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The subject of entrepreneurship has generated swathes of interest from a variety of stakeholders seeking to address economic challenges in Africa. At the heart of this interest is the fact that the businesses created by entrepreneurs create employment opportunities which, in turn, have the potential to reduce poverty at all levels of African society. Yet, while research into entrepreneurial activity is well established in the developed countries of the western world, there remain large gaps in knowledge about key issues such as why entrepreneurs in Africa start businesses, how these businesses are sustained, and the specific contextual influences and challenges which affect African entrepreneurs' decision-making and behavior. In this introductory paper, we highlight the importance of attempting to understand how African entrepreneurs, working outside the strictures of strong formal institutions, navigate difficult challenges and make decisions using fragments of informal traditions originating from prevalent African philosophies such as Ubuntu. We also draw attention to the need to assess the notion of entrepreneurial business success or failure in Africa from a cultural context perspective which takes into account considerations aside from the solely rational-economic. We conclude with a series of questions which remain largely unanswered but will, we trust, be addressed in future research on entrepreneurship and Africa's cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to increased digitalisation and dematerialisation, the traditional value chain concept appears to be outdated. Instead, the term value network has emerged to describe how organisations co-create value in today's economy. However, it remains unclear what contributes to success or failure of collaborative business models in value networks. The article closes this research gap. The authors identify relevant papers through a systematic literature review process and review them using qualitative content analysis. From the 45 papers analysed, 21 critical factors contributing to success or failure of business models in value networks were extracted. They can be structured along 6 dimensions. From a theoretical perspective, the article deepens the understanding of business models in value networks and provides clear perspectives for future research. From a practical perspective, managers can use the results as target variables for strategic management to ensure success of their value network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores predicting early signals of business failure using modern models for bankruptcy prediction. It reviews how continuous operations enhance market value, strengthening competitiveness and reputation among stakeholders. The study involves medium and large companies in the Montenegrin market from 2015 to 2020, comprising 30 bankrupt and 70 financially stable firms. Logistic regression is also employed to create a logit model for early detection of bankruptcy signals in companies. This research establishes the empirical validity of modern models in predicting business failure in the Montenegrin market, particularly through logistic regression. Significant indicators, such as the Degree of Indebtedness (DI) and turnover ratio of business assets (TR), exhibit strong predictive power with a p-value less than 0.001 according to Likelihood ratio tests. The paper underscores the potential benefits of bankruptcy prediction for both internal and external stakeholders, especially investors, in enhancing the competitiveness of Montenegro's large and medium-sized companies. Notably, the research contributes by bridging the gap between theory and practice in Montenegro, as bankruptcy prediction models have not been extensively applied in the market. The authors suggest the possible applicability of the created logit model to neighboring countries with similar economic development levels. In that sense, the concept of predicting bankruptcy is positioned as integral to corporate strategy, impacting the overall reduction of bankruptcies. The paper concludes by highlighting its role as a foundation for future research, addressing the literature gap in the application of bankruptcy prediction models in Montenegro. The created logit model, tailored to the specific needs of Montenegrin companies, is presented as an original contribution, emphasizing its potential to strengthen the competitiveness of companies in the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Only recently have scholars begun to explore the cross-section connection of entrepreneurship and personal selling and introduced the notion of entrepreneurial selling. This study contributes to the emerging debate by addressing the personal selling role of business owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the business-to-business (B-to-B) market in the context of failure. It examines how business owners make sense of their entrepreneurial selling activities and how underperformance in this role contributes to failure. Based on a literature review and interviews, the paper concludes that entrepreneurial selling is a crucial activity for preventing business failure and one that business owners recognize. Reasons for underperformance include business owners spending too little time on selling, their lack of personal selling skills, and procrastinating their selling activities. Answering the "bird-in-the-hand sales means" questions can produce either success or failure. Future research avenues are then suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociology & Technoscience / Sociología y Tecnociencia is the property of Universidad de Valladolid, Escuela Universitaria de Educacion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the early stage of business, which is where most new ventures fail, many entrepreneurs experience discrepancies between their entrepreneurial expectations and business realities. These discrepancies referred to by this paper as an entrepreneurial gap (EG) are, therefore, among other factors, professed to be responsible for the high attrition rate of emerging ventures in South Africa. An oversight in this area of EG, despite the provision of most required resources, may still lead to business failure. This paper argues that there is more yet to be comprehended regarding early-stage business success, concerning the entrepreneur component. The purpose of this paper was to recognize and classify factors responsible for establishing entrepreneurial gaps with the intent to improve the level of preparedness among emerging entrepreneurs. A qualitative approach with in-depth interviews was employed in the data collection. ATLAS ti 8 was used to unpack factors that instigate entrepreneurial gaps while posing challenges to emerging entrepreneurs in the early stage of business. The groups identified were: entrepreneur management, familism and personal management. The findings provide information that is credible to improving the level of preparedness among emerging entrepreneurs, and could be used by mentors, coaches and relevant support structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we used data from publicly traded restaurant firms between 2000 and 2019 to test the effectiveness of multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) and logistic regression (logit) in predicting the probability of bankruptcy in the restaurant industry. We constructed various financial ratios extracted from the financial information and analyzed them to determine the optimal models. Our results show that liquid ratios (particularly the quick ratio), operating cash flow, and working capital emerge as the most crucial indicators of potential bankruptcy filings for restaurant firms. The results also show that the logit model performs better within the sample. However, both models exhibit similar predictive capacities with out-of-sample data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to analyse a current theme of international interest regarding the increasing role of institutional investors in corporate governance. The role of institutional investors is getting elevated in world’s corporate market day by day due to their large shareholdings and having expertise in investment matters. However, their role and importance has not yet been accepted and explored in Pakistan. Therefore, this paper fills this gap and explores their role in Pakistan’s corporate governance by using a comparative study as to the role of institutional investors in the UK’s corporate governance. This paper identifies the failures of corporate governance in Pakistan and explores how institutional investors can help to overcome these issues.Design/methodology/approach This research paper uses a comparative approach based on documentary analysis. It conducts a comparative study of the role of institutional investors and the related code of corporate governance in Pakistan with that of the UK. It analyses the existing studies and the data relating to the role of institutional investors in Pakistan’s corporate governance and formulate recommendations to enhance the role of institutional investors for the betterment of corporate governance practices in Pakistan.Findings This paper finds that the role of institutional investors in Pakistan’s corporate governance is under-developed and the fund industry is immature. Though there is a considerable scope for them to work in Pakistan’s business market and play their role in the development of corporate governance in the listed companies of Pakistan. For this purpose, the guidance can be taken form the “Combined Code of the UK”. A number of recommendations have been formulated through which the role of institutional investors can be enhanced for the development of corporate governance practices in the business market of Pakistan.Originality/value This paper analyses the role of institutional investors in Pakistan to formulate recommendations through which this role may be enhanced for the development of corporate governance principles and practices in Pakistan. This paper fills a gap in the existing literature relating to the role of institutional investors in Pakistan, as there is a dearth of research in Pakistan concerning this issue. Further, it contributes to the on-going debate on the increasing role of institutional investors in corporate governance more widely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Urban Studies (Sage Publications, Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: The primary purpose of this paper is to identify the so-called core authors and their publications according to pre-defined criteria and thereby direct the users to the fastest and easiest way to get a picture of the otherwise pervasive field of bankruptcy prediction models. The authors aim to present state-of-the-art bankruptcy prediction models assembled by the field's core authors and critically examine the approaches and methods adopted. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a literature search in November 2022 through scientific databases Scopus, ScienceDirect and the Web of Science, focussing on a publication period from 2010 to 2022. The database search query was formulated as "Bankruptcy Prediction" and "Model or Tool". However, the authors intentionally did not specify any model or tool to make the search non-discriminatory. The authors reviewed over 7,300 articles. Findings: This paper has addressed the research questions: (1) What are the most important publications of the core authors in terms of the target country, size of the sample, sector of the economy and specialization in SME? (2) What are the most used methods for deriving or adjusting models appearing in the articles of the core authors? (3) To what extent do the core authors include accounting-based variables, non-financial or macroeconomic indicators, in their prediction models? Despite the advantages of new-age methods, based on the information in the articles analyzed, it can be deduced that conventional methods will continue to be beneficial, mainly due to the higher degree of ease of use and the transferability of the derived model. Research limitations/implications: The authors identify several gaps in the literature which this research does not address but could be the focus of future research. Practical implications: The authors provide practitioners and academics with an extract from a wide range of studies, available in scientific databases, on bankruptcy prediction models or tools, resulting in a large number of records being reviewed. This research will interest shareholders, corporations, and financial institutions interested in models of financial distress prediction or bankruptcy prediction to help identify troubled firms in the early stages of distress. Social implications: Bankruptcy is a major concern for society in general, especially in today's economic environment. Therefore, being able to predict possible business failure at an early stage will give an organization time to address the issue and maybe avoid bankruptcy. Originality/value: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper to identify the core authors in the bankruptcy prediction model and methods field. The primary value of the study is the current overview and analysis of the theoretical and practical development of knowledge in this field in the form of the construction of new models using classical or new-age methods. Also, the paper adds value by critically examining existing models and their modifications, including a discussion of the benefits of non-accounting variables usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Estudios Empresariales Segunda Época is the property of Editorial de la Universidad de Jaen and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Transformations in Business & Economics is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is a first attempt to deal with the phenomenon of new venture failure from the business network perspective of the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) Group. In particular, this study aims to explore the post-failure phase of a new venture to investigate what happens to the new venture's resources and relationships in the aftermath of its failure and the role of the entrepreneur in this process. Design/methodology/approach: The paper builds on an explorative multiple case study of two failed new ventures, unfolding the failure and post-failure phase: evidence from both cases is confronted and discussed. Findings: This study shows that the post-failure is a complex phase of recombination of activities and residual resources that may lead to new business opportunities. It is discussed that residual resources influence the direction and extent of post-failure activities in terms of restrictions as well as opportunities to restart new projects or ventures. It is also shown how the entrepreneur deals with the "business remains". Originality/value: While much attention has been devoted to new ventures' failure, the paper focuses on the post-failure phase, an almost neglected topic in industrial marketing research. This study sheds some new light upon the journey through which entrepreneurs come to develop the set of resources, activities and relationships that are not only key to the establishment of the venture but also relevant in the complex and intricate trajectories of post-failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to find out how the development of citations, publication trends, a collaboration of authors, trends in title terms, and trends in keyword terms in Continuous Auditing articles (2013-2022). Data collection using publish or perish (PoP) software in bibliographic search as the initial database on Scopus. The results showed that from 200 scopus papers, the number of citations 2,5781 citations, with an average annual citation of 2915 citations, 14.58 citations per paper, and an average h-index of 26. The highest citations with authors from various countries; C. Sarkar (115 cites, rank 1). The most frequently used term in the title is continuous auditing with 27 items. It can be concluded that the trend of continuous auditing research is that various aspects are developed in preventing company failures and financial statement errors in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to operating in the mining and iron sectors with fierce competition and encountering more financial obstacles compared to larger enterprises, SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) become more likely to face business failures, have lower financial performance and have high financial risk. To overcome those financial impediments and become more competitive against their rivals, social media usage might be a solution. This is because even under the conditions of the covid-19 pandemic, social media has also stimulated online purchasing behaviours of customers and has been used as an effective tool by SMEs for marketing purposes. However, SMEs' usage of these channels might differ depending on the countries where they are located, so their impacts on financial obstacles might be different. In this regard, this research examines whether the impacts of social media usage on the financial problems of SMEs differ depending on their location. To achieve this goal, the researchers employ an online survey and direct it to the executives of 1156 Czech, Slovakian and Hungarian SMEs. The researchers apply Ordinal Logistic Regression with the Logit function in SPSS statistical tool for analyzing purposes. The results confirm the fact that while differences do not exist among countries regarding the impact of social media usage on business failures, the effects of social media usage on financial performance and financial risk differ between Hungarian and Czech-Slovakian SMEs. Czech and Slovakian SMEs show similar attitudes in all of the analyzed variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ekonomika is the property of Society of Economists 'Ekonomika' and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article presents a systematic review of the existing literature on business longevity by conducting a bibliometric analysis of 142 papers published in the leading business history and management journals during the last three decades. The results show similarities (e.g. in explanatory models) and differences (e.g. in citation patterns, theories, and methods) between the disciplines, thus indicating that the literature is partially segmented into separate domains that prevent business longevity research from representing a truly unified field of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Historical Review is the property of University of Toronto Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the external factors that lead Western firms to fail in the Chinese market, proposing to reveal the main challenges they face in this market, such as culture, guanxi or others. Based on network theory, the authors propose to group failure attributes and actions to predict business failure. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative research based on in-depth interviews is conducted, with a sample of 21 individuals, from former/current managers that did or are currently doing business in China and a person from the Chinese Government. This research resorts to inductive reasoning and to Atlas.ti software to perform the analysis. Findings: The findings reveal that it is possible to cluster seven distinct categories of external factors. Additionally, Chinese culture, local partnerships and the "catching-up effect" by Chinese firms are also external factors to be considered. The role of guanxi in China is changing, taking another format, and international companies in the Chinese market must take this into account. Research limitations/implications: Several limitations arise in this research, such as information availability and time constraints, sample size and the characteristics of Chinese society (i.e. type of government). This study also proposes further confirmatory research to test the seven clusters proposed. Practical implications: Managers can understand patterns of business failures when targeting the Chinese market and use the seven clusters as a tool to address this market appropriately in the future. Originality/value: This paper intends to shed light on Western firms' business failure in the Chinese market. The authors argue that several external factors linked to network surroundings contribute to Western firms failing in this market and that network failure attribution is still an understudied topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of public administrations after COVID-19, this paper formulates and validates a digital model of tutoring (e-tutoring) for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by public administrations or PAs to help the former reduce their risks to fold in their first few years of existence and with the support of private professionals (economists, accountants, business advisors, managers, etc.). The model draws on ideas about relational administration (RA), a concept that is yet to be fully exploited or assessed in the literature. Several hypotheses derived from the model are formulated and tested using a polytomic-nominal logistic regression. A questionnaire was sent to and returned by 236 small and medium entrepreneurs in Spain facing insolvency proceedings to identify main reasons for business failure and if or how they would accept online tutoring from private professionals associated with PAs. Findings suggest that SM entrepreneurs agree with receiving selected forms of tutoring, requiring public administrations to enhance capabilities for joint information provision and decision making through the use of information and communication technologies or ICTs. These findings have important implications for the potential restructuring of public administrations, their collaborations with professionals, and the future co-design and implementation of e-government services by PAs [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information technology is one of the common industries which faces disputes often, and conflicts has been there from the beginning of time. Mostly conflicts arise due to disagreements and then contract breach which leads to fighting for the rights for years, causing huge loss and eventually closing down their business. In this era, there are many ways to deal with an issue. Finding the right source of impact and executing effective methods of dispute resolution can be the smarter move. This paper deals with analyzing several alternate dispute resolution methods using the multi-attribute decision making process. This paper gives evidence on the use of Prevention as the best method of alternate dispute resolution to be applied in early stages of a contract to scale down the issue from escalating to Litigation and the possible clauses to be included in written contract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence (AI) proves decisive in today's rapidly developing society and is a motive force for the evolution of financial technology. As a subdivision of artificial intelligence research, machine learning (ML) algorithm is extensively used in all aspects of the daily operation and development of the supply chain. Using data mining, deductive reasoning, and other characteristics of machine learning algorithms can effectively help decision-makers of enterprises to make more scientific and reasonable decisions by using the existing financial index data. At present, globalization uncertainties such as COVID-19 are intensifying, and supply chain enterprises are facing bankruptcy risk. In the operation process, practical tools are needed to identify and opportunely respond to the threat in the supply chain operation promptly, predict the probability of business failure of enterprises, and take scientific and feasible measures to prevent a financial crisis in good season. Artificial intelligence decision-making technology can help traditional supply chains to transform into intelligent supply chains, realize smart management, and promote supply chain transformation and upgrading. By applying machine learning algorithms, the supply chain can not only identify potential risks in time and adopt scientific and feasible measures to deal with the crisis but also strengthen the connection and cooperation between different enterprises with the advantage of advanced technology to provide overall operation efficiency. On account of this, the paper puts forward an artificial intelligence-based corporate financial-risk-prevention (FRP) model, which includes four stages: data preprocessing, feature selection, feature classification, and parameter adjustment. Firstly, relevant financial index data are collected, and the quality of the selected data is raised through preprocessing; secondly, the chaotic grasshopper optimization algorithm (CGOA) is used to simulate the behavior of grasshoppers in nature to build a mathematical model, and the selected data sets are selected and optimized for features. Then, the support vector machine (SVM) performs classification processing on the quantitative data with reduced features. Empirical risk is calculated using the hinge loss function, and a regular operation is added to optimize the risk structure. Finally, slime mould algorithm (SMA) can optimize the process to improve the efficiency of SVM, making the algorithm more accurate and effective. In this study, Python is used to simulate the function of the corporate business finance risk prevention model. The experimental results show that the CGOA-SVM-SMA algorithm proposed in this paper achieves good results. After calculation, it is found that the prediction and decision-making capabilities are good and better than other comparative models, which can effectively help supply chain enterprises to prevent financial risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The objective of this paper is to develop a map of the contours of the phenomenon of retailer failure by aggregating, parsing and extracting known findings regarding business failure in marketing, business and other streams of inquiry to provide a comprehensive understanding of research on the topic. Defined as the converse of retailer performance, an understanding of retail failure is expected to yield insights for performance measurement and benchmarking studies. Design/methodology/approach: The paper includes a systematic literature review, employing state-of-the-art tools such as VOSViewer. Findings: The analysis reveals patterns in the intellectual structure of the research on retail failure, as well as patterns of influence. While the discipline of marketing has been surprisingly limited in the study of retail failure, study of retail failure has been pursued by other branches of the business discipline, and even some disciplines other than business. Originality/value: This paper provides a comprehensive and systematic literature review on the topic of retail failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The failure of construction companies is quite crucial because it results in unfinished projects and responsibilities that in turn result in many losses to governments, economies, owners, creditors, and surety companies. Previous research on the prediction of construction business failure utilized insolvency causes that were either arbitrary or based on the availability of data. Many scholars have shown the absence of, and need for, a holistic framework for the identification of the causes of construction business failure. As such, this paper reviews previous literature incorporating construction business failure applications, with the objective of identifying existing knowledge, current gaps, and needed future research directions on the different failure factors in a comprehensive approach. To this end, the authors (1) performed a meta-analysis of previous research work for a 30-year period spanning from 1988 to 2018; (2) identified and defined failure factors that impact the business operations of construction firms; and (3) utilized social network analysis to quantitatively identify the overlooked and missing construction business failure factors. Research results indicate that there are 20 factors that could collectively contribute to business failures of construction firms. It is also shown that there is a dire need for future research to better explore the impacts of some understudied critical factors, including the effect of inadequate company organizational structure and human capital on construction business failure. Another important finding is the absence of models that include a holistic incorporation of all 20 construction business failure factors. The findings herein are a significant contribution to the body of knowledge on construction business failure because they integrate the outcomes of previous works and use them to provide robust foundations for knowledge advancement. The presented guidelines are believed to close areas where an abundance of research work occurs and to unveil areas where additional research is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the risk of financial distress is an important component of effective management because it helps companies make right financial decisions, avoid potential risks and improve business operations. This study provides more empirical evidence on the role of the Z-Score model in predicting financial distress of companies in emerging markets like Vietnam. This research paper uses data from 30 companies that delisted on UPCOM due to financial distress and 30 companies with Z-score greater than 4.35 on Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) for 5 years from 2018 to 2022, corresponding to 300 observations. The selected companies have enough audited financial statement data during the research period which are collected from websites such as cafef.vn, vietstock.vn, and websites with data on companies' financial statements. The financial factors are taken from the balance sheet and income statement by the authors to calculate the Z-Score. The authors use the Independent-samples T-test with data collected delisted companies due to financial distress and stably listed firms on the Vietnam Stock Market to test whether there is a difference in Z-score and independent variables in the Z-score model between these two groups of companies. The research results show that, there is a significant difference in the Z-score and the factors in the Z-Score model between the group of listed companies and the group of delisted companies, and between companies with low level of financial distress and those with high level of financial distress. From the findings obtained, the authors have made suggestions and recommendations for relevant parties such as the State Securities Commission of Vietnam, users of financial statements, and companies in order to contribute to preventing and limiting the risk of corporate financial distress in the most effective way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business failure and exit are concomitants of business discontinuance which must be extensively studied as businesses such as tutorial centers can experience unfavorable events. This paper investigated the internal (i.e., owner/founder orientations) and external (i.e., compliance with government policies) antecedents leading to business failure and the eventual exit in the shadow education industry in 2013, particularly of Philippine privately owned tutorial centers which are divided into non-registered and registered services. Using the multiple case study approach, empirical findings showed that business failure is primarily caused by internal factors specifically the owner/founder orientations, while non-compliance with government regulations is secondary. The owner/founder orientations were comprised of motivation, characteristics/behavior, skill managerial deficiencies, capabilities, and financial knowledge shortcomings. Nonregistered tutorial centers asserted that only skill/managerial deficiencies and capabilities lead to failure while registered tutorial services perceived all as reasons for business failure. Not complying with government policies can affect more the registered tutorial services than the non-registered centers. Business exit was chosen by all the owners of tutorial centers as a viable option in case of business failure. Future studies can consider obtaining more participants and comprehensively investigating tutorial centers from different countries to enrich cross-country research in shadow education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social enterprises play a key role in the social and economic development of the European Union, and in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Following the European Commission's 2011 Social Business Initiative, national legislation on social enterprises has been adopted by almost all European countries. In 2019 the Act on Social and Solidarity-Based Enterprises entered into force in Bulgaria, introducing social enterprises as subjects of the social and solidarity-based economy. Four and a half years after the adoption of the Act, there are only fifty-one officially registered social enterprises in Bulgaria, indicating a major failure of the social business initiative. This paper explores the reasons for this significant backlog through both desk research and primary data analysis of a survey of non-profit organisations, which are supposed to be the main actors of the social economy and therefore the focus of the Act on Social and Solidarity-Based Enterprises. The main findings point to critically low awareness of the new Act and weak motivation to apply for a Social Enterprise statute, poorly designed conditions and ineffective communication. The lessons learnt can be used to prevent similar mistakes in other countries and to improve support for social entrepreneurship initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central thesis of the paper is the failure of globalized business practice to address the social ethical concerns relevant to human and commercial behavior. As a result, globalization has produced very inequitable outcomes based on class and wealth. Specifically, the benefits have largely accrued to the rich, while bringing meager benefits and even net costs to the working class. In answer to the generalized justifications of globalization, the paper cites the many weaknesses of the globalization phenomenon in terms of its impacts on workers, the environment, and the economies of both developed and developing countries. It cites the greed and sociopathic tendencies of business leaders who use cold economic rationality in place of social ethics such as compassion, caring and fairness in deciding global investment strategies as causes for these damaging externalities. Finally, it offers solutions in terms of Integrative Economics and Stakeholder Theory and calls for personal renewal and the embracing of internalized values that counter the “economism” of purely rational profit maximization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurs in the agribusiness sector in Ghana encounter numerous challenges due to the weak institutional framework in the country. This often leads to business failure and poor performance of agribusiness ventures. In this paper, we aim to highlight the significance of institutional support for agribusiness entrepreneurs and its crucial role in creating more opportunities for farm entrepreneurs and ensuring the success of farm ventures. The study analyzes empirical data collected from 246 maize farm entrepreneurs in Ghana using the Structural Equation Modelling technique (PLS-SEM). The findings show that regulatory and cognitive institutions have a more positive significant influence on the opportunity recognition and exploitation strategies of maize farm entrepreneurs. Both opportunity recognition and exploitation partially mediate the effects of regulatory, normative and cognitive institutional pressures and farm business performance. The study suggests that maize farm entrepreneurs appear to benefit from regulatory and cognitive institutions. The findings, therefore, have strong policy relevance. The results of this study contribute significantly to food policy aimed at boosting maize supply chain business and food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to find the differences in the impacts of financial factors on business failure and financial distress. Using the traditional logistic regression method, this paper studies the ability of financial indicators to predict business failure and financial distress of small and mid-sized enterprises in Portuguese high and medium-high technology manufacturing sectors. The research results show that: (1) differences between financially healthy firms and failed firms are more obvious than differences between financially healthy firms and financially distressed firms; (2) the accurate rate of failure prediction decreases with time prolonging (from one year to three years prior to the event), whereas that of financial distress prediction maintains stable at a relatively lower level; (3) profitability is the most important indicator, which is negatively related to the probability of both business failure and financial distress; (4) debt-related and liquidity-related factors (especially indebtedness and general liquidity) are also important in predicting business failure and financial distress. This paper enriches the research literature on the predictions of both business failure and financial distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decades, particularly following the collapse of huge corporation such as WorldCom and Enron due to dubious or illegal financial management, countries began gradually increasing the oversight of publicly traded companies with few jurisdictions conjuring recommended corporate governance codes (RCGC) to ensure sufficient oversight, reduce manager's ability to loot their companies, and ensure that shareholders' and stakeholders' interests are monitored effectively by companies. While RCGC was intended namely for public company, several organizations called for the adoption of RCGC in startup companies. Startup companies suffer from various failures which the classic corporate laws are not equipped to address significant conflicts of interest throughout their financing process, interested parties' transactions, and rapid change in ownership and board composition. Among the proposed solutions for such failures, as regulated in recent years for public companies, is the implementation of such RCGC. This article presents the fundamental issues in startups which call for adoption of RCGC: the principal-agent problem, numerous conflicts of interest and misalignment of interest between the founders and the investors (and amongst the investors) regarding the company's management and future. This article reviews the possible application of RCGC doctrines to startups; with respect to empirical and economical researchers that examine the benefit of RCGC on the value of startups and reducing the cost of raising capital, and researches and position papers which call for the adoption of RCGC in startup companies. This article also analyzes the clashes between the startups need for flexibility with the benefits and importance of adoption of RCGC. Lastly, the article presents various RCGC models, which have not yet been introduces in academic papers, which can be adopted in startups, inter alia, increasing the number of outside directors (both as a casting vote in even of founders-investors dead-locks as well as an impartial mentor for the founders), adopting procedures for board meetings and increasing their frequency, and amending the controlling and management rights in the company as a factor of the expected return on investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Start-ups is a hot topic around the world in general and Vietnam in particular. People in Vietnam and from all over the world are focusing and investing a lot on start-ups. There are many start up crowding programs in all over the world. However, the achievements from start-ups are not as high as expected, and those in Vietnam are not exceptions. The performance of Vietnamese startup companies is becoming a matter of great concerns, especially with high economical contribution, and even so, startups in Vietnam market have not achieved much success. Therefore, by using qualitative research method with conducting in-depth interviews with startup companies, this article is to find out current factors that Vietnamese startup companies faced and propose solutions to support the growth of their businesses. In addition, after investigating the factors and answers to those factors, there are opens up to further research from this paper which can help to facilitate this content in larger scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The setting of private finance companies that failed in New Zealand during 2006-2012 was characterized by weaker corporate governance and enforcement of securities law. This paper aims to explore audit failure in this setting and examine whether auditors erred in their audits of the failed finance companies and whether the audit failure rate of Big N auditors was different from that of non-Big N auditors.Design/methodology/approach This paper adopts the archival research method and uses three sets of evidence to assess audit failure – the frequency of going concern opinion (GCO) prior to failure, misstatements in the last audited financial statements, and the violation of the Code of Ethics.Findings The study finds that only 41 per cent of the sample companies received the GCO in their last audit prior to failure and provides evidence of material misstatements in the financial statements of a number of failed finance companies that received clean audit opinions prior to failure and breaches of the Code of Ethics by a number of auditors. These results strongly indicate audit failure for a number of failed finance companies. The audit failure rate, however, appears less for Big N auditors than for non-Big N auditors.Practical implications The study draws attention of the stock market regulator and the accounting profession to an area, the audit of private finance companies, that needs better quality audits.Originality/value This paper provides systematic evidence of audit failure in failed finance companies in New Zealand. It also furnishes preliminary evidence of Big N auditors compensating for weaker corporate governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: This paper develops an inheritance theory explaining the diffusion and persistence of detrimental management practice. Received wisdom, in both management theory and practice, would suggest that a practice that lowers the life expectancy of adopting firms, over time, will vanish because it puts those firms at a competitive disadvantage. In this paper, I challenge this view. I develop a conceptual model that details how a practice that lowers the survival chances of adopting organizations may still spread and continue to exist across a population of firms. I propose that a combination of three basic conditions is sufficient to bring about this phenomenon: if the practice is somehow associated with success, if there exists causal ambiguity, and if the rate of its diffusion is high compared with the rate at which it accelerates firms’ demise, the practice may continue to thrive and become a widespread and persistent feature in an industry. A pivotal conceptual insight is that the endurance of particular management practices and strategies is not merely a corollary of the competitiveness of the organizations that use them but that they have fitness levels of their own. Managerial Summary: All organizations have “best practices”: habits that they have picked up in the past or mimicked from others. Managers often believe that these must be the best ways of doing things, because otherwise market forces would have eliminated them. The theory in the paper explains why this belief may be wrong. Some enduring practices may be harmful without managers realizing it because it is not necessarily the most optimal practices that survive (just like harmful viruses persist in nature). As a corollary, the paper discusses how the identification and cessation of detrimental practices can form a new source of and way to understand innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the sphere of corporate failure in Mauritius. The causes are explained and urge to take preventive measures is justified therein. Recommendations are finally proposed to prevent corporate failure in Mauritius.Design/methodology/approach The methodology used is based on a mixture of the legal research method and case study analysis. This paper analyses every legal instrument such as enactments, binding rules, regulations and guidelines relevant to the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the insurance sector in Mauritius.Findings The prudential approach by the FSC is on the basis of any attempt for preventing corporate failure in Mauritius. However, there is still room for improvement with amendments that can be brought to various stages, such as the licensing, compliance and regulation stage.Research limitations/implications In terms of research limitation, this is an area that is quite new in Mauritius, implying that literature would mostly be indirect in nature. However, it has a high implication as it positions itself as one of the first pieces of literature on the issue of corporate failure in Mauritius. It can be the beginning of a long and required series of literature much needed in the field.Practical implications The effectiveness of the regulatory power of the FSC is essential for the financial sector’s future of Mauritius. The amendments that are proposed thought this study would help to immediately improve the health of this essential sector.Social implications It posits the business world as an area in which the social impacts are significant. The social implications would be towards researchers, students, practitioners and policymaker. Also, it is a piece of research that would be important for investors who would want to invest in the financial sectors in Mauritius.Originality/value This paper will be highly instrumental to policymakers, regulatory authorities, international investors and local businessmen wishing to enter the financial services sector to have a better idea of how this very important pillar of the economy of Mauritius can be shielded better against failure and how it can be enhanced to promote the economic growth of Mauritius. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because entrepreneurship entails uncertainty, business failure is a common outcome for entrepreneurs. When entrepreneurs encounter business failure, they carry a financial, social, and emotional burden associated with the failure. However, the magnitude of this burden differs by institutions, influencing entrepreneurial decisions and behaviors. Although institutions governing the rules of business failure are a topic for a rapidly growing field of research, research on this topic is highly fragmented. Therefore, the purpose of this systematic review is to unpack the relationships between institutions—governing the rules of business failure—and entrepreneurial decisions/behaviors. The paper provides a fine-grained and comprehensive review of the relevant literature and develops an agenda to guide future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a bibliometric analysis of venture teams in technology-based firms (TBFs). The study aims to identify the success and failure factors of TBFs and analyze the changes in the intellectual structure of this field. The analysis is based on data collected from the Web of Science and SCOPUS databases from 1987 to 2020. The results show a growing publication trend since 2009, with the highest production of articles between 2014 and 2019. The United States is the most influential country in this field, followed by China and Italy. The research also identifies the most influential sources in this area. The main contribution of this work is to provide insights into the evolution of venture teams in TBFs for future research and theoretical frameworks. [Extracted from the article]

COMPETITION, CHOICE AND RESILIENCE IN THE AUDIT MARKET Section 8 of the UK report includes competition in the audit market, covering areas such as operational separation between the audit and nonaudit practitioner. Keywords: audit reforms; competition; public interest; research opportunities; trust EN audit reforms competition public interest research opportunities trust 32 36 5 03/06/22 20220101 NES 220101 INTRODUCTION In this paper, I explore the topic, 'Rebuilding Trust and the role of Audit: The Impact of the UK Audit Reform Proposals on Other Standard-setters'. Rebuilding trust and the role of audit: The impact of the UK audit reform proposals on other standard-setters Additionally, it is difficult to examine any specific recommendation to enhance audit quality in isolation, as audit quality is impacted by overlapping engagement, audit firm and national regulatory initiatives and processes (IAASB, 2014). [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: Guar Gum (GG) is used in Shale oil exploration. Excessive price increase in the Guar futures market had a spillover impact on Guar spot prices and affected Guar export from India as Shale oil producers started exploring alternate sources. In this paper, the role of excessive speculation in the futures market, and its adverse impact on the guar-based agri-business ecosystem have been empirically explored. Design/methodology/approach: Volatility spillover dynamics between WTI crude oil and Guar futures have been explored using bivariate-Granger Causality, BEKK–GARCH models with Wavelet multi-resolution analysis. The wavelet-based models capture the multi-scale features of mean and volatility spillover to identify the effect of heterogenous investment behavior in the time and frequency domain. Findings: The results provide evidence that excessive speculation in futures markets increases spot market volatility. The results also suggest that the excess presence of short-term investors can destabilize the futures market. Research limitations/implications: The purpose of the commodity futures market is to support price discovery and risk management. However, speculative practices can destabilize these purposes leading to the failure of the business ecosystem. Originality/value: The novelty of this paper is twofold. First, it explores the economic linkages between the spot and futures market and tests whether the presence of heterogeneous traders affects the economic linkages. Second, it models the impact of short-term speculative investment on the destabilization of the spot market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indian insolvency regime has undergone a historic change with the introduction of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. This paper empirically analyses the effectiveness of the Code in the Indian economy. The paper also studies the insolvency frameworks that existed in India, the distinguishing features, and the legal framework of the Code. The analysis of the current status of the Indian insolvency regime with timelines and cross-sectional data clarifies the non-performing assets trajectory, recovery rates, and time required under different recovery mechanisms, a summary of cases under the new Code and the status of India in the international insolvency systems. The empirical evidence of this study suggests that the Code is an improvement over its predecessors in terms of recovery rates, resolution of non-performing assets, and resolution costs. The Code should be subjected to necessary improvements to evolve and become a foolproof mechanism. Suggestions to that effect are offered in the final section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many have argued that the technocratic apparatus of development is sustained – and not undermined – by its fallacies. Building on previous failures, development experts envision new plans, new analytical tools and new modes of governance. One recent example is the bottom-of-the-pyramid approach (BOP), a development doctrine predicated on the failure of previous anti-poverty approaches and based on the creation of products, services and entrepreneurial opportunities for the poor. Critically bracketed as a hallmark of millennial neoliberalism in the Global South, BOP projects, like previous development schemes, fail too. Through the narration of two experiments that, in 2015, had failed to create profit at the bottom of the pyramid in Cape Town (South Africa), this paper focuses on how development expertise makes sense of and engages the lack of profitability at the BOP, showing that failure is an important entry point into the actually existing forms of neoliberal anti-poverty enterprises in the Global South. Using J. K. Gibson-Graham's feminist economic geography framing, this article argues that neoliberal doctrines themselves sank these market experiments, whilst opening possibilities for development experts to engage alternative economic forms that stemmed from their failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to review the existing literature systematically so as to contribute towards a better understanding of methodological problems of the classical statistical techniques, artificially intelligent expert systems and theoretical approaches to solve the corporate failure syndrome. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presented a systematic review of 83 articles reporting 137 prediction failure models published within 1966-2012 in scholarly reviewed journals in four main disciplines, namely, accounting, finance, banking and economics. The authors performed the systematic literature review with five main sources, namely, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Wiley Interscience, Metalib, Web of Science and Business Source Complete of the Social Sciences. The review modified the approaches used by Aziz and Dar (2006), Ravi and Ravi (2007) and Balcaen and Ooghe (2006). Findings – The results indicate significant body of prior literature on prediction of corporate failure, but a theoretically sound, highly accurate, simple and widely used corporate failure prediction model for stakeholders has yet to be developed. Originality/value – This paper contributes towards a systematic understanding of the methodological problems associated with the statistical, artificially intelligent expert systems and theoretical approaches to solve the corporate failure prediction problems faced by firms in 11 countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue including the contribution of project management to global millennium development goals (MDGs), entrepreneurship in Nigeria and the causes of project failures in Africa.

Deteriorated track infrastructure can lead to significant consequences, such as derailment incidents, loss of revenue-service hours, reduced train operation speed, and even failure of the business. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) requires thorough and timely rail track inspections to keep trains operating safely. Approaches using advanced and emerging technologies have become more accessible and broadened their applications. Unfortunately, for Class II (regional) and III (short line) railroads (referred to as local railroads hereafter), there are many obstacles for deployment of these advanced technologies, such as budget constraints and lack of workforce skills. Local railroads are actively seeking cost-effective and efficient approaches to replace conventional methods of manual inspection. This paper, for the first time, aims at identifying the key challenges for local railroads regarding the demand for reliable and timely rail track inspection, lack of advancement of emerging technologies, and unique constraints faced by the local railroads. Through a comprehensive review of the common rail and track geometry defects and state-of-the-art track inspection techniques, this paper critically analyzes the knowledge gaps from four key perspectives from the perspective of local railroad operation: finance, technology, standards, and operation. It is found that automated nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques and inexpensive alternatives to the Automated Track Inspection Program (ATIP) may still be cost-feasible and effective for local railroads with future technological and operational upgrades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that public sector organizational failure may be best understood from a perspective of collective denial. The rise of this phenomenon is examined using testimony from a Public Inquiry into the downfall of a UK hospital, where falling organizational standards led to unethical decision making and an unacceptable number of patient deaths. In this paper, we show how collective denial, over time, became a process that resided within the fabric of organizational life. To explore the organizational processes associated with collective denial, and how and why it occurs, we identify the influence of a 'narrative of silence.' This narrative allows ever more serious failings to be justified as organizational members lose contact with reality entering a downward spiral with no recovery. The combined impact of assumptions about leadership capability, enculturated professional identities, and organizational loyalty create an environment where a narrative of silence can develop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a conceptual framework for investigation of the factors influencing the failure of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as the level of their recovery. Based on the review of literature, all the factors are classified either as individual characteristics of entrepreneurs or non-individual characteristics, that is, characteristics related to SMEs. Having in mind various factors identified by different researchers in their studies, the authors of this paper formed a basic hypothetical framework as well as a qualitative framework for evaluation of the most significant factors influencing SME failure and recovery. Accordingly, a preliminary questionnaire was designed in order to collect the attitudes of entrepreneurs regarding the impact of particular factors. The results of the survey were used for further quantitative analysis and as a base for the formation of a structural equation model for testing the proposed hypotheses. Using the structural equation model to derive results, the authors have found that all the analysed factors except the factors related to private time activities of entrepreneurs/owners of SMEs have a statistically significant influence on SME success, with external non-individual factors having the greatest influence. Furthermore, the results indicate that the level of recovery, business life cycle stage and the sector of a failed SME impact on the ranking of the factors leading to SME failure. The study points to the necessity of improving the conditions under which SMEs operate, primarily by removing the obstacles that hinder growth and development of SMEs as well as by developing the appropriate system of support for entrepreneurs. In addition, having a clear vision of the factors of failure can help SMEs to become more resistant to the adverse effects of these factors and deal with them more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has analyzed the transformation and evolution of Japan's manufacturing industries after the global financial crisis in 2008. In this due course, we conducted case studies on Toyota (automobile) and Toshiba (semiconductor) as the two major industries in Japan. Specifically, against the huge impacts caused from the capitalist world economy at the macro-level beyond the control of a single sovereign state, Toyota and Toshiba have chosen fundamentally-different strategies at the microlevel resulting in opposite outcomes: success and failure. After the global financial crisis, from 2009 to 2010, Toyota had to face massive recalls of Lexus vehicles in the U.S. market, which brought out unmeasurable economic losses. On the other hand, Toshiba had to conceal its rapidlydeteriorating performances of internal management, which resulted in unprecedented accounting frauds in a structural manner. However, once its secret was publicly revealed in 2015, Toshiba ended up suffering from irreversible fatal damages. While experiencing these challenges and crises, as a result, Toyota was able to understand the true nature of its failure, and ultimately achieved the success of its core business. On the contrary, Toshiba failed to apprehend the true nature of its success and could not avoid the failure of its core business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses role of COVID-19 pandemic in business failures, especially among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Topics discussed include firm's cash flow under pandemic; cost and effectiveness of various government interventions designed to support businesses throughout 2020; and role of cheap government-guaranteed loans in firms' indebtedness.

Purpose: Given the unique nature of Indian family firms and the recent failure of many business houses (Bhushan Steel Ltd., Hotel Leela Ventures Ltd. etc.) it is important to understand the relationship between the earnings management practices of the family firms and the debt. In this paper an attempt towards this has been made. Design/methodology/approach: This study makes use of an empirical approach to understand the relationship between earnings management and debt in the Indian context. This study was conducted by considering a large sample data of 16,629 family firm years spread across nine years. This study makes use of fixed effects and Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) regressions to test our hypothesis. Findings: First and foremost, this research supports the socioemotional wealth theory. It indicates that maintaining the control of the business is one of the socioemotional factors for the Indian family business and Indian family businesses ladened with debt engage in earnings management to protect their socio emotional wealth (control of the business). Evidence for higher earnings management practices for firms with above average debt has also been documented. Further, the fact that real activity earnings management is the preferred earnings management choice over the accrual-based earnings management as majority of debt is from the banks and financial institutions has also been demonstrated. Finally, the analysis indicates that accrual-based earnings management and real activity earnings management are complementary to each other. However, real activity earnings management can also act as a substitute for the accrual-based earnings management but the reverse is not true. Even among the real activity earnings management, cost-based real activity earnings management was preferred over the revenue-based real activity earnings management as the former is more elusory. Research limitations/implications: This research is limited to the listed family firms of India. Since the family firms around the world are heterogeneous the findings from this research might not be extended to other economies. Practical implications: The study has meaningful insights for policy making and monitoring of the family firms. It also aides the investors in taking investment decisions with respect to family firms in India. Originality/value: The study is unique as it integrates the family firms, debt and various types earnings management. Previous studies have focused mainly on accrual-based earnings management. The study also provides insights on the relationship between earnings management practices and debt covenants at various levels of family holdings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]