Role of Effectuation Towards Sustainability: A Systematic Literature Review

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-860-8_5How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Effectuation; Sustainability; Entrepreneurship

Abstract

Effectuation, a flexible decision-making approach in entrepreneurship, emphasizes on the adaptability, optimization of available resources and collaboration, making it particularly relevant for sustainability-oriented ventures. In contrast to traditional causal logic, effectuation offers dynamic strategies to navigate uncertainty and align entrepreneurial activities with sustainability goals. Despite its potential, the application of effectuation logic in sustainability remains underexplored. This study systematically reviews the intersection of effectuation and sustainability by extracting data from the Scopus database and using bibliometric analysis through VOS viewer. It aims to identify key themes, trends, and contributions of effectuation in promoting sustainability-focused entrepreneurship. Findings indicate that effectuation promotes the sustainability by encouraging experimentation, collaboration with stakeholder and resource efficiency, enabling businesses to adapt to complex and changing environments. A balance between effectual and causal approaches enhances innovation and aligns ventures with long-term sustainability objectives. The study highlights collaborative research trends and emerging thematic areas in effectuation and sustainability as well. Practical implications include promoting effectual thinking among entrepreneurs to enhance adaptability, encouraging educators to integrate these principles into entrepreneurship education, and guiding policymakers to develop supportive frameworks that leverage effectuation’s strengths. This study provides a foundation for understanding the critical role of effectuation in achieving sustainability with optimum utilization of resources.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Preety Devi
AU  - Anshu Bhardwaj
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/09/29
TI  - Role of Effectuation Towards Sustainability: A Systematic Literature Review
BT  - Proceedings of the International Research Conference on Resilience for Sustainability: Management Practices and Strategies for the Future (IRC 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 42
EP  - 59
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-860-8_5
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-860-8_5
ID  - Devi2025
ER  -