A structured literature review and suggestions for future effectuation research

In spite of all the scholarly attention it has garnered, effectuation research continues to face a series of theoretical and methodological challenges. In order to help move effectuation research forward, we content-analyze a comprehensive sample of 101 effectuation articles published in JCR®-listed journals between 1998 and 2016 (inclusively), with the specific aim of uncovering the main conceptual and methodological articulations that have underpinned effectuation research to date. In doing so, we not only uncover some the field’s achievements and shortcomings but also examine the extent to which published effectuation research addresses its most salient criticisms. We build on these observations to propose three recommendations for future advances, namely (1) conceiving effectuation as a “mode of action”; (2) developing new methodological indicators centered on effectuation’s concrete manifestations; and (3) examining the underlying dynamics explaining effectuation’s antecedents and consequences.