Exploring the interplay between entrepreneurial orientation, causation and effectuation under unexpected covid-19 uncertainty: Insights from large French banks

Abstract

Entrepreneurial orientation, causation, and effectuation are the main strategies that firms use to address businesses under high uncertainty conditions. This study investigates the influence of internal (entrepreneurial orientation) and external contingency factors (the COVID-19 crisis) on both decision-making logics effectuation and causation in response to disruption. The study also investigates how and when the combination of effectual, causal, and entrepreneurial approaches positively affects bank outcomes. Using a qualitative method and data collected from five large French banks, the results revealed that under, high levels of uncertainty (i.e., the COVID-19 crisis), high entrepreneurial-oriented banks benefitted from the combination of effectuation and causation to produce favorable outcomes. In contrast, moderate or weak entrepreneurial-oriented banks, which tended to exploit the logic of effectuation driven by new resources or the resources at hand, showed inferior or even negative financial results compared to those with a strong entrepreneurial orientation.