Corporate effectuation: Entrepreneurial action and its impact on R&D project performance
Research highlights
► We develop a scale for effectuation and causation in the corporate R&D context. ► We examine the impact of effectuation and causation on R&D project performance. ► The R&D projects differ in their degree of innovativeness. ► Effectuation is positively related to success in highly innovative R&D projects. ► Causation approaches are beneficial in projects with low levels of innovativeness.
Section snippets
Executive summary
R&D literature provides contradictory findings on planning as a success factor in more innovative R&D projects and is characterized by a dearth on broader R&D project success factors beyond planning for these projects. Therefore, the present study adopts the lens of effectuation and causation and applies it to the corporate R&D context in order to provide meaningful contributions to the burgeoning literature on R&D projects. The effectuation logic is particularly suitable for forming a
Theoretical background
Section 3.1 outlines how the effectuation approach differs from established frameworks in R&D management, presents the dimensions of effectuation, and differentiates them from causation logic. Section 3.2 introduces the moderating variable of innovativeness and links it to the concept of uncertainty, a central element in effectuation logic.
Hypotheses
This section deals with the impact of effectuation and causation on R&D projects' performance. To accommodate the fact that some effectual and causal dimensions are more process-related and others are more output-related, we differentiate two types of R&D project success: process efficiency and project output. Process efficiency assesses the level of success in meeting schedule and budget goals, as well as the operational and technical performances of the process (e.g., Montoya-Weiss and
Study context and samples
For both the samples in this study, we asked R&D managers to report on their most recent R&D project (e.g., Ottum and Moore, 1997). We used the first sample for the scale-development process and the second sample to cross-validate the findings.
Findings
In a preliminary step, we looked at the direct effects of the four dimensions on our dependent variables in the complete sample without differentiating between degrees of innovativeness. With the exception of the causal “goals-driven” orientation on R&D output, we find no significant influences for either effectuation or causation. This result supports the importance of the moderating effect of innovativeness. Then we split the sample into two groups based on the composite mean score of the
Discussion
The objective of this study is to analyze the effects of effectuation and causation practices in the corporate R&D context. In this section we discuss the contributions of our study, first in terms of its contribution to R&D literature and then in terms of its contribution to effectuation literature. Subsequently, we derive managerial implications, present the study's limitations, and suggest avenues for further research.
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2023, Research PolicyCitation Excerpt :Therefore, causation decision-making could result in business engagements aimed at achieving specific sets of objectives defined by a university's strategic road map, whereas effectuation could lead to ad hoc interactions with less strategic planning. Effectuation is a “general theory of decision-making in uncertain situations” (Sarasvathy, 2009, p. 227), whereas causation “follows a linear process that seeks to reach the project target as efficiently and with as few surprises as possible” (Brettel et al., 2012, p. 169). This suggests that academics may adopt causation for planned, linear engagements with less uncertain outcomes in the presence of abundant individual resources, whereas they may adopt effectuation when engaging in activities characterized by greater outcome uncertainty and vagueness and under individual resource constraints.
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