Quality, value, satisfaction, trust, a

Applications of causal mapping are a second research stream on strategy-making.
Causal mapping is a form of content analysis that isolates the key assertions within a
document, such as a detailed case research report; the content analysis includes proposing
linkages of causality among signals, events, decisions, and activities (e.g., Fahey and
Narayanan 1989; Cossette 1992; Barr, Stimpert, &Huff 1992; Jenkins & Huff 2002). Causal
mapping studies have produced many linkages of observations -> insights -> propositions, for
example, such maps indicate that (1) both successful and unsuccessful firms quickly notice
environment signals but (2) respond to these signals very differently (two research findings
that also serve as insights into success and failure, and well as theoretical propositions for
future research). Calm mapping results indicate that leaders in failing firms fail to change their
beliefs, focus, and ways of behaving during courses of protracted downward spirals, while
leaders in firms able to adapt to new environments do make such transformations (cf. Barr et
al. 1992, p. 34); the implication of these results to entrepreneurial strategy-making may be
that leaders in new ventures may need to transform themselves and adopt new modes of
strategy making (adaptive or planning rather than entrepreneurial) when their enterprises
passes out of the start-up phase into growth, maturity, and renewal phases. Back in 1973, this
point was emphasized by Mintzberg for the planning mode of strategy-making, "Planning is
not a panacea for the problems of strategy-making." Some situations require little or no
planning, such situations favor adaptive strategy-making; others require limited planning, such
situations favor entrepreneurial strategy-making.
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