Description
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the theoretical discussion of effectuation since the
seminal paper in 2001 and to propose an agenda for future studies.
Design/methodology/approach – Systematic literature review and content analysis of 71 papers.
Findings – Most papers performed a replication of the concepts empirically, and few studies proposed to
understand theoretical aspects of effectuation, among them, some authors presented theoretical advances to
improve the approach and others participated in an ongoing debate that shows there is no consensus on
whether the approach is theory or if considered, appears to be under construction at a rudimentary level or
being questioned.
Research limitations/implications – The method requires authors to make choices, so the database
used and the criteria defined for searching papers that were analyzed are the main limitations of this research.
Practical implications – The authors suggest that researchers, teachers and practitioners use
effectuation analytically and reflectively.
Social implications – The authors present and analyze the current theoretical debate on effectuation.
Results suggest the need for new discussions about the concepts, as well as new theoretical efforts of the
researchers to analyze the potentialities and limitations of this approach.
Originality/value – Among empirical and applied research, with replications of the concepts of
effectuation, this research contributes to a theoretical discussion based on a systematic literature review,
seeking to bring new reflections about this approach. Add