Abstract

Topics in decision-making process are of great interest for entrepreneurship research (Shepard et al., 2014). Hence, many authors described various approaches for the ventures creation (Sarasvathy, 2001) made a large contribution towards this understanding by establishing the effectuation and causation approaches. According to the literature, many factors are considered to influence the entrepreneur’s decisions regarding these approaches. Not only these factors but also the relevance of the effectuation and causation approach in venture development itself need to be clarified. In this context, Chandler et al. (2011) give the implication for future research to examine the measures of the two approaches as well as the used model of validation in entrepreneurial literature. In general, the research in this area is large and versatile. An analysis of the transformations within these approaches and the change in research focus over time is missing. Furthermore, the application spectrum of these approaches in academic teaching has not been addressed in the literature yet. For this reason, a review of the current state of the art concerning the models and characteristics of the effectuation and causation approach, or rather a clear roadmap for practical, scientific and educational purposes is necessary. There is a need to precisely characterize the effectuation and causation approach according to the factors influencing the outcome of the successful implementation. Therefore, it is needed to gather all relevant information provided in the literature.