South Africa is blighted by high levels of unemployment and poverty. Entrepreneurship and particularly technology entrepreneurship has been seen as a possible solution to generate innovation, grow the economy and create jobs, thus reducing poverty. However, the country has struggled to commercialise its research output. This research sought to empirically test the effectiveness of the non-predictive strategy, effectuation, in improving technology commercialisation amongst South African firms. Effectuation was considered as a moderator of the EO-performance relationship amongst firms. Further, the research also tackled a research gap by exploring relationships between effectuation and established entrepreneurship and management theories such as EO and environmental hostility. Questionnaires were distributed to South African companies via email containing the web link to the survey on Qualtrics. Of the 500 emails sent, 94 companies responded with usable responses. Multiple regression analysis was used as the main statistical tool to test the hypotheses. The main findings of this study are that, for entrepreneurial high and medium technology companies, EO and environmental hostility positively predict effectuation. Further, effectuation positively moderates the relation between EO and innovative performance. The results of this study suggest entrepreneurial firms, Venture Capitalists (VCs) and government officials who wish to optimise innovative performance should revisit their emphasis on causal planning and market research.

Les entrepreneurs par nécessité créent une entreprise car ils ne perçoivent pas d'alternative valable d'emploi. Ils font l'objet de nombreux travaux de recherche depuis le début des années 2000, qui orientent des politiques publiques spécifiques à l'égard de cette catégorie d'entrepreneurs, en particulier en période de crise économique. Ils sont opposés, dans une dichotomie communément acceptée par la communauté de recherche, aux entrepreneurs par opportunité, poursuivant eux de lucratives opportunités d'affaires. La première partie de ce travail doctoral retrace l'émergence du concept d'entrepreneuriat de nécessité, puis une seconde partie synthétise, après une étude exhaustive de la bibliographie, les apports de la littérature dans ce champ. Une attention particulière est portée à la multiplicité des définitions. Nous démontrons dans une troisième partie que le terme d'entrepreneuriat de nécessité, largement répandu, n'est pas un concept d'identification solide, car ses significations se diluent dans l'espace et se morcellent selon les contextes individuels et socio-économiques. Le quatrième volet de cet exposé propose une typologie, issue de la littérature, en huit catégories d'entrepreneurs par nécessité, pour illustrer la variété des profils. Une étude quantitative exploratoire sur un échantillon de mille entrepreneurs permet d'apporter une première validation à cette typologie et de mesurer le poids des différentes catégories. Ce travail permet également de construire une grille d'analyse du degré de criticité de la nécessité entrepreneuriale, en développant une liste de l'ensemble des facteurs contraignants, internes ou exogènes, modifiables ou non, poussant l'individu à devenir créateur d'entreprise. Dans un objectif d'accompagnement des entrepreneurs par nécessité, afin d'en accroître la résilience, voire la réussite, la dernière partie de la recherche étudie, par la méthode biographique, les processus entrepreneuriaux, dans le cadre de la théorie de l'effectuation. Ce volet met en lumière les obstacles propres à la création d'entreprise par nécessité, en particulier la difficulté à mobiliser des ressources et un réseau de parties prenantes. Il souligne aussi le recours spontané et par défaut des entrepreneurs par nécessité aux principes de l'effectuation. Il s'interroge enfin sur les limites de la théorie de l'effectuation : ces principes sont démontrés par des entrepreneurs experts, mais leur application par des entrepreneurs par nécessité n'implique pas le succès de l'entreprise. Nos travaux concluent cependant à l'intérêt d'enseigner ces principes, pour renforcer la confiance en soi des entrepreneurs par nécessité. / Necessity entrepreneurs create ventures since they perceive they can find no other suitable work. The number of research articles on the subject has skyrocketed in the 2000s. Some of these papers influence the public policies worldwide, aiming at reducing unemployment by stimulating entrepreneurship, especially at a time of economic crisis. Necessity entrepreneurs are opposed to opportunity entrepreneurs, who pursue profitable market opportunities, in a commonly accepted dichotomy. First part of our doctoral dissertation presents how the « necessity entrepreneurship » concept developed. A second chapter summarizes the current global state of knowledge on necessity entrepreneurship, based on a thorough literature review. Particular focus is placed on the wide range of definitions. In a third part, we demonstrate that the « necessity entrepreneurship » category is not a reliable one. Although widely found in research papers, it is not a solid concept to identify entrepreneurs : its meanings vary according to regions, individuals, social and economic contexts. Fourth chapter of this work proposes a typology of necessity entrepreneurs to illustrate in eight categories the various profiles encountered in the literature. A quantitative exploratory study based on a sample of 1000 French entrepreneurs offers a first validation tool for the typology and gives percentages of entrepreneurs per profile. An operational list of all necessity factors, internal or external, unchangeable or modifiable, has then been developed to measure a degree of criticality and assign a score to necessity entrepreneurs. In order to improve the mentoring of necessity entrepreneurs, to develop their resilience and venture's success, last part of this paper is devoted to an in-depth analysis of necessity entrepreneurial processes. Therefore we used the biographical method in the framework of the effectuation theory. Specific issues and barriers related to necessity entrepreneurial venture set up have been identified, especially concerning resources gathering, funding and stakeholders' involvement. It appears necessity entrepreneurs resort to effectuation spontaneously and by default. However, although effectual principals have been developed based on expert entrepreneurs, it seems that applied by necessity entrepreneurs, they are no guaranty of success at all. As a conclusion, we demonstrate that teaching effectuation should however structure necessity entrepreneurial processes in a straightforward manner, in order to increase self-confidence and self-esteem of necessity entrepreneurs.

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This thesis investigates the role of serendipity, effectuation, and entrepreneurial marketing in fast-growth entrepreneurial firms. Using a qualitative paradigm, multiple case studies and cross-country approaches, the study aims to explore the interrelationships among these constructs and answer the main research question relating to their contribution to fast growth. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty fast-growth firms in New Zealand and Iran from a range of sectors, and causal mapping method was used to map out the growth trajectory of each firm. Causal maps enable the researcher to find in what manner the firms achieved fast growth and what factors contributed to their growth. The results suggest that serendipity is a precursor to fast growth and occurs generally at the start of a growth process. Serendipity is likely to take place at any stage of a firm life cycle, but more likely at the early stage of formation, alongside networks, pure luck, perseverance, environment and high-quality products and services. In addition to reviewing the three patterns of serendipity that are well-known in accidental scientific discoveries, we identify and introduce “Entrepreneurial Serendipity” as another distinctive pattern in entrepreneurship, whereby entrepreneurs look for any opportunity to start a business and explore an appropriate opportunity that comes along. Further analyses illustrate that entrepreneurs believe in the occurrence of serendipity in their day-to-day business; however, it indirectly contributes to fast growth mediated by two important elements: effectual thinking and entrepreneurial marketing. The causal maps demonstrate that the combination of effectuation and entrepreneurial marketing directly and indirectly lead to fast growth. A majority of fast-growth firms start business effectuatively, often with limited resources and relying on whatever available means they possess, but over time, they shift to causation logic with more planning and strategic decisions. Starting from an effectuation base, the participants had an entrepreneurial mindset at the outset and used specific tactics, such as an adapted marketing mix, relying on networks, innovation, ensuring a presence in the market, pro-activeness, and market intelligence through personal observation. These entrepreneurial marketing practices have led to fast growth and were widely employed by entrepreneurs, irrespective of firm size and age. The thesis sheds some light on how fast-growth firms achieve considerable growth by looking at the relationship of serendipitous opportunity exploration and effectuative exploitation using entrepreneurial marketing. It contributes to the literature on serendipity and its development in entrepreneurship, and identifies serendipitous sources of opportunity in fast growing firms. The study confirms that effectuation logic and entrepreneurial marketing are instruments by which entrepreneurs exploit new opportunities and market products or services. Entrepreneurs from both New Zealand and Iran share similar growth trajectories, however, some Iranian entrepreneurs believe that spiritual values are important in exploring new opportunities and achieving fast growth. Finally, the study confirms that growth may start with a serendipitous exploration and continues with effectuation logic and entrepreneurial marketing.

The importance of small firms in a country’s development cannot be over-emphasized. In particular, it is important for them to grow in order to sustain their contributions to a country’s economy. Studies have shown how firms achieve growth using the traditional model of decision making (causation) in which planning, market research and forecasting are used to gain relevant information about the firm’s market/industry. This planning enables the firms to compete favourably with other existing firms in the market. Effectuation as an alternative theory involves decision-making processes under conditions of uncertainty where there is no adequate knowledge of the market due to its latent and emerging nature. Effectuation has been used to examine various concepts in entrepreneurship, but there has been no real effort to apply it to the growth of small knowledge-intensive firms (SKIFs). This study, based on in-depth interviews with six SKIFs, highlights how effectuation can be applied to the growth of SKIFs and it examines how the four underlying principles of contingencies, affordable loss, strategic relationships and adaptation contribute to SKIF growth. In addition, elements of causation are also shown to be relevant, leading to the conclusion that the two models can be used jointly to achieve growth of SKIFs.

The importance of small firms in a country’s development cannot be over-emphasized. In particular, it is important for them to grow in order to sustain their contributions to a country’s economy. Studies have shown how firms achieve growth using the traditional model of decision making (causation) in which planning, market research and forecasting are used to gain relevant information about the firm’s market/industry. This planning enables the firms to compete favourably with other existing firms in the market. Effectuation as an alternative theory involves decision-making processes under conditions of uncertainty where there is no adequate knowledge of the market due to its latent and emerging nature. Effectuation has been used to examine various concepts in entrepreneurship, but there has been no real effort to apply it to the growth of small knowledge-intensive firms (SKIFs). This study, based on in-depth interviews with six SKIFs, highlights how effectuation can be applied to the growth of SKIFs and it examines how the four underlying principles of contingencies, affordable loss, strategic relationships and adaptation contribute to SKIF growth. In addition, elements of causation are also shown to be relevant, leading to the conclusion that the two models can be used jointly to achieve growth of SKIFs.

This study determines the influence of causation versus effectuation on entrepreneurial firm survival in high and low dynamism industries. Causation approaches a problem with the end in mind while effectuation’s point of departure is the means. Causal logic predicts a best case future scenario and then gathers the necessary resources to realize that scenario. This is contrasted by effectual logic that attempts to “control” the future by making use of the resources in hand (and those that can be borrowed) while trying to achieve the best possible result. The study consists of a means analysis testing for firm survival in highly dynamic industries per “pure” causal or effectual approach and of a variance analysis, testing for survival as a function of the mixed use of causation and effectuation in both high and low dynamism industries. The product of the means analysis indicates that only two entrepreneurs out of a cohort of 1771 follow a “pure” causal or “pure” effectual approach. As a result of this finding the incidence of “pure” causal or effectual approaches in either high or low dynamism industries is negligible. The output from the variance analysis indicates that causation is a significantly better predictor of entrepreneurial survival than effectuation in both high and low dynamism industries at a 99% confidence level. Below is a summary of the survival probabilities for both high and low dynamism industries across the causal/effectual decision spectrum.This study determines the influence of causation versus effectuation on entrepreneurial firm survival in high and low dynamism industries. Causation approaches a problem with the end in mind while effectuation’s point of departure is the means. Causal logic predicts a best case future scenario and then gathers the necessary resources to realize that scenario. This is contrasted by effectual logic that attempts to “control” the future by making use of the resources in hand (and those that can be borrowed) while trying to achieve the best possible result. The study consists of a means analysis testing for firm survival in highly dynamic industries per “pure” causal or effectual approach and of a variance analysis, testing for survival as a function of the mixed use of causation and effectuation in both high and low dynamism industries. The product of the means analysis indicates that only two entrepreneurs out of a cohort of 1771 follow a “pure” causal or “pure” effectual approach. As a result of this finding the incidence of “pure” causal or effectual approaches in either high or low dynamism industries is negligible. The output from the variance analysis indicates that causation is a significantly better predictor of entrepreneurial survival than effectuation in both high and low dynamism industries at a 99% confidence level. Below is a summary of the survival probabilities for both high and low dynamism industries across the causal/effectual decision spectrum. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

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