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Effectuation Approach (Sarasvathy)

StrategyReliability: alphas 0.65–0.81 across 4 principles4 sample items

About this scale

A multi-item measure of effectuation logic in entrepreneurial decision-making across four principles: bird-in-hand (means-driven), affordable loss, lemonade (leveraging contingencies), and crazy quilt (partnerships).

Sample item(s)

“I focus on what I can do with what I have at hand (means-driven)”
“I avoid courses of action that might result in unaffordable losses (affordable loss)”
“I treat unexpected events as opportunities (lemonade)”
“I prefer partnerships over competitive analysis (crazy quilt)”

Reliability

Reported internal consistency: alphas 0.65–0.81 across 4 principles. As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.

Notes

Foundational effectuation measure.

Source & citation

Chandler, G. N., DeTienne, D. R., McKelvie, A., & Mumford, T. V. (2011): Causation and effectuation processes: A validation study. Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 375–390.

Chandler, G. N., DeTienne, D. R., McKelvie, A., & Mumford, T. V. (2011): Causation and effectuation processes: A validation study. Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 375–390.

Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.

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