An effectual perspective on entrepreneurs' stakeholder interactions and relationships during different levels of uncertainty

With uncertainty and rapid environmental changes obscuring the future, entrepreneurs cannot plan their actions based on pre-planned goals, but rather have to learn to operate in more flexible, adaptive and network-dependent ways where goals are created through action. Recent decades have seen an increase in scholarly interest towards these kinds of non-predictive modes of action, with Sarasvathy's concept of effectuation often used to depict them. Effectual entrepreneurs take stock of their means at hand and the means available from their network of stakeholders and determine the ends achievable with these means. Essentially entrepreneurs co-create and enact the uncertain future with their stakeholders. Yet, despite the inherent role of stakeholders and networks of other actors in effectuation, this interactive and collaborative aspect of effectuation is still largely overlooked. This dissertation aims to explore this partnership and interaction side of effectuation from a perspective that recognises the inherent dynamism within the entrepreneur-stakeholder relationships and in the external environment by answering the overall research question: How are the principles of effectuation present in entrepreneurs' interactions and relationships with their various stakeholders when they navigate and transform environmental uncertainty into opportunities? The current dissertation consists of five articles that apply the qualitative research approaches of either a case study analysis or a thematic analysis or both. The empirical data of the dissertation consists of 144 semi-structured interviews with 87 ventures and 1921 social media posts of 14 ventures. The dissertation applies a critical realist perspective analysing the data in an abductive manner combining insights from the data with pre-existing theoretical ideas. The findings of the current dissertation highlight the significant presence and influence of the principles of effectuation in the ways that entrepreneurs interact, engage and collaborate with their various stakeholders, with the effectual mode of action being even more pronounced under conditions of heightened uncertainty. With the entrepreneurs approaching every stakeholder contact as potential partners, the findings suggest that entrepreneurs engage with other actors applying the principles of intelligent altruism and without preference towards existing or new contacts. Rather, all stakeholders can be potential sources of different kinds of new means as well as sources of unforeseen, but advantageous, developments. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate how under conditions of heightened uncertainty, collaborating and partnering up with their stakeholders becomes an important way for entrepreneurs to make sense of the crisis and influence its trajectory. Overall, the current dissertation increases our knowledge on the important and impactful role of stakeholders for effectual entrepreneurs.