Decision-making logic of hotel senior managers in economic fluctuations based on entrepreneurial approaches

The purpose of this study is to find out the decision-making logic of Iranian hotel managers in economic fluctuations based on effectuation and causation approaches. Both effectuation and causation approaches are applied in entrepreneurial decision-making process, but effectuation is used more to describe entrepreneurs' behavior in uncertainty or other situations such as economic fluctuation. This research is qualitative and causal mapping is used to analyze data. Participants of the study are 4 and 5 stars hotel managers/founders. Data is gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews. The findings show that the effectuation approach is dominant under uncertainty and economic fluctuations. Managers in 86% of decision making situations apply effectuation logic while 14% other apply causation. Further findings demonstrate that there is a shift from causation to effectuation when situation moves to more uncertainty.