed as his position in the company has changed. Expert A is not aware
of what effectuation or causation is but when the terms were explained to him he stated that
since they were such a big company it is important to follow plans, but because the company
84

is in the technology sector it is also important to be able to change directions as the

technology develops. By following plans as much as possible Expert A is following
causational thinking, more closely: Pre-set Goals or Opportunities.
From the evidence presented here it seems as though he leans more toward a causational way
of thinking even though there are aspects of his behavior that are effectual. He may lean
towards causational practices because he works in such a large and established organization.

1.1.2

Expert B

Expert Entrepreneur B has attended Biochemistry at University of Oslo, while he also tells us
that he is first a merchant (kremmer). Expert B does not have any formal entrepreneurial
training, however he comes from a family with strong traditions in doing business. He has
sold his family business, and has since been involved with quite a lot of investments and startups, both things that succeeded, and things that did not. He believes that the most important
aspect of starting up is to have a drive to come up with something new.
Expert B seems concerned about using ones network, and asking people with knowledge. He
shows this in his answer on how to deal with uncertainty Well, you just have to dive into it.
And constantly look at who one can use as support. If you sit down and say, I'll have to read
this to do it on my own. That won't work. You need to figure out - who has gone down this
road before. Who can I ask? Who has the knowledge? Here Expert B shows how he does not
have it all planned out, and he does not set the perfect goal while starting up. This is evidence
of effectual thinking. This fits with partnership, but also assessing you means. Expert B is
looking for someone he can ask, which will add to his means. On the question on how he
deals with uncertainty Expert B explains how it is important to have people who ask you the
right questions, positive people who asks why?, in the beginning of the process. Expert B
continues:
A lot of the people on that show have already taken up a large mortgage (pantsatt
seg til pipa). And some of those people may be asked the question what on earth were
you thinking when you did that?. For instance you have something that cannot be
patented, what is so unique then?, why can't a Chinese copy this
(Talks about the TV-show Dragons Den - a show where entrepreneurs pitch ideas to
investor). Here we can see how Expert B is concerned with avoiding surprises. He can get the
85

impression that not having a patent is a showstopper for him, and that people without patents
should not go on. In effectual behavior such an event would just be a hint of a new market,
and doing something else. We therefore think this is more of a causational view.

On the question about risk, Expert B explains how the company he now is a CEO at, has
investors who are willing to put in money. He also says that he has written a lot of business
plans, that you write them all the way through the process, and how you play ball with the
investors. All of this is expected return and a way of having the ultimate goal. Also being
dependent on investors to start something up is also a proof of expected return. This is
evidence of causation.
Expert B does also plan out to do causation, however he ended up doing more of an effectual
move in sort of a Patchwork Quilt setting, he said:
We went to a broker house and told them about our idea. When we took another step.
The broker house said that we don't see how we can place this in the market. But they
said what the hell, we find this exciting, so the brokers invested themselves as
private persons.
Expert B was also keen on talking about politics and the Norwegian startup bureaucracy, and
culture for start-up investments. Expert B had not heard about either effectuation or causation.
We find support in how Expert B does both effectual and causational thinking. His focus on
avoiding surprises, and expected return makes him more of a causational entrepreneur, while
how he likes to get hold of the people who has had the experience is more effectual as it is
part of adding something to you means. Expert B ends up in the middle, between the two
theories.

1.1.3

Expert C

Expert C answered our questions via email because of the time difference to where he lives.
Expert C is a software engineer who got his education from China which is also where he
grew up. After he graduated from school he always dreamt of doing something on his own.
This shows great entrepreneurial spirit. For a long time he worked for a Swedish company in
the US and when he left that company he started his own IT consultancy company. One of his
largest customers was the company he used to work for. By bringing on his previous
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employer to be one of his largest customers he is using entrepreneurial thinking: Patchwork

Quilt.
When asked what he thought was the most important aspects of starting a company he
mentioned that you have to be positive, have leadership skills and have a great network. This
is also considered effectual, Bird-in-hand, as he is always looking at his means. He uses who
he knows to look for new business possibilities. He also says that you have to find out what
products and services you can provide the customer. To achieve this he acquired a lot of
experience from his previous jobs and he has a great network of programmers and a large
customer base in China.
His greatest challenge is the English language, as his mother tongue is Chinese and learning
English has not been easy. When talking about unforeseen problems and events he says he
always thinks 5-10 years ahead and when problems pop up he tries his best to face them and
solve them. This is an example of Avoiding surprises, which is causational thinking.
However, Expert C mentions that he tries to have a plan A and a plan B and he only takes the
risks he can afford. This is considered a classical example of Affordable loss which is
effectual thinking.
He also mentions that he did his best to write a business plan for his company which is
extremely causational and considered Expected Return.
Expert C has not heard about the theory of effectuation or causation but from his answers it is
not easy to place him in either of the categories. He is both effectual and causational.

1.1.4

Expert D

Expert D has completed 2 years of photography education in Sweden. He worked as a

photographer for a large newspaper in Norway before he was promoted to photo editor. He
was a photo editor for 7 years until he was recruited to work for a large company in Oslo that
was a distributor for several different types of professional photography tools. While he was
there they started to approach the digital market: transmitters and scanners. He started
working with another major distributor of professional photography equipment and one of the
programmers there became a good friend. When they realized that the distributer wanted to go
in another direction from what they had envisioned, they started for themselves instead. They
were able to start their company as a subsidiary from the original distributor that Expert D
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worked with. From these events we can see that Expert D thinks effectual in the way of Birdin-hand as he uses both people he knows and the means available to him to start a company.
Other than the company he is running now, Expert D has started several other companies and
some of them are still running now. When asked what the most important aspect of starting a
business is he quickly answered:
I think everybody says you have to believe in it, you have to understand the market
and you have to have the right timing. But, very few of those points, they fall down
every time you do it, but we were quite lucky, we had the right timing, we had the right
know-how, and we had the right means to do it.
This is as mentioned earlier a great example of Bird-in-hand and effectual thinking. Since they
started the company as a subsidiary their parent company funded most of their activities and
they were on track from day one to make their own decisions.
One of the obstacles he mentioned they had to overcome was their small size. They knew they
wanted to use partners as a way to distribute their software and when they had a finished
product partners started coming to them in 95-96. Expert D talked about getting started in
Norway:
to sell something you need to have a distribution channel. In Norway we could
handle those customers ourselves. So that was quite easy, we knew the newspapers
and, I personally knew them all, so we could very easily approach them and sell new
things. It was really like selling ice cream in the Sahara at summer time.
By 97 they had quite a large number, and by 98 they had many partners, then the problem
became that they did not have the capacity to manage them. This is an example of the
Patchwork Quilt from effectuation theory as they build partnerships and expand their network
of customers by getting pre-commitments and reducing the uncertainty to tap into new
markets.
Moving forward the obstacle became that they had problems finding someone to work with
them, as they were not able to offer what other large companies could offer and that is the
only reason why Expert D would consider getting investors. However, they made it through
the difficult time by working a lot. He said that you couldnt expect to have a 7 hour day if

88

you start your own company. When asked about how he dealt with risk he laughed and said
that they didnt, they just went for it and tried to solve problems that came up along the way.
Yeah, we just went for it and tried to solve it along the way. The good thing was that
we were still, we had [parent company] there as something we owned, so if everything
had collapsed we would still have jobs, an income. But, we never thought about that,
we just went for it. Tried to solve everything as fast as we could.
Here he says that even if they would fail they would still have an income, and this is
considered effectuation and Affordable loss.
When Expert D was asked if he wrote any complete business plans for any of his companies
he answered no, but he did say that they had quite clear ideas of what they were going to do
and what they needed to do. When goals and milestones he says:
"I think they have changed all the time according to reality, of course you want to
have some goals, but sometimes you just have to admit that the goals were wrong or
the market was different and you have to change it. This is good with a small
organization so that you can change directions very quickly. If things are going well
you can do more in that area, if it goes bad you can change it very quickly. The good
thing for us is that we have the financial resources to, more or less do exactly what we
want, we dont have to ask anyone. And thats the big big advantage.
This statement is a perfect example of Pilot-in-the-plane, effectual thinking. He says that his
goals change according to reality and you have to change what you can when something
comes up. They focus on activities within their control and they know that when they do
change goals or activities it will benefit them. They know that the future cannot be known, but
they try to change directions quickly and make the future they see for themselves.
Expert D was unaware of what effectuation and causation is, but after talking with him it is
clear that he follows effectuational activities much more than causational activities. After an
explanation of what effectuation and causation is he mentioned the following: Of course the
bigger you grow the more firm plans you need. So right now we are working more
deliberately towards certain goals compared to some years ago. However, even though the
company now has a few plans and goals, which is causational, he is still considered effectual:
He showed he acted effectual by using his means and connections to start his business (Bird89

in-Hand), he knew he would still have a job even if he failed (Affordable Loss), he expanded
his network of partners (Patchwork Quilt), and his company focuses on actions within their
control (Pilot-in-the-Plane).

1.2

Entrepreneurs

1.2.1

Entrepreneur A1

Entrepreneur A has a master degree in informatics from the University in Oslo. During his
degree he completed a class about leadership and after he graduated from the University he
attended Grnderskolen where he did internships in Silicon Valley in the US. The company
that Entrepreneur A is CEO of is a small company only founded in 2011. Currently they are 2
full time employees and one part time employee who helps out with accounting a few hours a
week. This company is an IT consultancy company who is waiting for one great idea that they
can work with for the rest of their lives.
As a part of his degree he also went abroad to Mexico to study. While he was there he started
a company that provided SMS services. He started this company with another Norwegian
student in Mexico and he said the other person was the investor while he was the CEO.
Entrepreneur A said:
I had this partner who has the money, he was kind of saying that he had the money
we need to invest in marketing and that kind of stuff that we needed to. And so then I
felt very free to just start and then we had kind of a very long way to go from the
beginning until we were actually going to earn money because we needed to develop a
platform and to get contracts with telecom operators
Entrepreneur A
By using his partner and the money available to him he is following effectuation thinking,
more precisely, Bird-in-Hand. Even though the company is still running and he is the CEO of
it, he does not have a big role in the company anymore because it is so far away.
When he moved back to Norway he worked for a large consultancy company where he was
involved in some innovation but he said it was mostly finding out where big companies
90

should go next or what small company they should buy. From his experience there he stated:
to me it was very clear that after a year I wanted to be in these small startups like where
everything is chaos and you have to find out, and do all of these things from the beginning
and find solutions.
He did not like doing just one part over and over again, he wanted to be a part of the whole
process. Further, leaving his consultancy job to enjoy the chaos of startups and coming up
with solutions can be interpreted as surprise seeking mentality. Entrepreneur C enjoys using
the Lemonade principle in effectuation. He also said that while he was working at the large
consultancy company he felt that he didnt get any real dirt on his hands and he wanted to
go back to doing startups. This shows that Entrepreneur A is very entrepreneurial and he
enjoys being in a startup setting.
The company he is currently the CEO of is an IT consultancy company that rents out their
time to their customers. When talking about starting the company he said:
So we just give it a try and if it doesnt work, and we need money, we can of course
just find an ordinary job. So the risk wasnt that high, we didnt need to invest a lot of
money at the beginning, we just found some cheap offices and we had our laptops and
thats kind of what we need.
Entrepreneur A
This is a classic example of Affordable Loss in the Effectuation theory. They calculated what
they could afford to lose and even if they failed they would have a backup plan. Right now
they have a couple of products they are working with, but they are waiting for one great idea
that they can work with for the remainder of their careers. Entrepreneur A said: So we are
looking towards these kinds of directions without having any specific idea. [...] Yeah, just kind
of exploring.
This is an example of them focusing on activities within their control and waiting for their
actions to result in their desired outcome. This is exactly in line with Effectuation and the
Pilot-in-the-plane.
When asked what the Entrepreneur thought is the most important aspect of starting a business
he said that it is important to be involved in the whole process from beginning to end. Also, he
said that having customers before you start is important. To be able to achieve these things he
91

used his student loans to fund his business as he worked while he was studying. By doing this
he did not have to get investors to help him start the company so that he could be able to
control his own business and not be dependent on others. Using his student loans shows that
he uses the means he has and this is an example of Bird-in-Hand, being effectual. Also, by
having a product that solves a problem it will be much easier to get that first customer. He
said: I think that is one key idea that we will stay with now that we will finally find our next
big project, that before we start we want to find a real customer who actually wants this and
want to join us some way to finance this.
By this statement he is showing that he thinks about expanding his Patchwork Quilt, which is
effectual thinking, he wants to obtain pre-commitments from a customer or someone who can
become a key partner.
During his interview he mentioned that his father also was an entrepreneur so he had grown
up with his father working a lot and his mother being worried about finances almost all the
time. From his childhood he learned that being an entrepreneur was difficult and it took a lot
of work, but he also saw that his parents worked with something that they loved to do and had
fun doing it.
The Entrepreneur A did say that he wrote a complete business plan for his company, but that
was only so that he could get funding from Innovation Norway and having a business plan
was a requirement from them. Even though he said he only wrote the business plan for
Innovation Norway, writing a business plan falls in line with Expected return, which is
causational thinking. However, writing a business plan under the pressure from investors or
incubators could hardly be considered causational. It could be considered a casual tactic as a
strategy to bring in both funding and stakeholders to expand his Patchwork Quilt, which is
considered effectual. Additionally, there is not much to lose and a lot to gain from simply
writing a business plan. This shows that many times an action can be both effectual and
causational.
Throughout Entrepreneur As career his goals, milestones, and objectives have changed as he
started out as a student without any real commitments to buying a house and having a family.
It is more important now to have a stable income and be able to pay his mortgage every
month. Even though Entrepreneur A did not have any knowledge of the theories of

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effectuation or causation it was clear that he followed the effectuation theory even though he
was not aware of it.

1.2.2

Entrepreneur B

Entrepreneur B is an established and involved professor at a Norwegian university and the

leader of a research group. He started his first business over a decade ago as a means to
commercialize technology in his lab and to invoice work he had been previously doing for
free:
The second thing was that I saw some people in around science that were earning
money on science. Like having consultancy companies and other companies that sold
its services to research. I thought, at that time I thought my salary was pretty low
andI thought it would be nice to have a company that I can use as a tool if I take a
job for Sintef or someone, and I should get paid rather than just doing everything for
free. Which is what we usually do. The company would a good way to write invoices
and things like that. So, starting a company is a good idea, in general, I thought. Lets
try it.
As Entrepreneur B put it, he was always being asked when he would do a startup. This was in
part due to his location at Forskningsparken. So, once he decided he wanted to form a firm,
says it triggered a lot of systems. This brings to light Entrepreneur Bs context and means
he had when he made the plunge decision. From that moment on, he has maintained an
awareness of his means and affordable loss mindset best explicitly made by him: I all the
way along the line all the way I could afford to lose it.
Additionally, Entrepreneur B extended the affordable loss principle to the company. When
considering the possibility of protecting the companys technology with patents and avoid
copying from potential rivals, he articulated in his patent strategy:
Because, if theyre going to copy it, we its possible that our patent is worth less
anyway. Or, if it is valuable, we will not have the money to defend it. We will not have
the power to defend it. So, its better to just not have any expenses on patents on this.
Recognizing the company would not be able to afford to defend patents, he focused on the
downside of a patent and saved the company significant resources. Interestingly, he decided to
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trademark the companys primary product, which he believes has acted as a deterrent to would
be copiers.
The second purpose for starting his first firm never took off. Entrepreneur B expressed regret
that his firm has not been able to acquire the human capital to offer scientific services and
develop new materials. However, he has managed to leverage hiring a computer wizard to
move the company towards developing scientific software. Rather staying focused on those
original goals, he has been able to move the company in a new direction while still selling the
original product.
Regarding business and production operations, Entrepreneur B has focused on controlling
costs by using a production on demand model. In acting on business operations, he can take
actions that allow the company to control the outcome. Waiting for customer orders gives his
company more control.
Whats striking about Entrepreneur B is his display of both causational and effectual
principles. The interview primarily focused on his experience at his first company. However,
he has been highly involved in another company as a board member, in which he draws
contrasts between two ways of business venturing. The first company he has run in a largely
effectual manner, though he still used some causational principles. For instance, setting clear
goals and being adamant about knowing the market very well. In the second company, the
approach has been largely causational due to the long lead time for product development.

1.2.3

Entrepreneur C

Entrepreneur C has his background from automatisation and then cybernetics, he has no
formal or informal entrepreneurial training. However, he has started two firms, and is in the
process of starting his third company. He started out working for a company within
hydropower where he learned the name of the game, moving on to starting something on his
own. He explains that he is now working within industry systems. The first thing Entrepreneur
C mentioned as a key aspect in a startup was network. He personally acquired this through
working part time as a consultant during his early start-up phase. He mentioned to learn just
setting up a company, and the shift from individual enterprise to an AS as key obstacles he
needed to overcome. Gaining experience and building network in the business before starting
on your own, is something that adds to your means in effectuation. However, this is also
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something that would fit in the theory of causation (although you are working towards a set
goal, you will need network).
When it comes to uncertainty Entrepreneur C explained how he feels that this is tightly
connected to the uncertainty he feels as a person, you are after all the company. In
effectuation you are concerned about the risk you can take at every step, and you are not
making predictions about the future, you rather focus on things you can affect. So connecting
personal uncertainty to the company uncertainty may be looked upon as effectual, but if
Entrepreneur C is worried about the future, then it may be an argument for causation as well
(worrying about things out of his control). On the question about risk Entrepreneur C explains
the following:
In my situation I had offers of employment at all of my customers, around. I was
secured a job, around. In the industry. So I had that as a security. If things went to
hell, then I could apply for a job and I would earn more there than with what I was
doing. Times three, for sure. And you lose nothing. You don't lose your house, because
I had (owned) nothing. I had nothing to lose, in what I was doing.
It is clear to see how he focuses on the downside of risk, to see what he can afford to lose.
This is an almost perfect example of the affordable loss principle.
He also explains how writing business plans is a waste of time, both because it took up too
much time creating income, but also since he did not know the way to do it and had no time
to learn how to. He says:
He had learned how to make a business plan. Then I looked at it, and I had no idea
on how to (calculate) the economy in the project 3-4 years from now. Im not an
economist. I don't know that stuff. I do one day at a time. And I also figured that
writing this down, would take up a lot of time, just learning it
Entrepreneur C also mentions the following about business plans, and we can see in both
statements how there is a crash in his non-predictive mindset and how he has worried about
not knowing how to make business plans.
I could start with writing business plans, because I have entered a niche. However
the niches are also moving in regards to markets. And the markets are also moving by

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the years. If i write I am doing this, and then the market is moving, and suddenly you
got no need. Then its worth nothing.
Entrepreneur C shows here how he is not into making predictions about the future, and he is
more concerned about the things he can affect. It is interesting to see how Entrepreneur C
makes an excuse about his own knowledge in economy, even though he shows clear
connection to the effectuation theory. One can get the feeling that he believes that one should
follow a more causational way of acting, and not in an effectual way as he self is a
representation of.
There is several proof of effectuation in the interview with Entrepreneur C. Entrepreneur C
clearly has an effectual method to solve things, however it seems unpurposeful. Entrepreneur
C had neither heard about the theory of effectuation, nor any other economic theories.

1.2.4

Entrepreneur D

Entrepreneur D has a background from IFI at University of Oslo, he has no entrepreneurial

training. The company he now works for is the first and only he has started, which he
categorizes as a company in the IT industry. As one of the most important aspects of starting
up a company he mentioned network, wanting to do something on your own and be willingly
to invest a lot of time in what you are doing.
Entrepreneur D told us how people with the same kind of education as him have no problem
of getting well-paid jobs in the market. And that they even pay more than he is making in his
own firm. This is evidence of effectuation as the affordable loss principle since he here has a
focus on downside, he can come back to the industry in a normal job if things go wrong.
As a key obstacle he mentioned the access to customers early in the process as important.
Entrepreneur D did not mention how to get these customers, therefore it is hard to say if he is
following a predictive path or not (i.e. If he was dependent on market research or not). In
review of his case description, he clarified the situation as pertaining to clear industrial
specifications versus customer specific concerns. Upon making contact with these customers,
he learned of the unique specifications they had of his product. These were unexpected and
can serve as a lemonade moment in which Entrepreneur D adjusted his goals.

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Entrepreneur D mentioned how demands from serious market players were important in
regard to unforeseen problems. As for risk, Entrepreneur D talked about the companys
insurance deal. Entrepreneur D also told us how he had written a business plan together with
them which is part of their investment package with their incubator. None of these are
strong evidence, however the business plan is a weaker evidence for causational behavior, as
it is a focus on expected return.
He also told us how the company has changed their focus on the way:
So, we had no clue when we started, if we have that still may also be a good question.
We have learned a lot on the way. We have changed focus a bit. The things we thought
we would do, have done to a certain degree, but it has notone challenge is how you
earn your money.
This is more of an effectual viewpoint, since one is effectuating, and not working towards a
perfect goal. However, this is not strong evidence. To prove effectuation we would like to see
bigger changes.
Entrepreneur D did also tell us how he had written a business plan when starting up. However
this was something he did through the Forskningsparken system. We interpret this as how
Entrepreneur D only wrote a business plan to please the system/incubator he was starting his
venture with in, Entrepreneur D said: We werethrough Forskningsparken..(mumbling)..we
were through the whole standard process with business plan and other stuff.
All in all Entrepreneur D did not give answers easy to analyze, apart from the affordable loss
principle. It is hard to place him in any category. However a weak tendency of effectuation
can be found. Entrepreneur D had not heard about the theory of effectuation or causation.

1.2.5

Entrepreneur E

Entrepreneur E started his company more than a decade ago in response to his dissatisfaction
with his corporate experience. Having worked for fifteen years in the pharmaceutical industry
as a chemist, Entrepreneur E said he had grown tired of management decisions. In his
response to being asked why he had started a company and his situation, he stated:
If this is going to be the life in future. You know, somebody decides something and
you have to jump, you know. Its like this all over, in this world these days; in our
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business. Mergers, layoffs here and there, so on and so on. I mean, why not try to do
something on your own? And be be a little independent. Youre definitely not
independent. Especially when you have to make your own money, youre dependent on
customers and your own skills. But its worthwhile to try. And if it fails, ok...ha-ha and
then you need to find another job if possible.
This displays Entrepreneur Es practice of the affordable loss principle during his plunge
decision for his business venture. However, frustration with his employer was not the only
factor in his decision. Entrepreneur E had been pursuing a technology he found interesting and
believed had commercial potential:
So I filed patents on that during one of the time when we were all laid-off7 and
nobody knew what to do. I knew exactly what to do. I did all my testing and
experiments and everything for filing patents. So, I was fortunate in that sense.
Everybody else was just looking around for jobs, I was just doing my thing. So I had
something, in a way, to start up with. Both ideas and also showed/found were kind of
robust, and also I had a few patents on the technology.
Notice the above statement also shows his ability to make lemonade from the lemons of what
others experienced as a bad event. Throughout the interview, Entrepreneur E made several
statements characterizing a pattern of effectuation beyond the plunge event. His approach to
stakeholder pre-commitment is demonstrated in his statement that:
We have to develop all the time. And, its better to do it for a customer and get a few
bucks for it, rather than to do it for yourself and get nothing. You might even get some
feedback. You might even get some appreciation. You know? It happens! Can be some
people are actually happy about what you do.
By engaging his customers - stakeholder - in the companys product development, he is able
to adjust his business to their needs and offset costs, and reduce predictions through increased
controllable steps. His strong aversion to predictions and preference to focusing on control is
perhaps exemplified by the following remark regarding planning and budgeting:

Entrepreneur E later clarified that: I didnt get laid off. I was actually kind of transferred and I didnt like
the situation.

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Can we afford this? Yeah, lets buy it. Can we not afford it? Oh, no no no...we wait until we
have more money or actually see its kind of [inaudible]. I mean, how do you put up a budget
when you dont know you get any customer next month? Whats the point?
Someone with a causational approach would want to analyze the situation, make predictions,
and prepare a budget. Entrepreneur E does not see any value in predicting what he cannot
control. Combined with his statements on the plunge event and stakeholder pre-commitments,
Entrepreneur E can be said to have strong effectual characteristics.

1.3

Students

1.3.1

Student A

Student A has his background from construction engineering at the Oslo University College.
Student A started the Innovation and Entrepreneurship program as he wanted to start up a
company. After attending the program for two years he still plans to start up a company,
however he says that he now understands that success is hard to obtain. Both on questions
about what the most important things he has learned during the program, and what key
obstacles he thinks he will need to overcome, Student A answers getting hold of the right
people. Student A is concerned about acquiring the best human capital possible for the job. He
also tells us how he thinks that studying Innovation and Entrepreneurship represents a
different mindset. This may represent the fact that you in effectuation are leveraging your idea
with the help of your set of means, you go out in the world and try to form partnerships, and
you are not necessarily following the perfect plan/towards the goal (causation). However,
being concerned about network and human capital may just as well be causational. So this
alone will not reveal which theory Student A is following.
On the question on how he would deal with unforeseen events, such as an unforeseen patent
incident, Student A answers Then I would have tried to work my way around it. I would not
have quit for that reason. When you first start. But there might be a lot of other openings. You
can twist your product into a new direction, without stepping on a patent. As an example.
Here Student A shows how he would leverage a contingency. He will work around something
which very often is represented as a showstopper. Student A will look for an upside in the
downside. This is a clear representation of the effectuation theory.
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Student A invites risks, and is not risk averse at all, he says That is what you do when you
start up a company. You are seeking risk. That is what you gain, you are taking risk. Thats
the reason why you do it. I would say that I would handle it well. When you are seeking for
it.. Both in causation and effectuation theory one is looking to reduce risk. In causation you
are targeting a return, and you are reducing as much risk as possible. While in effectuation
theory you are following the affordable loss principle, you know how much you can risk at
every step on the way, by focusing on the affordable downside. Student A does not reveal too
much which of these paths he does follow. However going out there accepting risk in all steps
reminds more of the affordable loss principle.
Student A does not believe in business plans, but he believes that keeping milestones is smart,
however it must be possible to change them. In a causational world you are striving after that
perfect goal, while in effectuation you are seeking for an effect. Student A shows how he
represents a more dynamic, than static way of thinking. This is effectual.
Student A had purposely acted out effectuation through an autumn-internship at a former
Innovation and Entrepreneurship students venture. Student A answered the following on the
question if he had heard about effectuation, and if he had tried to follow that idea
Yes, I have tried it through [former innovation and entrepreneurship students] internship.
There we followed it. That was how we planned things. We did not write a business plan first.
We were out there selling the idea, and tried to see how the market reacted in the idea we
had. We then went back to plan.
Although some of the evidence may be used as an argument for both theories, we see that
Student A thinks and acts in an effectual way.

1.3.2

Student B

Student B has a background in computer science and worked for a couple of years in IT
consulting prior to joining the Innovation and Entrepreneurship masters program. He is
pursuing the masters degree to pivot his career focus away from a purely technical role and to
fulfill his ambition of working for himself with innovative technologies. After three semesters
in the program Student B still intends to start a business. In his own words:

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Yeah, because as I said, I was really into the technical field and I think well I was a bit
bored about that. All the technical stuff. Then I decided, OK I like more business, more
innovation, more entrepreneurship. So then I decided to start looking into different programs
around all the different universities around the world.
However, he plans to build up his experience over the next few years prior to venturing on his
own.
My plan is to have a bit more experience in mobile technology. Thats the thing I like so far.
And then, maybe in 5 years have already something.
These educational and experiential goals or choices can be interpreted as Student B assessing
his means and acting on aspects under his control and with limited loss. However, Student Bs
behavior could also be interpreted as more causational, in that an effectuator would start the
venturing or business development process on his existing means. On the other hand,
educational and personal network development increases his personal means. In this way,
Student B may be seen as being at the beginning of one effectual cycle towards new business
formation. An effectual interpretation may be bolstered by his following statement:
Well I think at first, what I have seen is that you have to identify a problem a need and
then based on your background or based off what you know, you can think: Ok, what can I do
in order fulfill this need?
This, however, could also be interpreted as causational. The confusion arises from how the
entrepreneur solves the problem. Is he seeking investors, or is it based on his resource? In this
case, we see he is thinking in terms of what he can do (with his means) to solve the problem.
Potential effectual characteristics demonstrated by Student B were his statements on a
business idea needing buy-in from others and making the best of unforeseen situations.
Relating to the former, he sees structural or environmental barriers as the most challenging
obstacles to overcome for a startup. To do so, Student B stated:
Well, I think you just need to have an idea thats going to be relevant for everyone. You have
think not only in you, but also in the general community.
That is, the idea or solution is what brings people on-board. However, the statement alone
does not fully qualify as effectual. It is his elaboration that you need to be flexible and
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have to adapt a bit to the situation of the way you want to start something. which gives
credence to an effectual interpretation of bringing in stakeholders.
Student Bs effectual characteristics were further defined when asked how he has dealt with
unexpected events. His answer:
I think its just to see the positive side. Right. I mean, and then to make the most of it
because its already there; it has already happened. So you have to think ok, what is the good
point of this? What can I learn?
demonstrates recognition for the need to have a positive attitude towards surprises. However,
this appeared to be the limit to Student Bs effectual behavior. Additionally, in light of his
statements on his approach to risk and uncertainty, would seem to have a more causational
process of venturing.
In confronting unforeseen events and challenges, Student B said he would preemptively
define risk management processes in the business plan and have a contingency plan. When
followed up with a question about dealing with uncertainty, he answered he would try to
reduce uncertainty by externally analyzing the situation and get a reading on what other
people think about his solution. While he would plan much of the risk management and
analyze the uncertainty in a business plan, he admitted the business plan would likely go
through an iterative process with changes depending on the phase of the business. Though,
Student B does not believe the business goals would change.

1.3.3

Student C

Student C is a student who has a bachelor in informatics from the University in Oslo. She
started the Innovation and Entrepreneurs master program because while she was completing
her informatics bachelor she felt that she and her classmates came up with many great ideas
and products, but she noticed that most of them werent able to take the ideas and products to
the next level.
When asked if she has ever started a company she answered no, but that she has started
many projects. One in particular that she mentioned was a project to start publishing a
magazine with an Asian Pop Culture theme. In the beginning she wanted it to be a physical
paper magazine, but as she kept working with it she decided that it would be better to just
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publish it as an app. However, when she started to look at what was already out there, she
realized that the market was saturated with the kind of product she would want to create. This
can be looked at as both effectual and causational, when she started she had an end goal of
creating a magazine, which is considered causational, but when she kept working with it she
realized that her plans had to change and she changed them accordingly and that is considered
effectual - reconsidering your means and goals. However, the fact that she did not evolve her
product to fit the saturated market is causational, if she had been more effectual she would
have changed her product to fit the current market or a new emerging market. As she is
moving forward with this masters program she says that she still plans to start a company one
day.
Moving the interview towards the important aspects of starting a new business, she quickly
stated that The Team is in her mind the most important aspect of starting any new business.
She mentioned that with a great team you can do anything. To be able to get a great team she
plans to find good people who are not too similar to herself but they make you feel good by
working with them. She said: Well, based on what I know, or what Ive learned now is that
having a great team! I think, well of course the demand, but I think you can do a lot with a
great team. That is the thing, you know, you have to find people that you can, that you feel
good to work with, but it cant be too alike you, yeah thats hard. This statement shows that
she fits with the effectuation theory about using your means. She sets out with looking at who
she knows and how she can build a great team from her contacts.
When we moved the questions toward unforeseen problems, events or uncertainty she said
that she would try to deal with any problem that came up before it happened, or not at all.
Student C mentioned that if you focus too much on the negative things you will not be able to
reach your goals. However, she did mention that it would be wise to hire a person to take care
of all the problems that pop up along the way. The way she would deal with risk would be
through finding a balance between being too optimistic and too cautious. She mentioned that
she had heard a few horror stories from new start-ups where they had been completely taken
advantage of, and she didnt want that to happen to her. What she says here goes well with the
affordable loss part of effectuation. She said she would create a balance between being
optimistic and cautions which can translate to not wanting to seek all-or-nothing
opportunities.

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She is sure that her goals would change in the future but that it would probably make her feel
bad for the previous goals and that she is not focused on them anymore. At the end of the
interview she said she knew both what effectuation and causation are and that she would most
likely follow effectuation, however, that would not be a conscious choice, and rather,
something that just happens. Although Student C has said and done things that are both
causation and effectuation we surmise that she thinks mostly in an effectual way.

1.3.4

Student D

Student D has his background as a civil engineer in robotics. He is planning to start up a

company, and still is after he has been studying Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He attended
the Innovation and Entrepreneurship program due to his belief that Norways situation as a
low-innovation country, the Norwegian government will need to have a huge focus on this
program. He says that he has learned a set of tools to avoid pitfalls in the real world.

Student D believes that one of the most important aspects of starting up is to solve a problem.
Here Student D shows more of a causational way of thinking, at least if Student D is trying to
solve that problem and not a problem in general, where the first way of thinking is
causational, while the second effectuation.
Student D believes that he will need to do networking to acquire this. Networking is
something one will need in both effectuation and causation theory. There is no proof whether
Student D represent any of them.
He also believes that one of the key obstacles in a startup is to get hold of money. In the
causational world you are taking the plunge based upon how much resources you need to be
able to start up. While in effectuation you are basing the plunge on the affordable loss
principle. Student D clearly represent the causational expected return viewpoint.
On the question about how he would cope with unforeseen problems, he answers with
unforeseen actions. In causation you are making predictions about the future, while in
effectuation you are more focused on what you can control. Student D does not make
predictions about the future, and we see that this is an effectual viewpoint.
While on the question about how he would deal with uncertainty he says that you have to go
out and ask people, sometimes in quantitative, other times in a qualitative way. This may be a
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representation of both causation and effectuation, however making predictions about the
future is causational. How he would do this, and how he would use the result would make it
more clear which view this is a representation of.
Student D would deal with risk in the way that he will constantly try to reduce it. In
effectuation you are focusing on the risk at every step, while in causation you set a wanted
return, and one is reducing all risk as a calculation of the return. It is not possible to say which
Student D is representing.
While on the question about writing a business plan, Student D says It would be most noble
and efficient perhaps to have a complete business plan, the thing is though, that sometimes
you just got the idea for it. And you can hear a lot of people saying already I want to pay for
it. And that. That might not always be necessary to make that business plan.. We are
interpreting this as an effectual process, you go out and talk to people, and then you go back
and assess your means. It is also a representation of the partnership-view in effectuation, you
are trying to get pre commitments from people.
Student D believes in high set milestones that one really has to reach for. This is setting a
perfect goal, and a representation of causation.
Student D shows how he is representing a mix of effectuation and causation. Student D had
not heard about the theory of effectuation nor causation, but was keen to learn.

1.3.5

Student E

Student E has a varied educational and work background. Having first received her bachelors
in a humanities subject, she went abroad to teach. However, she decided a defined skill would
benefit her career, so she went back to school for engineering. Student E worked at an
engineering firm for a couple of years during which time she found the work unfulfilling.
Applying to and entering the Innovation & Entrepreneurship program, Student E had dual
purposes. The program allowed her to live in Norway, which she wanted for personal reasons,
and gave her a chance to pivot her career away from a purely technical field and still have
good job prospects. Interestingly, Student E expressed discomfort with the idea of founding a
company. Largely due to the high risk and uncertainty of success: Like, I understand that as

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risk goes up, potential reward goes up as well. But, like I said, I don't know if I'm interested in
big risks.
Her focus on the downside is typical of the effectuators described by Sarasvathy and the
affordable loss principle. However, this could also be interpreted as the risk avoidance
associated with causational practices. The key to understanding which principle it is may lie
in her response to how she would deal with unforeseen problems: I guess the key is to be
light on your feet and flexible. And, not too averse to making changes to whatever comes your
way.
The quote demonstrates an acceptance, at least, of effectuations lemonade principle which
cycles back to the affordable loss principle. However, the question is muddled by earlier
statements regarding her interest in founding a company:
That's a grey area. I think I would like to work at a startup. I don't know if I want to be one of
the founders because there's just so much risk involved. And, I'm sort of at the point in my life
where I'm not really into big risks.
In answering what she thinks are the most important aspects to starting a business, Student E
identified the team and idea as the most critical factors. Neither of which are exclusive to
effectuation nor causation. In further explaining how she would act on an idea or putting a
team with a good dynamic together, she seems to have divergent process. In order to Act on
an idea, Student E seemed to use causational language. Meanwhile, in building a team, she
used more effectual language. It is difficult to pin Student E as either an effectuator or
causational actor. This may be due to the hypothetical nature of the questions on two levels.
First, she is answering how she would envision doing something highly complex and
dynamic. Second, Student E is not invested in the idea of starting her own firm.

1.4

Interview Questions

1.4.1

Entrepreneurs and Experts

1. What is your background?

1.1. Do you have any formal or informal entrepreneurial or business training?
2. Is this the first company you have started?
2.1. Why did you move onto this venture?
3. What industry would you classify your company of being in?
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4. What do you believe have been the most important aspects of starting a new business?
5. How do you acquire or achieve those things?
6. What were the key obstacles you had to overcome?
7. How did you deal with unforeseen problems/events?
8. How did you deal with uncertainty?
9. How did you deal with risk?
10. How did you approach investors, partners, or stakeholders?
11. Did you write a complete business plan before you started your venture?
12. Have your goals, milestones, or objectives been constant or have they changed
(significantly)?
12.1.
If theyve changed, why and how?
12.1.1. What was the result?
12.2.
If they were constant, would change them now looking back?
13. Are you aware of the theory of effectuation?
13.1.
If so, have you attempted to follow it?
14. Are you aware of the theory of causation?
14.1.
If so, have you attempted to follow it?

1.4.2

Students

1. What is your background?

2. Have you ever started a company or are you planning to?
3. Why did you join this program?
3.1. What are the important things you have learned so far?
3.2. If you were planning to start a company, are you still?
4. What do you believe are the most important aspects of starting a new business?
5. How do you acquire or achieve those things?
6. What do you think are the key obstacles to overcome?
7. How would you deal with unforeseen problems/events?
8. How would you deal with uncertainty?
9. How would you deal with risk?
10. Would you write a complete business plan before starting a venture?
11. Do you think your goals, milestones, or objectives will be constant or do you think they
will change (significantly)?
11.1.
If you think they will change, why and how?
12. Are you aware of the theory of effectuation?
12.1.
If so, would you attempt to follow it?
13. Are you aware of the theory of causation?
13.1.
If so, would you attempt to follow it?

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