Market forces greatly impact our world. Such forces and the world they help forge are constantly changing, albeit blindly. This paper suggests that market forces can be shaped so that the help of many can be harnessed to address prevailing social problems on a large scale. Coaxing the market to allocate resources to more solutions will enable us to create a better world together. But this requires changes in what the market signals as valuable so resources can be allocated to new uses. The argument introduces the concept of guided effectuation – i.e., a process by which firms play an active role in shaping the market, and thereby change what it values. Through this process, firms render new services that both influence the perceptions of market actors regarding what the market should value and establish new conditions for the market efficiency of those services that are consistent with their shaping purpose. Our argument contributes to the effectuation literature by highlighting how effectuation can be leveraged to shape the market. It also contributes to the literatures on performativity and those theories of the firm that cast the firm in a more agentic role than one of merely adapting to a given market.
Guided Effectuation: Shaping the Market to Create a Better World Together
Simoni, Michele;
2022-01-01
Abstract
Market forces greatly impact our world. Such forces and the world they help forge are constantly changing, albeit blindly. This paper suggests that market forces can be shaped so that the help of many can be harnessed to address prevailing social problems on a large scale. Coaxing the market to allocate resources to more solutions will enable us to create a better world together. But this requires changes in what the market signals as valuable so resources can be allocated to new uses. The argument introduces the concept of guided effectuation – i.e., a process by which firms play an active role in shaping the market, and thereby change what it values. Through this process, firms render new services that both influence the perceptions of market actors regarding what the market should value and establish new conditions for the market efficiency of those services that are consistent with their shaping purpose. Our argument contributes to the effectuation literature by highlighting how effectuation can be leveraged to shape the market. It also contributes to the literatures on performativity and those theories of the firm that cast the firm in a more agentic role than one of merely adapting to a given market.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
