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Family firms have continued to register low survival rates. Across the world, research puts the survival rate of family businesses beyond the third generation at a mere single digit. The dilemma is also that despite the high failure rate of family-owned firms, the world’s most enduring companies also belong to this class. What do they do differently from the majority of their peers? Succession planning tops the list of the 21st century’s paradoxical challenges facing family business enterprises. Past studies have been barely conclusive on whether and how succession planning, or the lack of it, affects business economic performance. The current study assesses the effect of succession planning on business economic performance. The study used a deductive approach, a survey research strategy, and an explanatory research design to fulfil its objectives. Data analysis was done through descriptive as well as inferential analyses. Regression analysis results indicated that succession planning is a statistically significant determinant of business economic performance. The study recommends that firms should improve their measures targeted towards the prior identification of roles and leadership positions that require successors. The study also recommends the enhanced preparation, grooming, and development of identified successors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings – Most people taking those first tentative steps in the business world will have been urged to speculate to accumulate. Firms considering new ventures or alliances are similarly counseled. Many will testify that such advice is often invaluable. Others will tell different tales though. Dreams have ended in failure due to a wrong move, wrong market or wrong time. Or to some combination of these factors. Often it’s preparation that has left much to be desired. On the face of things, it would be difficult to accuse East Air India of not doing the necessary groundwork. The new carrier clearly aims to hit the ground running, as it prepares to enter the Indian airline industry. Practical implications – The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. 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]

In this paper we intend to substantiate the usefulness of Deep Learning, especially feedforward neuronal networks, in the prediction of business failure. This methodology provides very good results in terms of predictive performance when large sample sizes are available. Therefore, we have developed a business failure prediction model for European companies, based on this algorithm on a sample of 61,624 companies, of which 12,128 were declared bankrupt in 2016. As independent variables were considered ratios, and economic and financial data obtained from the financial statements for the year preceding the date of failure. Deep Learning achieves a predictive performance of 94%, where companies with larger size and lower solvency are more prone to failure. The obtained results have been tested on an independent test sample, different from that used to estimate and train the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Information vacuums (IVs) arise from organizational failure to satisfy the stakeholders’ informational demands during crises. The purpose of this paper is to expand Pang’s (2013) study of the phenomenon of IV by investigating its nature, stages, intensifying factors and resolution.Design/methodology/approach Print and social media data of five recent international crises with apparent IVs were analyzed.Findings Poor crisis communications are intensifying factors that induce media hijacks and hypes, distancing, and public confusion. A four-stage model maps the phenomenon into a flow chart describing its development. IV termination begins when organizations either respond with information or provide solutions, results, and/or compensation. Natural and strategic silence were observed and defined.Research limitations/implications The study lays the foundation for future examination of how media literacy, governments, and culture, both societal and organizational, induce or exacerbate the phenomenon.Practical implications Immediate, adequate, transparent, credible, and consistent crisis responses manage the IV and crisis, diminish the intensification of subsequent crises, and potentially reduce image and reputational damages.Originality/value The knowledge of the phenomenon is further developed and new theoretical models are conceptualized to provide researchers and practitioners a clearer understanding of how an IV can develop, persist, deepen, and resolve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting a new business venture and still being in operation after five years can be a significant challenge. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), half of all small businesses fail within the first five years, and according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as many as 30% of small business failures can be attributed to crime. Today, small business owners are subject to assault by many different types of criminal activities ranging from shoplifting and vandalism to fraud, embezzlement, money laundering and of course, cybercrime. Crimes committed against businesses fall into two broad categories-- internal and external. Internal crimes include crimes such as theft and embezzlement, while external crimes include activities such as robbery and cybercrime. Each type of crime has its unique characteristics, and each calls for a different approach to prevent and detect criminal activity, along with various remedies to criminal acts. Accountants can play a significant role in these activities including development of comprehensive audits, utilizing specialized computer software, and vigilance in looking for suspicious activity by employees, customers, suppliers, and others. In this paper, the authors provide an introduction to criminal business activity, and a variety of counter-measures businesses can employ to safeguard their profits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to contrast the spillover effects in business failure derived from the geographic proximity among firms of the same sector. To get this purpose, we develop an empirical application based on the analysis of the join-count statistics on a sample of firms of service sector located in the municipality of Murcia (Spain). Our results show significant spatial autocorrelation pattern, therefore, the probability of failure in a firm not only depends on its internal characteristics, but also on the situation of failure of its vicinity peer companies. These results can be an interesting starting point in the development of papers which consider the interdependence effects among closer peer companies in business failure literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relation between insider trading and the likelihood of insolvency with a specific focus on the directors’ sale and purchase transactions preceding insolvency. We use a unique data set on directors’ dealings in 474 non-financial UK firms, of which 117 filed for insolvency, over the period 2000–2010. We show that the directors of insolvent firms increase their purchase transactions significantly as the insolvency approaches. The results also reveal a significant relation between three different measures of insider trading activity and the likelihood of insolvency, which is observed to be positive only during the last six-month trading period. The relation is negative for the earlier trading periods. While the earlier purchase transactions appear to be motivated by superior information held by insiders, the purchase trades closer to the insolvency date are possibly initiated by directors’ motives to influence the market's perception of the firm in an attempt to avert or delay insolvency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes what happens to redundant skills and workers when large companies close down and whether their skills are destroyed or reallocated. The analysis is based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative data of the closure of four companies. Getting a job in a skill-related industry or moving to a spinoff firm leads to skill reallocation. Thus, the result depends on regional idiosyncrasies such as industry structure and urbanization. If local policy makers and the owners exert a coordinated effort, it is possible to create success stories of less skill destruction in urban as well as peripheral regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops and tests a model of an individual's intention to reenter entrepreneurship following business exit. Two long-standing theories, prospect theory and self-efficacy, seem to develop opposite predictions in this context. To reconcile these conflicting predictions, we theorize a moderating model and test the boundary conditions of both theories. Relying on two experimental studies, we find that prospect theory explains reentry intentions of entrepreneurs who have lost money when their self-efficacy is moderate or low. Thereby, we provide an explanation for the puzzling empirical finding that so many failed entrepreneurs reenter entrepreneurship even if failure has undermined their self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unhealthy financial state can be a massive and can cause long term distress which can result corporate failure. When a firm is under financial distress, the situation sharply reduces its market value and large customers may cancel their orders. The symptom of financial distress include erosion on net worth, negative operating results, factory layoff, dividend reductions and plummeting share prices. Thus it is vital for organizations to make correct diagnosis the symptoms of sickness which are required to be studied very carefully. This paper makes an attempt to provide an insight into the financial distress measurement of Hindustan Motors Ltd. over the period of ten years (2004-05 to 2013-14). The NCAER distress prediction model has been employed to investigate the financial health of said firm. Further statistical tools like trend analysis and χ2 test were used to draw conclusion. Results show that there is significant relationship between both observed variables and trend variables that determine financial distressed of Hindustan Motors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-growth, young businesses have received increased attention in the research and policy sphere because of their job creation potential. However, relatively less attention has focused on the effects of high growth on firm survival and its implications for job creation and destruction dynamics. This paper analyzes the effect of high employment growth on the survival of new establishments and the survival patterns of high-growth firms in the U.S. State of Georgia. We use the National Establishment Time-Series (NETS) data to examine the new establishments that started between 1990 and 1999 and trace their employment dynamics through 2008. We analyze how early-stage employment growth impacts the survival rate of these establishments. Our analysis provides evidence that high employment growth early in their life cycle significantly reduces the likelihood of subsequent failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European agriculture is highly mechanised and its development is to a large extent shaped by the constant need for investment. By combining private capital with public funds, the risk burden associated with investment can be shared. The general economic objective of investment support is to improve the efficiency of production factors, such as labour, land and capital. The Rural Development Programme of the Czech Republic for 2007-2013 included a preferential criterion, the objective of which was to give an advantage to farms in Less Favoured Areas (LFA) by facilitating their access to funding for investments. This paper evaluates the investment activities of agricultural holdings located in Czech LFAs in the period 2011-2015, compared to those that are not located in LFAs. Binary logistic regression was employed to identify factors, such as LFA type, farm size, share of other revenues, indebtedness of a farm and stocking density of cattle, that influenced whether a farm was or was not supported with an investment subsidy. We conclude that supported farms in LFAs have higher levels of economic performance and higher labour productivity than unsubsidised farms. It is evident that many farms, especially in mountain areas, are interested in investment activities and are trying to develop their businesses. They have a lower likelihood of business failure than those farms that do not invest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the study of international entrepreneurship has been dominated by studies of international new ventures, the study of comparative international entrepreneurship has received relatively little attention. We argue that since such international differences are often the underlying drivers for entrepreneurship that crosses borders, this area of research has a rich potential to improve our understanding of international entrepreneurship. In this paper, we develop a theoretical framework to examine the effects of the external business environment (the soil) on the entrepreneurial entry by individuals (the seeds). This leads us to fundamental predictions regarding differences in the extent of entrepreneurship in different national contexts. While in developed economies business ventures are more likely to be launched when the turnover rate of incumbent firms is high, the opposite is true in developing economies. Estimates generated using a large-scale data set provide empirical support for our theoretical predictions. Our findings suggest important avenues for new research regarding the role of factors such as the liability of newness and the stigma of failure in different national contexts, as well as the manner in which entrepreneurial dynamics evolve over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To circumvent the possibility of business failure, small to medium enterprises in emerging economies face mounting pressure to increase the satisfaction of their customers. The adoption of supply chain management practices is critical to the provision of quality products and services as well as the satisfaction of customers by small to medium enterprises. This paper investigated the relationship between customer satisfaction, supply chain management practices and three input factors; namely, product quality, flexibility and product variety in small to medium enterprises. The study adopted a quantitative approach in which a four section questionnaire was distributed to 131 managers in small to medium enterprises based in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Hypotheses were tested using regression analysis. The results of the study revealed that product quality and flexibility predicted supply chain management practices. Supply chain management practices were also statistically significant, and mediated the relationship between customer satisfaction and product quality and flexibility. Based on these results, conclusions were drawn and appropriate recommendations were made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research summary: I conducted a nationwide replication of Baum and Mezias' (1992) pioneering single-market study of localized competition by pooling the populations of 90 urban U.S. hotel markets. Consistent with Baum and Mezias' three hypotheses, I demonstrate a negative market-level effect on survival duration of size-based, geographic-based, and price-based localized competition. When analyzing submarket 'windows,' I found support for size-based and geographic-based localized competition. In contrast, Baum and Mezias find support for only size-based localized competition at the market level, but for all three forms of localized competition when analyzing submarket windows. I extend their analysis by (1) using standardized measures of localized competition, and (2) showing separate results for key subpopulations. I conclude that there are indeed firm-level benefits of avoiding localized competition. Managerial summary: This paper demonstrates that-at a broad level of analysis such as a city-hotels are more likely to survive if there are fewer other properties (1) in their geographical vicinity, (2) of similar size, and (3) at their price point. Thus, prospective owners should be leery of location in the more crowded niches even if these may be plausibly more lucrative for some. Sparsely populated niches appear to be less risky on average. When we study this phenomenon within a narrower geographic scope such as a part of the city, the least crowded niches in terms of geography, price or size no longer appear to provide benefits in terms of survival. Thus, it is possible that only the most sparsely populated niches citywide improve a hotel's likelihood of survival. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The possibility to fail is inherent to entrepreneurial existence. The risk of a system - a company losing stability increases especially in economic crisis as well as in times of social change. Is it possible for companies to develop their own 'immunity' which would make it easier to minimize these risks? This paper examines German breweries during the structural change after 'the boom'. First, the theory of resilience, here in the sense of crisis robustness, is critically analysed and the value for business research considered. Although the term 'resilience' was not used by contemporaries, it was, however, an already established concept of action, based on the interaction between anticipatory preparedness and situational flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Zombie lending cannot stop the supply chain propagation of business failure. • Such an intervention bears a salient cost by distorting efficiency-based firm exit. • Trade credit is an important channel in the exit distortion. • The distortion is more profound in industries with higher financial constraints. • The tightness of supplier-customer relationship also amplifies the distortion. This paper studies whether the bailout of downstream firms helps stop the supply chain propagation of business failure. By analyzing persistent zombie lending in China, we show that such a bailout policy does not work. Zombie lending to downstream firms does not reduce the exit likelihood of upstream firms. Worse, it distorts efficiency-based firm exit in upstream industries. The exit distortion effect works through the trade credit chain and is more profound in industries with stricter financial constraints and tighter supply chain connections. Our findings reveal the importance of credit allocation efficiency for the Schumpeterian process of creative destruction that is essential for economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micro‐, small‐, and medium‐sized enterprises (MSMEs) represent the vast majority of businesses in most countries around the world. Despite the economic relevance of these firms, most insolvency jurisdictions do not provide adequate responses to MSMEs. Moreover, with a few exceptions, the academic literature on insolvency law has not traditionally focused on the treatment of MSMEs in insolvency. This article seeks to contribute to the debate by exploring the primary features and problems of MSMEs in insolvency as well as the weaknesses of the ordinary insolvency framework to deal with MSMEs. It also provides a general overview of the primary reforms and policy recommendations taking place around the world to deal with MSMEs in insolvency. The article concludes by suggesting several strategies to design an efficient insolvency framework for MSMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth and failure of small and medium enterprises has been a topic of discussions world over among policymakers and researchers. This study was guided by the following objectives: to examine the contributions of small medium enterprises (SMEs), to determine the challenges affecting small medium enterprises, to examine how financial inclusiveness supports the growth of small medium enterprises, and to establish the relationship between financial inclusion and growth of small medium enterprises. The study used a cross-sectional research design. Descriptive design was used and supplemented by inferential statistics. Correlation and regression analysis were adopted. The study revealed that financial inclusion is significant in supporting SME growth. The study further also revealed that the cost of acquiring and servicing financial services is high; there is also difficulty in using some of the financial services, and the way financial providers treat financial users, some lacked some degree of respect and dignity. The study recommends that financial providers should continue sensitizing the public on the available financial services beyond credit services, which are common and known. Digital financial service providers should encourage their clientele to use digitalized financial services which are cheap, secure, and risk averse. The cost of capital should also be reduced to encourage borrowing while SMEs should innovatively produce goods that can be competitive at both domestic and international markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has shown that most ventures fail, yet there has been limited work on investors' views of entrepreneurs who have failed in the past. We address this gap and call attention to an innate asymmetry between past failure and success. This asymmetry arises because success requires skill and luck jointly, whereas failure materializes due to either lack of skill (mistakes) or bad luck (misfortune). We ask: Are investors "failure-averse" and discount a failed entrepreneur even in the presence of additional information about entrepreneurial skill? Or do they make "rational inferences" in light of the additional skill information and proceed to fund the new startup? To test whether investors are failure-averse or engage in rational inference, we use experiments in the context of equity crowdfunding. The results suggest that prospective crowdfunding investors rationally integrate informational cues regarding past outcomes and entrepreneurial skill. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the key role of start-ups in economic development and job creation, one of the biggest problems of these start-up businesses is their legendary failure rate. One of the main reasons for the failure of these businesses is marketing limitations in the form of lack of financial resources, time, market knowledge and marketing expertise. Also, these companies lack strategic plans and their management is based on personal experience and business intuition. Entrepreneurial networking is one of the solutions that have been proposed to solve these limitations, because networking is considered to be the factor of restructuring the world trade architecture. The current research was conducted with the aim of explaining the role of entrepreneurial networking ability on the marketing performance of start-ups, taking into account the role of entrepreneurial orientation and market knowledge. The statistical population was 550 start-ups and fledgling businesses in Isfahan. The sample size was calculated using the Krejci and Morgan table of 225 companies that were selected by simple random sampling. A standard questionnaire was used to collect research data. Validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts and reliability using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Data analysis was done using structural equation modeling with partial least squares approach and SmartPLS software to test fit and relationships between variables. According to the research results, entrepreneurial networking ability plays an important role in improving the marketing performance of start-up businesses; Therefore, managers who want to increase their marketing performance must identify and form strategic alliances faster than competitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: We inductively examine how the careers of employee entrepreneurs unfold, uncovering the role of motives and attribution for failure. Founders expressing organizational misalignment motives for leaving established organizations engaged in "venture crafting" whereby they actively sought to build well‐functioning organizations. They built successful initial ventures and careers. Founders lacking organizational misalignment motives generally founded initial ventures that failed: however, those making internal attributions altered their behaviors and built successful careers; in contrast, founders making external attributions continued founding unsuccessful ventures. These findings suggest that building organizational capabilities—and not merely inheriting capabilities from existing organizations—is a cornerstone of building successful entrepreneurial careers. Our findings are based on detailed career history and archival data on employee entrepreneurs in the disk‐drive industry. Managerial Summary: Our study follows careers of individuals leaving employment to create ventures, providing insights for entrepreneurs and managers. Though entrepreneurs often choose to focus solely on building a stellar product, our study underscores the importance of crafting well‐functioning organizations for career and venture success. Moreover, in case where initial ventures fail, founders who make internal attribution generate a "second chance" at success, whether as serial entrepreneurs or by returning to paid employment. Those who attribute failure to external factors, however, repeat their mistakes. For managers, our study reveals that the genesis of successful entrepreneurial careers is rooted in organizational deficiencies that prevent talented employees from thriving as intrapreneurs. The venture crafters typically left their jobs only after attempts to amend these issues were unsuccessful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article shares the commercial career of Abraham Salaman, an English Jewish merchant from London, England who migrated to California during the gold rush. It highlights the experiences of Salaman in trading goods and mining gold in mountains in Monterey, California, his business success in Grass Valley as gold mining operations became highly capitalized quartz mills, the failure of his ostrich-feather business and eventual return to London. Also noted is the absence of Jewishness in Salaman.

Among the most important economic concepts are evaluation and bankruptcy prediction; financial problems which can expose an organization to serious risks and lead it to bankruptcy. Therefore, bankruptcy assessment of an organization enables it to be getting to know the financial risks and resolve financial deficiencies. So in this paper, we discuss one of the most important economic concepts and a new model is presented in the game theory of data envelopment analysis (DEA) and in other words. Thereby, the proposed model can assess the demands of an organization in the form of a player and distinguish net estate or the remaining estate after payment of the demands. The advantage of this model as a model of bankruptcy in games theory could be an easier concept and more practical tool for understanding bankruptcy in case of using imprecise and qualitative concepts and important indexes in the economic as financial ratios. Indeed, DEA has the comparative property that makes it suitable in presented model using game theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the research work done on recovery from business failures and discusses the importance of recovery stage for entrepreneurs and presents views of author on Stigma and business failure and learning for entrepreneurs from business failures and costs of business failures.

The paper deals with a ruin problem, where there is a Parisian delay and a lower ultimate bankrupt barrier. In this problem, we will say that a risk process get ruined when it stays below zero longer than a fixed amount of timeζ> 0 or goes below a fixed level −a. We focus on a general spectrally negative Lévy insurance risk process. For this class of processes, we identify the Laplace transform of the ruin probability in terms of so-called q-scale functions. We find its Cramér-type and convolution-equivalent asymptotics when reserves tends to infinity. Finally, we analyze few explicit examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the bedrock of most economies of the world. Due to global competition, SMEs are making significant investments in information technology (IT) to improve their business processes. However, a study of extant literature on the subject of IT governance in SMEs has highlighted the fact that the implementation of structural controls to enable effective IT governance is often difficult, resulting in project failures and loss of income. Objectives: This paper seeks to examine ways by which SMEs can successfully adapt a suitable IT governance framework to manage its IT investments. Method: A content analysis of extant literature was done in this paper. The Technology- Organisation-Environment theory forms the theoretical basis of the proposed key pillars for an SME to evaluate its capability to embark on an IT governance initiative in order to obtain the desired results. Results: From the content analysis of relevant literature, the paper proposed three key pillars which should be in place before an SME adapts any IT governance framework to manage its IT investments. The key pillars are considered an important link between strategic IT governance plans and measurable successful outcomes. Conclusion: It was concluded that an SME would be better positioned for successful IT governance if it were to conduct a careful analysis of the components of these key pillars before embarking on the implementation of any IT governance framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the central explanations of the high failure rates of de novo entrants is the liability of smallness. As a corollary, most prior literature has suggested that firms should experience survival benefits from growth. In this paper, we argue that survival benefits need to be balanced against the potential cost of rapid growth, and they are contingent upon the structure of the environment. We predict a curvilinear relationship between an entrant's growth rate and failure, and argue that the relationship is contingent upon the local agglomeration of economic activity and the local structure of competition. We test and find support for our predictions using firm-level longitudinal data of all de novo entrants into the Canadian manufacturing sector between 1984 and 1998. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success or failure of small, young, and private firms depends highly on the evolution of their financial position. This paper considers the post-entry/pre-exit adjustment process of firms, with focus on financial (debt-to-asset ratio) and labor productivity dynamics. Empirically examining financial relationships has been difficult, due to a lack of data on small, young, and private firms. We find that the post-entry struggle for life results in highly productive entrants reducing their leverage. Pre-exit dynamics see firm growth and relative firm size fall, with rising leverage. Increasing leverage hints at ashadow of death. Selection and survivor effects contribute to post-entry dynamics, while turnover and transition effects contribute to pre-exit dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses multilevel discourse analysis to advance strategic management research, focusing on the question of why firms fail in the face of radical technological change. Answering this question requires addressing how customers develop their interpretations and evaluation criteria of the new technology. This interpretive process occurs through discussions with other market participants. Firms can influence customers' interpretations through the use of language and visual images--what we call "discursive strategies." Firms can fail to navigate technological disruptions because their discursive strategies do not communicate effectively with customers. Yet, methodological limitations have restricted the study of discursive strategies. We draw on multilevel discourse analysis and apply this method to explain why IBM outperformed Remington Rand in the early insurance market for computers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of financial credit risk is an important and challenging research topic in the area of accounting and finance. Numerous efforts have been devoted into this field since the first attempt last century. Today the study of financial credit risk assessment attracts increasing attentions in the face of one of the most severe financial crisis ever observed in the world. The accurate assessment of financial credit risk and prediction of business failure play an essential role both on economics and society. For this reason, more and more methods and algorithms were proposed in the past years. From this point, it is of crucial importance to review the nowadays methods applied to financial credit risk assessment. In this paper, we summarize the traditional statistical models and state-of-the-art intelligent methods for financial distress forecasting, with the emphasis on the most recent achievements as the promising trend in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quest for finding suitable franchise partners has been a challenge for many franchisors across borders. The research results of this paper give hints for the question, which skills have to be strongly developed in order to select profitable franchise partners. For this purpose, data collection took place with mostly German franchisors that were asked to describe their point of view on their most successful and their least successful franchisees. The contribution displays the relevant skills and requirements of successful franchisees compared to unsuccessful franchisees. The skills and requirements are divided into hard skills, soft skills, and local knowledge. Each component of the three different skills is investigated for both groups. The differences are all in favor of successful franchisees. The range of values and their distinct relevance make a significant contribution to franchisee selection research and close a niche gap in literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a classic and seminal contribution of Williamson (J Polit Econ 75:123-138, ), 'Hierarchical control and optimum firm size', is revisited so as to remove two of its restrictive assumptions. The introduction of the dynamics of the quality of vertical communication into Williamson's static model and the development of a simulation to analyze these dynamics provide the opportunity to demonstrate the plausibility of a new conjecture: in each and every hierarchically structured organization, irreversible organizational uncontrollability is ultimately bound to arise, even in a completely stable environment. This is our main contribution. Moreover, we demonstrate that this conjecture is also valid for non-hierarchically structured organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two events are currently changing the landscape for business restructurings in the European Union: the 'Restructuring Recommendation' (RR) of the European Commission, issued in 2014, and the 2015 recast of the European Insolvency Regulation (EIR). In this paper, we critically review the RR and put it into the context of the reform of the EIR. We find that the recast EIR and the RR do not dovetail perfectly-a restructuring proceeding as proposed by the RR would not necessarily be within the scope of the recast EIR; we also suggest that, in any case, the EIR is not optimally designed to facilitate restructurings, given its treatment of secured creditors. Regarding the regulatory approach pursued in the RR, the Commission rightly pushes towards harmonisation with respect to Member States' restructuring regimes-regulatory competition is not a sensible regulatory alternative in this area. However, we criticise both the methodology and scope of the harmonisation proposal of the RR: sketchy minimum harmonisation of restructuring rules leaves huge potential for residual diversity in Member States' restructuring laws, and the Commission's narrow focus on restructuring proceedings ignores several aspects of the complicated interaction between the Member States' formal insolvency laws and the restructuring mechanism proposed. Further, we disagree with the substantive recommendations for Member States' restructuring laws suggested by the RR: they wrongly require financial difficulties or a likelihood of insolvency as an entry test for the recommended restructuring proceeding, and the process appears susceptible to abuse by sophisticated financial investors-it does not provide for the mandatory appointment of a supervisor and allows significant curtailments of creditor rights without sufficient safeguards in place. Instead, we propose an efficient debtor-in-possession (DIP) regime as an alternative that could be initiated regardless of a firm's solvency, provided that it is economically viable and that the filing is not abusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we demonstrate how the resolution costs associated with over 1,000 bank failures from 1986 to 2007 are distributed across the method of resolution, bank size, regulatory periods, and the existence of fraud. In addition, we document the time spent in the resolution by the resolution method and legislative period. Finally, we show how various classes of claimants against the failed banks bear the costs of the failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This study aims to examine the role the structure of corporate boards plays in the failure of the firm. Specifically, it examines whether the remuneration committee is related to corporate failure in the UK. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses 1,835 firm-year observations for 98 failed and 269 non-failed UK-listed non-financial firms between the periods of 1994 and 2011. This study used pooled cross-sectional, fixed and random effects LOGIT models to estimate whether corporate failure is related to remuneration committee in the UK. Findings – The findings indicate that corporate failure is negatively related to the independence of the remuneration committee chairman and remuneration committee’s effectiveness but not remuneration committee’s presence, size and meetings. However, a positive and significant relationship was observed between corporate failure and remuneration committee independence. Practical implications – The findings of the study provide support for the appropriateness of agency theory as analytical lens through which to study the efficacy of remuneration committee, especially the independence of the remuneration committee chairperson, as a board monitoring device, in the context of corporate failure. Originality/value – The paper adds to existing literature on corporate governance by establishing the likely causes of corporate failure in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper we analyze the reasons behind the high success rate in the football clubs insolvency proceedings. The Spanish insolvency scenario has shown elevated fail rates (higher than 90%), evidencing notable weaknesses. Conversely, football clubs have successfully overcome their legal insolvency situations in the great majority of cases, and the results of our paper prove that (i) a financial structure less concentrated in secured credits (particularly secured financial institutions) than the rest of firms, and (ii) the systematic support given by public administrations (voting in favor of their proposals) have provided such outcome. Additionally, this occurs in a context in which public administrations have shown their reticence to give support to the rest of insolvent firms, while others (football clubs) receive it even though they present poorer management indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Should those who get dirty hands (DH) always be punished in the same way? Must their punishment be regardless of the background elements that determined the DH dilemma, which has polluted their morality? This paper holds that common arguments in favour of punishing DH overlook the important difference between classic DH dilemmas that are structurally inescapable and those that are caused by a collective action problem. My thesis emphasizes that in talking about DH, our analysis should go beyond the structure of the dilemma. We should also take into serious consideration the background dynamics that made the choice between two evils inevitable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Austerity appears to be a globally coordinated restructuring process, where international and national governments cooperate to stymie economic crisis and socialize the costs of systemic economic failure. However, austerity is also shaped from the bottomup. This paper examines the 2008 bankruptcy of Vallejo, California. This city of under 120 000 people became the first municipal bankruptcy in the Great Recession period. We explore how it became the first to fail. In doing so, we outline the finances of a city whose entrepreneurial activities continued to flounder, making it a good candidate for austerity reforms. However, we also find the city home to a political movement long predicting a municipal default. When economic crisis hit, this movement pushed for the city to make an unprecedented test of Chapter 9 bankruptcy law. Vallejo’s bankruptcy, and the related changes to Chapter 9 law, are therefore interpreted as events that were generated by systemic conditions but ultimately precipitated by decisions taken at the municipal level. We therefore call for austerity to be understood as both a top-down and bottom-up process of state restructuring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business failure is not a surprise event but it follows a process that extends over time, to the economic difficulties of the first financial difficulties. If the company manages to become aware of their difficulties early enough, it may consider alternatives. In contrast, the only solution will be the voice judicial evolving recovery until the declaration of bankruptcy. However, even if the definition used for the failure is not unanimous, the causes that generate are generally the same. Throughout this paper we will present the different stages of failure: starting with the first signs of economic failure which can then generate financial failure that can lead to worsening legal failure. This analysis will be applied to the Tunisian law failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship of non-financial and financial factors to firm survival, provide evidence of factors related to financial success and distress for prominent Australian agricultural firms, and improve the predictive capacity of financial failure models. Design/methodology/approach – The paper utilizes mixed method exploratory case studies across four Australian agricultural firms (two successful and two failed) listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Findings – The authors found that the use of an Integrated Multi-Measured approach provided a higher classification rate for the failed group than those provided by an individual measure. We also discovered that non-financial factors associated with the agricultural organizations studied impacted their success or failure. These factors included managements’ involvement in organizational strategy and the composition of the board of directors. It was also apparent that management decision-making approaches may become frozen, or at best restricted, in the face of impending failure, dependent upon the stress level within the organization and the management skill base. Practical implications – The cases studied indicated that non-financial factors of failure occurred prior to any financial predictors, intuitively indicating a relationship between non-financial and financial factors in Australian agricultural firms. Originality/value – The identification of financial and non-financial factors and sound internal processes which distinguish successful and failing firms can be utilized for the development of an early warning predictor of organizational success or failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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