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While considered uncommon in relation to U.S. corporate bankruptcies, an increasing number of Chapter 9 municipal defaults have occurred in the past twenty-five years. Bankruptcy has been voluntarily sought and, in most cases, successfully executed to overcome fiscal stress in U.S. cities of all sizes. This paper recounts the complex tale of the three largest U.S. public fiscal crises within the early 21st century: the City of San Diego, California, Jefferson County, Alabama, and the City of Detroit, Michigan. Fiscal stress in a local government threatens the quality of municipal services and diminishes citizen confidence in their local leadership. The cases illustrated in this paper highlight the continued importance of studying the reasons for and solutions deployed to overcome fiscal stress conditions in local government. The research findings are of particular relevance to fiscal officers hoping to avert similar emergencies today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovative public-private partnerships (PPPs) have created potential opportunities for both public and private sector organizations in developing and managing public transportation networks. Through PPPs, public sector agencies are able to overcome budgetary and technical constraints and private sector companies can obtain long-term and sustained business prospects. However, previous studies have noted that despite possessing experience and skills, private sector companies are prone to making serious mistakes that could lead to the failure of a PPP project. Based on extensive case studies, this paper proposes a failure mechanism model that reflects the trails of mistakes made by private sector partners in transportation PPPs. A questionnaire survey was conducted to validate and assess the criticality of the failure drivers in the failure mechanism model and the causal relationships involved. Multiple regression path analysis was then applied to assess the statistical significance and calculate the path coefficients of the causal relationships depicted by the proposed failure mechanism model. This analysis then yielded the path coefficients, which indicate the causal strength of the proposed failure mechanism model along with its statistical significance. Based on the results of multiple regression path analysis, the failure mechanism model was respecified to reflect the validated and statistical significant causal relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This article focuses on the lessons that can be learnt from the bankruptcy of Kingfisher airlines (KFA). Design/methodology/approach – The paper explores the key reasons behind the failure of KFA. It follows the strategic decisions and actions that KFA took over its lifespan. It highlights the key mistakes that it made and how these ultimately contributed to its demise. It recommends the strategies that other companies can follow to avoid the same fate as KFA. Findings – KFA made many strategic blunders. It frequently and needlessly changed its business model. It unnecessarily spent on providing offerings that customers did not value. It was strategically blinded by the flamboyance of its owner. In addition, it took too long to read the writing on the wall. Even when clear signals were available of the impending crisis it faced, KFA showed limited urgency to resolve the issues. Practical implications – Companies need to focus on a sharp business model and not try to be everything for everyone. Companies that gain valuable insight of what its customers value and design their business model to satisfy these requirements have higher chance of survival. Social implications – It concedes that airlines need to balance the interests of multiple stakeholders. These include its owners, managers, employees, customers, regulators and suppliers. KFA was unable to do this consistently and hence could not survive in the dynamic airlines industry in India. Originality/value – The paper considers the context of the highly dynamic airline industry in India. It is an industry where new competitors are entering, regulatory changes are frequent and industry profitability is low. In such a scenario, companies such as KFA who do not have a consistent and coherent strategy find it difficult to survive. It provides insights into the challenges faced and recommends strategies for the companies to follow so as to improve their chances of long-term survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of entrepreneurial human capital in the post-entry performance of firms in high- and low-tech sectors. Using a dataset from the Japanese manufacturing industry, we examine the determinants of new-firm survival, taking into account exit routes to differentiate 'failure' (bankruptcy) and 'nonfailure' (voluntary liquidation and merger) outcomes. Our results show that entrepreneurial human capital, measured as educational background, is important in reducing the probability of bankruptcy in high-tech sectors, although it does not help significantly in this regard in low-tech sectors. By contrast, we provide evidence that entrepreneurs with high levels of human capital are more likely to voluntarily close businesses both in high- and low-tech sectors. Furthermore, we find that firms managed by entrepreneurs with high levels of human capital are more likely to exit via merger than others, particularly in high-tech sectors. We provide evidence that entrepreneurs with scientific backgrounds are less likely to voluntarily exit than those with humanistic backgrounds, particularly in low-tech sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine entrepreneurs' learning before, during and after entrepreneurial failure and understand the relationship between learning and recovery from failure. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative multiple case study was carried out based on entrepreneur interviews who have experienced the failure of their businesses. Findings: The study finds that entrepreneurs learn both during the company's lifespan and post-failure, with distinct types and intensities of learning at different life cycle phases. It highlights the link between learning and emotions during the failure process, revealing entrepreneurs' limited awareness of their knowledge gaps, particularly during successful business phases, and shows the difference between women and men. Research limitations/implications: One limitation of this study is that the companies are all located in northern and central Portugal, and the number of entrepreneurs starting new ventures post-failure is limited. Another is a lack of comprehensive measurement of the economic impact, especially on the health of individuals who have experienced the impact of failure. The absence of concrete data hampers understanding and the development of targeted support mechanisms for these individuals. Originality/value: This study stands out for its unique approach, thoroughly exploring the intricate, profound and significant experiences during a crisis, such as a business failure, from the entrepreneurs' perspective. It delves into their learning processes before, during and after the failure, providing a comprehensive understanding. This study evidence that significant learning occurs during the operation of the business, and not during or after failure, due to the limitations imposed by the pain and disorientation it causes. Therefore, if recovery does not occur, learning does not happen either. It also highlights the differences between women and men in their learning experiences, adding a new dimension to the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trajectory of new business applications and transitions to employer businesses differ markedly during the Great Recession and the COVID-19 recession. Both applications and transitions to employer startups decreased slowly but persistently in the post-Lehman crisis period of the Great Recession. In contrast, during the COVID-19 recession new applications initially declined but have since sharply rebounded, resulting in a surge in applications during 2020. Projected transitions to employer businesses also rise, but this projection is dampened by a change in the composition of applications in 2020 toward applications that are more likely to be nonemployers. JEL classification: D2, E65, G33 Key words: COVID-19, business failures, liquidity, small business, Working Paper 2021-5 January 2021 How have recent recessions affected business formation? The startup rate of new employer businesses declined sharply in the Great Recession and rose slowly in the [...]

Financial institutions use business failure forecasting models to manage their investments. The accuracy of the forecast is an important factor in determining how much capital is needed to cover credit losses. The majority of studies use traditional statistical methods to model business failures (e.g., discriminant analysis and logistic regression). Models constructed are usually quite inaccurate, however. It is due to the imbalance between the classes of training samples (bankruptcies account for a small percentage of all firms) that are used to construct the models. Currently, various machine learning methods such as the random forest method and the gradient boosting method are widespread. In this study, the main focus is on using extreme gradient growth to predict bankruptcy. Extreme gradient boosting, using LASSO or Ridge regularization, penalizes complex models to avoid overfitting. Also, during training, extreme gradient boosting fills in the missing values in the data set depending on the amount of loss. In this article, in order to increase the efficiency of extreme degree growth, it is proposed to use SMOTE technology to improve class balance. The quality values of the solutions obtained by the improved extremal degree increase are compared with the solutions obtained by other methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research background: The issue of predicting the financial situation of companies is a relatively young field of economic research. Its origin dates back to the 30's of the 20th century, but constant research in this area proves the currentness of this topic even today. The issue of predicting the financial situation of a company is up to date not only for the company itself, but also for all stakeholders. Purpose of the article: The main purpose of this study is to create new prediction models by using the method of decision trees, in achieving sufficient prediction power of the generated model with a large database of real data on Polish companies obtained from the Amadeus database. Methods: As a result of the development of artificial intelligence, new methods for predicting financial failure of the company have been introduced into financial prediction analysis. One of the most widely used data mining techniques in this field is the method of decision trees. In the paper, we applied the CART and CHAID approach to create a model of predicting the financial difficulties of Polish companies. Findings & Value added: For the creation of the prediction model, a total of 37 financial and economic indicators of Polish companies were used. The resulting decision trees based prediction models for Polish companies reach a prediction power of more than 98%. The success of the classification for non-prosperous companies is more than 83%. The created decision tree-based prediction models are useful mainly for predicting the financial difficulties of Polish companies, but can also be used for companies in another country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Certain risks associated with particular human activities cannot be eliminated, with commercial risks representing factors of business success or failure. In the current turbulent environment, proper risk assessment and management is of utmost importance in maintaining competitiveness. The aim of this paper is to present the output of our research which focused on the assessment of commercial risk faced by exporters to China, specifically, determining the probabilities for commercial risk model management. Along with this, the cultural context of the Chinese market influencing risk size are explored, particularly the concepts of tan-wej, kuan-si, li-ťie and mien-c', the effect of which was confirmed by our exporter survey. The research focused on Czech companies exporting goods and technologies to China. The study involves manufacturing enterprises (section C, CZ-NACE Rev. 2) as well as, more specifically, medium and large scale engineering, along with chemical and electrical power companies. Firms exporting common consumer goods, raw materials and recyclables were excluded from the study. The data were obtained from controlled interviews with company representatives (with 58 percent of the exporters participating in a 2013 research) and from Justice.cz (2016) which published economic results of all exporters registered in 2015. The study outcomes were further reviewed in 2016-2017 using follow-up interviews and literature reviews. In collecting the primary data and verifying research outcomes, semi-structured and structured interviews were conducted, following which methods of descriptive statistics and statistical dependence analysis were applied. The findings allow for the construction of a commercial risk assessment model for export to China, involving relative risk costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Serbian Journal of Management is the property of Serbian Journal of Management 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.)

The pari passu principle of awarding claimants proportionally to their pre-insolvency claims is the most prominent principle in the law of insolvency. We report from a lab experiment designed to study whether people find this principle a fair solution to the bankruptcy problem. The experimental design generates situations where participants work and accumulate claims in firms, some of which subsequently go bankrupt. Third-party arbitrators are randomly assigned to determine how the liquidation value of the bankrupt firms should be distributed between claimants. Our main finding is that there is a striking support for the pari passu principle. We estimate a random utility model that allows for the arbitrators to differ in what they consider a fair solution to the bankruptcy problem and find that about 85% of the participants endorse the proportional rule. We also find that a nonnegligible fraction of the arbitrators follow the constrained equal losses rule, while there is almost no support in our experiment for the constrained equal awards rule or other fairness rules suggested in the normative literature. Data and the online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2018.3029. This paper was accepted by David Simchi-Levi, behavioral economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to examine the essential characteristics of the financial statements of FinTech start-ups and to investigate which figures of balance sheets are suitable indicators of failure for this still rising group of start-ups. We conduct a quantitative analysis of 595 annual reports of FinTech start-ups issued between 2007 and 2016. Our study reveals that the balance sheets have a high share of current assets and often show losses not covered by equity. Based on the financial variables, the period of three to five years after foundation could be identified as critical phase for the future survival of FinTech startups. Two years before failure significant changes in some balance sheet figures are recognizable. Using a logistic regression model, we identify accounting figures serving as indicators for the separation of the two groups, active and failed FinTech start-ups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to develop a corporate financial distress model for Indian listed companies using financial and non-financial parameters by using a conditional logit regression technique. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a sample of 96 companies, of which 48 were declared sick between 2014 and 2016. The sample was divided into a training sample and a testing sample. The variables for the study included nine financial variables and four non-financial variables. The models were developed using financial variables alone as well as combining financial and non-financial variables. The performance of the test sample was measured with confusion matrix, sensitivity, specificity, precision, F-measure, Types 1 and 2 error. Findings: The results show that models with financial variables had a prediction accuracy of 85.19 and 86.11 per cent, whereas models with a combination of financial and non-financial variables predict with comparatively better accuracy of 89.81 and 91.67 per cent. Net asset value, long-term debt–equity ratio, return on investment, retention ratio, age, promoters holdings pledged and institutional holdings are the critical financial and non-financial predictors of financial distress. Originality/value: This study contributes to the financial distress prediction literature in different ways. First, there have been, until now, few studies in the area of financial distress prediction in the Indian context. Second, business failure studies in the past have used only financial variables. The authors have combined financial and non-financial variables in their model to increase predictive ability. Thirdly, in most earlier studies, variable institutional holdings were found to affect financial distress negatively. In contrast, the authors found this parameter to be positively significant to the financial distress of the company. Finally, there have hitherto been few studies that have used promoter holdings pledged (PHP) or pledge ratio. The authors found this variable to influence business failure positively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to examine variables influencing resort hotels' survival in Spain, which had not previously been analysed. In this country, determining whether the reasons resort hotels close are different from other hotels could be imperative to resort hotels' survival. Design/methodology/approach: The survival analysis used Cox's semi-parametric proportional hazards regression to determine which variables influence hotel closure and how much each variable increases risk of closure. Findings: Resort hotel closure depends on hotel size, location, executive management and the business cycle. Survival is not affected by hotel type or financial structure. Research limitations/implications: While this methodology is common in business survival analyses, it has seldom been applied to hotels and has never been used to study the survival of resort hotels. Practical implications: Companies need to rethink the location of new hotels. For already-built facilities, good management practices are strategically important for resort hotels' survival. Originality/value: This paper explores the reasons why resort hotels survive. The study's selection of variables and methodology and its conclusions are unique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of the Great Recession, almost all countries suffered a severe and synchronized trade collapse unlike any seen since the Great Depression. To the extent that economic integration fosters trade among countries, this paper examines the role that international integration played in moderating the negative shock caused by the Great Recession on trade. The methodology adopted is a modified gravity model in which we control for the Great Recession, different forms of integration, as well as the interaction between integration and the recession. Measuring integration in three different ways, the findings show that countries that were more integrated fared better in trade – the extent of trade collapse was milder – than less integrated countries. Specifically, Regional Trade Agreement, as a form of trade integration, had a positive and robust effect on trade during the Great Recession. This positive effect is also robust across regions and countries around the world. In a nutshell, countries that are into some form of trade agreements are better-positioned to absorb negative demand-side shocks caused by economic recessions than similar countries without such agreements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how gender and nationality stereotypes affect the legitimacy evaluation of failed entrepreneurs and how evaluators' beliefs in a just world (BJW) moderate that relationship based on 2,368 conjoint experiment decisions nested in 74 evaluators. The study establishes that prejudices linked to stereotypes participate in female and immigrant failed entrepreneurs being judged less legitimate than male and native failed entrepreneurs. A higher education level increases the legitimacy perception of failed entrepreneurs, but the effect is less for failed female entrepreneurs and failed immigrant entrepreneurs. Finally, the findings establish that evaluators holding higher BJW attribute lower legitimacy to failed female entrepreneurs and to failed immigrant entrepreneurs than to failed male and failed native entrepreneurs compared to evaluators holding lower BJW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shoplifting, fraud, embezzlement, and now cybercrimes are only a few of the many types of crimes business owners lose sleep over. Business owners lose profits, sometimes significant profits, and small businesses are affected to any even greater extent. Small businesses often lack the resources to defend their business against various criminal activities and may not be able to recover from large losses. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports that as many as 30% of small business failures could be attributed to embezzlement or employee theft. And to make matters worse, thieves are becoming more sophisticated in the use of high-tech tools to steal. In this paper, the authors provide an overview of current criminal activity and offer several ways to address the situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientists agree on necessity to predict and timely detect a company crisis that is an integral part of business nowadays. The early identification of a company financial failure due to rapidly changing social, economic and environmental conditions is a topic of growing importance. The sooner a potential financial failure can be identified, the more effective and efficient the anti-crisis measures could be implemented. If a company financial failure could be predicted accurately, it might be possible for the business to be restructured, thus avoiding the failure. This would benefit the owners, shareholders, employees, creditors, and others interested alike. The modern economic literature provides varied crisis diagnosis methods, mostly based on an analysis of key financial ratios. Less attention is paid to qualitative methods. Therefore, the present research aims to examine modern qualitative methods for company crisis diagnosis (prediction) in crisis management theory. The research used the theoretical findings of foreign scientists and Internet resources. The research employed the following methods: analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, the monographic method, document analysis and the graphic method. The paper provides definitions of main terms related to company failure prediction and a description of general qualitative models of company financial failure (bankruptcy) prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how decision-maker attributes unfold to precipitate organisational failure. The analysis brings to light how key attributes such as information-processing capabilities and human capital decay interact to bring about business decline and exit. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on an integrated review and conceptualisation of the literature. Findings – The study articulates how a set of attributes of decision makers, i.e. human capital obsolescence, powerlessness, meaninglessness and institutional linkages, contributes to organisational failure. Research limitations/implications – The paper concludes by setting out an array of strategies of learning from others’ failures. Originality/value – In spite of a growing body of research on organisational failure, scholars have placed overwhelming emphasis on ecological explanations and business failure prediction models. The study moves beyond the ecological explanations to offer a more fine-grained analysis of firm-level factors that precipitate business failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this cross-national study is to evaluate the communality and differences in experiences and policy responses in the run up to the 2007-2009 credit crisis and during its critical early stages in Germany, Ireland and the UK. The importance of shared cognitive illusions regarding the power and stability of financial markets is emphasised. Design/methodology/approach – A multiple case study approach is used which draws on publicly available information to trace developments leading up to bank failures (or near failures) and the evolution of government responses drawing upon alternative paradigms used to justify State intervention. Findings – Findings emphasise the role of state regulatory bodies and their response to the crisis as a primary source of the “rules of the game” in financial markets, here it is the “game of bank bargains” and a potential source of repair. Given the degree of interconnectedness, opacity and complexity of financial markets investors/politicians/regulators will fall victim to cognitive biases which affect their decisions. Research limitations/implications – This case study method allows identification of patterns in decision-makers’ behaviour and yields richer insights than a quantitative approach but is limited in its generalisability. Practical implications – This paper offers practical implications in suggesting that a pivotal step in effective crisis management requires directly addressing sources of uncertainty, namely, time pressure, complexity and opacity of underlying cause–effect relationships, empowering decision-makers to act responsibly. Originality/value – This paper is novel in its illustration of the collective cognitive paradigm for justifying regulatory action across three countries using six case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to identify the adequate entrepreneurial support elements for business restarting after business failure. An exploratory study was conducted with fifteen SMEs within the interpretivist paradigm. The study reveals a matrix of factors that make for adequate entrepreneurial support to assist restarting business. In addition, this study shows that psychological coaching is an efficient remedy to reduce emotional shock after experiencing unplanned failure whereas social coaching is an efficient support of integrating successor following a planned failure in some social network. However, current thinking on incubation should be increased in order to help with business recovery especially as there is a high failure rate associated with startups. This research attempts to ensure a possible relationship between entrepreneurial support practices and failing entrepreneurs' needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to research and analyze the impact of the type of failure on economic risks in the bidding phase, as the most important part in the management of construction projects. The survey included the impact of risk on the process of determining unit prices from the perspective of a potential contractor. Also, the failure rate and repair rate of the 34 machines from the machine park of the company for road construction were researched. On the basis of obtained parameters and depreciation periods, the operational availability of components of construction production systems was determined. The proposed methodology for estimating impact of the availability function is a modified method of the frequency balancing. It has been tested on a concrete project from the practice in the process of harmonizing construction norms of time that preceded the final adoption of the unit prices. Differences in prices are results of the system failure of construction machinery and plants and have justified a hypothesis of obtaining more realistic costs that can occur in the projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the impact that the 'new approach to business failure' has had on Italian out-of-court procedures. It will demonstrate that in 2005 Italian law started to embrace the rescue culture of out-of-court procedures by means of a series of reforms; initially, this movement facilitated the incorporation of the 'new approach to business failure', but – and this is the paradox – the more law makers and courts remove the old paradigms and introduce new ones, which in principle could make the procedures smoother, cheaper and more efficient, the more the law in the book and the law in action appear to be overloaded with additional prerequisites which make the procedures cumbersome, costly and inefficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This study aims to find out whether firm failure processes are age- and size-dependent.Design/methodology/approach The sample consists of 333 bankrupted Estonian firms. Failure processes are detected with consecutive factor and cluster analyses of six financial variables calculated for three pre-failure years. Multinomial logistic regression is applied to study the interconnections between failure processes (dependent variable) and firm size and age (independent variables). In addition, the contingency between detected failure processes and failure causes obtained from court judgements are studied.Findings Three failure processes are detected, of which the predominant one accounting for 55 per cent of cases is a gradual failure process, indicating a step-by-step decline in the values of financial variables. The two minority processes are mixed, meaning that some financial variables are poor for many years before the bankruptcy and others decrease only shortly before bankruptcy declaration. With an increase in firm size, the gradual failure process becomes more common, but in turn, the presence of the gradual failure process is not age-dependent. Failure causes detected by trustees are not associated with failure processes.Originality/value This paper is the first one to specifically outline the age and size dependencies of firm failure processes. In addition, the interconnection of failure causes and firm failure processes detected with financial variables are rarely studied topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customer returns are a common phenomenon in many industries, and they have a significant impact on business organizations and their supply chains. False failure returns are returned products that have no functional or cosmetic defects, and they represent a large body of customer returns in practice. In this paper, we develop a mixed-integer nonlinear programming model to study a multicommodity location-inventory problem in a forward-reverse logistics network. This model minimizes the total cost in this network by considering false failure returns, and it also considers many real-world business scenarios in forward and reverse logistics flows. Moreover, we design a new heuristic approach to solve the model efficiently. Finally, numerical experiments are conducted to validate our solution approach and provide meaningful managerial insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to investigate the existence of a possible connection between Quality Management System certifications according to the ISO 9001 standard and the failure risk of a company. A sample of Italian manufacturing companies is studied in the period 2008/2010, characterised by the beginning of a severe economic crisis. The risk of failure of the companies is estimated by synthetising a set of economic/ financial indexes extracted from their balance sheet. The obtained index is assumed as the response variable subject to the effects of multiple factors: company size, regional development and certification. Preliminary results show the significance of the analysed factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider corporate governance to be a key element when we talk about the success of a company but in the same time if this system fails due to different reasons, the financial, social, political consequences can be very serious. In order to understand the importance of this system we tried to explain and define the notion of corporate governance being inspired by the studies already made in this field. In the second part of the paper we pointed out the structure of a company when good corporate governance practices are embraced. In the Third part of the paper we focused out attention on some resounding financial scandals from all over the world and then analyzed the causes that led to failures. Least but not last we took a close look to the failure or corporate governance and the reasons that this happens. The conclusions express our point of view regarding failure and we agree that in most of the cases, no matter the system of corporate governance, the country in which the company activates or the stakeholders involved in the business, human nature, the power of money and control are too hard to overcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tourism Tribune / Lvyou Xuekan is the property of Tourism Institute of Beijing Union 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.)

In a survey of century enterprises, the American scholar Jim Collins found that the crucial step to lasting one company is: a clear core concept and adhere to it. The real difference between the successful companies and failed ones can be often attributed to how much energy and talent the company has inspired, and what has the company done to help employees find common purpose. In this paper, the sample survey of Chinese companies found that: although the core ideas of Chinese companies are catchy, it is difficult to win support among the people. It is more like a slogan and declaration; such a thing is difficult to stimulate staff's imagination and passion which makes China Company's core idea implementation ability is poor. And any organization that wants to survive and succeed must have sound beliefs as prerequisites for all policies and actions. Only those who uphold their inner beliefs and their highest goals can achieve full success in their careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The aim of this paper is to see how NOT to manage an acquisition through the case study of one of the worst M&As in recent years: Emporiki Bank’s by Crédit Agricole. Although the role of the banks is to manage risk, the acquisition of Emporiki by Crédit Agricole shows how easy it is, when ill prepared, to make one mistake after another and get trapped without a way out. It can even cause to take such desperate decisions as in this case sell an entire bank for one single euro.Design/methodology/approach General review.Findings The paper shows that being a very successful bank does not guarantee in any way good M&As, especially in an unknown market. Preparation, understanding of the whole situation and reactivity is key for a successful M&A. Without it, the consequences can be disastrous.Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insolvency law used to be a set of rules that govern the way a debtor is treated once he became insolvent and stopped trading. Certain mechanisms respond to this incident in order to safeguard a fair treatment of all creditors and other stakeholders with the aim of minimizing the damage. Modern insolvency laws do more. They have been endowed with tools that shall allow for a restructuring of the business of the failing debtor, often combining the common tools of insolvency law, e.g. a collective stay, with new tools to facilitate a restructuring agreement. But why wait until a debtor is insolvent? The idea of early redress to a business failure has led to a number of legislative pre-insolvency initiatives that make such tools available to debtors that are not yet insolvent. The result is a mixture of insolvency and restructuring law that has grown guided by practical needs rather than doctrinal approaches. In this paper, a doctrinal approach is proposed that offers a clear distinction between insolvency and restructuring law. Based on the description of the debt cancellation effect as the common function of all insolvency and restructuring proceedings, the different mechanisms that both types of procedures use lead to a clear categorization of insolvency and restructuring proceedings and their governing law and principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to examine the existence of related party transactions (RPTs) in failed financial companies in New Zealand when firms have interlocking directors on the board. We also examine the role of auditors in the review of RPTs. We anticipate that inter-company director relationships promote RPTs, while reputable large auditors (i.e. Big4) restrict the practice.Design/methodology/approach This study uses multivariate analysis to examine the determinants of RPTs. We use an unique, hand-collected database of New Zealand finance companies all of which collapsed during the years 2006-2011.Findings Using a sample of 65 firms (including 38 failed finance firms) and 219 firm-year observations, we found that almost half of the failed finance firms were engaged in RPTs. For the failed firms, those that were engaged in RPTs were mostly represented by interlocking directors and were audited by non-Big4 auditors, implying lower monitoring quality may facilitate RPTs. Using a sub-sample, we also found evidence that firms engaged in RPTs were later convicted of questionable accounting and disclosure practices.Practical implications This research is beneficial to regulators and audit professionals in understanding the potential for adverse outcomes associated with interlocking directors and undisclosed RPTs. While interlocking directors could enrich the external connections of a firm which might facilitate capital resourcing, this study suggests regulators might encourage firms to disclose RPTs when the firm has higher interlocked directors.Originality/value This study is the first to examine the association between RPTs and interlocking directors using a sample of failed finance companies. RPTs and lack of disclosure were widely attributed with being the determinants of corporate failure in the finance sector. However, failed finance firms remain widely under-researched because of a lack of available data. This study circumvent this limitation by using print media and business news portals to collate information on RPTs and interlocking directors. While prior research indicates that weak corporate governance leads to poor accounting practice, using the interlocking board as a proxy for weak corporate governance, this study is the first to substantiate the adverse effect of interlocking boards and undisclosed RPTs with corporate failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the performance of Spanish banking entities between 2009 and 2013, a period marked by the reform of the banking system with a large number of mergers and integrations.Design/methodology/approach First, efficiency is measured applying the data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology and, then, the Malmquist index is calculated to assess its evolution.Findings The results show that most of the entities have improved their performance from the production approach. However, from the intermediation approach, the efficiency of the sample has deteriorated, which raises questions about the sustainability of the traditional banking business when the current credit restriction strategy is long lasting.Practical implications The comparative analysis demonstrates that, after the deep reforms carried out in Spain, the banking entities maintain similar efficiency rankings to those they had at the beginning of the period analysed. This shows that the reform has created new groups that operate adequately, avoiding the closing of institutions. Despite the better rationalisation of the available resources, the outlook for Spanish banks remains unclear in the current macroeconomic context, which does not favour the banking business.Originality/value The study contributes to the literature on the Spanish banking system because it adds new empirical evidence about its restructuring and it applies a DEA model to a sample before and after mergers. The authors discuss theoretical and managerial implications and offer suggestions for future research on this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper connects the venture performance rates with their founders’ psychological and physiological health in a longitudinal design over a period of ten years. We link the medical records of a total of 52,318 founders with performance data about their growing, stagnating and failing ventures using a model for entrepreneurial earnings to explain venture health. Our findings reveal clear and surprising differences in the impact of the performance of the venture on its founder. We discuss the implications of our findings and provide future research directions into the link between the health of the venture and that of its founder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The integration of acquired or merging firms is a key driver of the success or failure of mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Over the last 30 years, a substantial body of research has addressed M&A integration, offering rich but widely dispersed insights into this phenomenon. This paper takes stock of the current knowledge, based on a review of articles published in scholarly journals. The review advances the conceptual understanding of the phenomenon by inductively developing an overarching framework for the M&A integration literature, where integration success is a function of context, structural and communication-based interventions, which interact with collective sensemaking processes and negotiations among integration stakeholders. Based on this framework, a research agenda is suggested. I proposes that, in particular, the interaction between structural interventions and leadership warrants further study. Also, little is known about integration project management and integration team composition or the interaction between integration context and collective sensemaking processes. Finally, there is a shortage of research on temporal dynamics within integration projects. The review demonstrates that M&A scholars made substantial progress regarding our understanding of the M&A integration process, yet much remains to be done. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although filing for bankruptcy is the primary form of economic relief for U.S. consumers in financial distress, pro se debtors lack access to the consumer bankruptcy system. An individual debtor faces many challenges when filing for bankruptcy without an attorney, since the debtor must rely on free access to the information provided by the U.S. Courts website. However, that information is vague and presented in complex legalese and dissuasive diction. On the other hand, U.K. debtors who need financial relief can file for bankruptcy through a clear and accessible bankruptcy filing process. U.K. debtors also have access to free consumer debt advice from a government-funded nonprofit organization, Citizens Advice. This paper discusses the differences in filing processes for U.S. and U.K. debtors. It ultimately concludes that the U.S. should implement similar filing processes to those in the U.K. to create a more accessible bankruptcy system, especially in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of COVID‐19, the federal government scrambled to provide emergency funding to businesses, but did not always take into account the heterogeneous nature of firms, especially within industries. Using the lodging industry as the application, this article shows that businesses' failure risk in a pandemic depends on a business' native ability to adapt to changing safety needs, in particular its ability to provide a socially distanced environment. Hotels not well suited to social distancing—for example, destination‐type hotels with large gathering spaces and many personalized services—offered deeper price discounts or closed down altogether during the pandemic. Simpler hotels with fewer ancillary services were more likely to remain open, with a substantial proportion actually increasing prices. Area infection rates mattered little. Effects are identified by comparing prepandemic expectations of outcomes to updated within‐pandemic expectations of outcomes, all while holding the place and the time of consumption fixed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In numerous aspects of digital marketing usage, India is among the top two countries in the world. Almost all businesses currently use digital marketing. Thousands of start-up businesses with new ideas strive to break into the corporate sector every year. Unless they have a good marketing plan, start-ups and SMEs will be unable to compete with established and lucrative organisations. One of the leading causes of business failure is a lack of a comprehensive digital marketing strategy. However, not all of the tools available to a digital marketer are equally productive. The barrier between the "haves" and the "have nots" is narrowing as technology interventions become more widely available. Some digital marketing methods succeed, while others fail. In view of the importance of digital marketing usage in India, this paper provides a framework based on Diffusion of Innovation (DOI). It also makes use of Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) theory for obtaining conceptual framework. Two constructs are used by the researcher to frame the conceptual framework: technical and environmental. The current study employs an exploratory research design in which the study attempts to investigate the level of awareness of digital marketing tools as well as the factors influencing the adoption of digital marketing by start-ups and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) using a positivist research philosophical stand. For statistical interpretation, the study used the SPSS tool and Smart PLS. The current study's population consists of owners and managers of manufacturing and service-based start-ups and SMEs operating in Karnataka's North Karnataka area. To collect answers from the audience, this study employs a mixed methodological technique. Smart PLS - Structural Equational Modelling (SEM) is used to validate relevant hypotheses. For factor grouping and identification, the SPSS programme was employed. To obtain the SEM model, the discovered components were iterated using Smart PLS software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micro-entrepreneurs are the strategic assets of the nation, given their mammoth share in maintaining the socio-economic equilibrium and inclusive growth of the economy. Despite their contribution to India's economy, they are still confronted with several on-ground hurdles, such as inadequate financial literacy among entrepreneurs, inaccessibility to affordable credit, financial mismanagement and lack of innovation. The extant literature has revealed that financial illiteracy and lack of innovation have raised pertinent concerns across the world, given the increasing rate of business failures. Nonetheless, the effect of financial literacy on organisational performance and innovativeness remains underexplored and fragmented. This study aims to examine the effect of financial literacy on the business performance and innovativeness of the micro-entrepreneurs in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) in India. Primary data were gathered from around 302 micro-entrepreneurs registered in Delhi-NCR through self-administered questionnaires. Data analysis was conducted through SmartPLS 4 software. The results indicated that financial literacy significantly impacts business performance and innovativeness among micro-entrepreneurs. Therefore, the study advocates wider participation of policymakers, financial service providers and managers in designing tailored strategies aimed to enhance the financial education of micro-entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how passion affects an entrepreneur's business failure experiences. Our study explores the link between the type of passion an entrepreneur exhibits and the effect this has on the entrepreneurs' attitudes and reactions to business failure. We analyse the way in which passion type informs entrepreneurs identification with their business, and the entrepreneurial process. Entrepreneurs who experienced harmonious passion maintained an emotional distance from their business failure. Harmoniously passionate entrepreneurs had a rational perspective and were reflective, self-aware, adaptive and future oriented. Entrepreneurs who experienced obsessive passion, were defensive and reactionary about their business failure. Obsessively passionate entrepreneurs attached contingencies and experienced increased stress and conflict. Our findings suggest promising opportunities for future research on the interplay between heterogeneous passions, adaptive/maladaptive entrepreneurial action and regulated goal pursuit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decades into the digital era, publicly available data on Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) owned businesses are still remarkably lacking. In this commentary piece, the authors cover recent literature on the importance of BIPOC-owned businesses for equitable growth and BIPOC wealth-building. The authors then examine the sources of data that are available – public and private – for tracking the success or failure of such businesses. A BIPOC business database was constructed from a variety of sources and used by the authors to examine the potential pitfalls of such exercises. The authors close with a call for better data collection on BIPOC businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does a social enterprise pursue its ethical mandate of social impact growth while navigating the perils of the most vulnerable stage in a venture's life—scaling up? We observe a small inclusivity social enterprise attempting to scale up rapidly to create equality for people with disabilities throughout the world. Our embedded, ethnographic study is terminated with the venture's unfortunate demise after their dramatic effort to scale up failed. By examining scaling decision-making and conflicts around creation reasoning longitudinally, our study identifies over-use of effectual logic—a creation reasoning type considered more ethical and more appropriate for high-innovativeness contexts than causal logic—as a major factor in the venture's failure. From this insight, we extend the parameters of effectuation theory to scaling up and dimensionalize its ethical implications. Guidance for social entrepreneurs to scale up successfully while maintaining ethical integrity is also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]