IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/63384.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

An integrative framework of attributions after a business failure

Author

Listed:
  • Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph

Abstract

Purpose – Although business failure has garnered a plethora of scholarly attention, there remains an ambiguity and lack of clarity about the process and types of attribution after a business failure. This article examines types of attributions after a business failure. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a synthesis of the multiple streams of research on the subject. This led to the development of an integrated framework of attributions after business failure. Findings – The paper integrates the business failure literature and attribution theory to develop a 2x2 conceptual framework which not only accounts for the effect on pace (time), but also locus of causality in the attribution process. Crossing the two main causes of business failure with two types of attribution produces the 2x2 matrix of types of attribution after a business failure which includes: early internal attribution, late internal attribution, early external attribution and late external attribution. Research limitation/implications – Our theorisation of the literature offers a number of implications for theory and practice. Originality/value – The study also explains the underlying processes inherent in learning from others’ failures and consequences of business failure. Our framework removes some of the ambiguity in the existing literature and outlines a number of fruitful avenues for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph, 2014. "An integrative framework of attributions after a business failure," MPRA Paper 63384, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:63384
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/63384/1/MPRA_paper_63384.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph, 2011. "Learning from the failures of others: The effects of post-exit knowledge spillovers on recipient firms," MPRA Paper 89223, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Rhys Andrews & George A. Boyne & Gareth Enticott, 2006. "Performance failure in the public sector," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 273-296, June.
    3. Jane E. Dutton & Susan J. Ashford & Regina M. O’ Neill & Erika Hayes & Elizabeth E. Wierba, 1997. "Reading the wind: how middle managers assess the context for selling issues to top managers," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(5), pages 407-423, May.
    4. McKinley, William & Ponemon, Lawrence A. & Schick, Allen G., 1996. "Auditors' perceptions of client firms: The stigma of decline and the stigma of growth," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 21(2-3), pages 193-213.
    5. Davies, Martin F., 1987. "Reduction of hindsight bias by restoration of foresight perspective: Effectiveness of foresight-encoding and hindsight-retrieval strategies," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 50-68, August.
    6. Anne Marie Knott & Hart E. Posen, 2005. "Is failure good?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(7), pages 617-641, July.
    7. Donald C. Hambrick & Richard A. D'Aveni, 1992. "Top Team Deterioration as Part of the Downward Spiral of Large Corporate Bankruptcies," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 38(10), pages 1445-1466, October.
    8. Lipshitz, Raanan, 1989. ""Either a medal or a corporal": The effects of success and failure on the evaluation of decision making and decision makers," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 380-395, December.
    9. Hoetker, Glenn & Agarwal, Rajshree, 2005. "Death Hurts, But It Isn't Fatal: The Postexit Diffusion of Knowledge Created by Innovative Companies," Working Papers 05-0100, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    10. Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph, 2014. "Old habits die hard: A tale of two failed companies and unwanted inheritance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(9), pages 1894-1903.
    11. Fama, Eugene F, 1980. "Agency Problems and the Theory of the Firm," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 88(2), pages 288-307, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph, 2014. "Explanations for strategic persistence in the wake of others’ failures," MPRA Paper 63409, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph & Zhang, Hongxu, 2014. "What can we learn from failed international companies?," MPRA Paper 63591, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2014.
    3. Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph, 2019. "Big data analytics and business failures in data-Rich environments: An organizing framework," MPRA Paper 91264, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph, 2016. "An integrative process model of organisational failure," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 3388-3397.
    5. Carlos J. Serrano & Rosemarie Ziedonis, 2018. "How Redeployable are Patent Assets? Evidence from Failed Startups," NBER Working Papers 24526, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph, 2014. "Old habits die hard: A tale of two failed companies and unwanted inheritance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(9), pages 1894-1903.
    7. Lee, Seung-Hyun & Yamakawa, Yasuhiro & Peng, Mike W. & Barney, Jay B., 2011. "How do bankruptcy laws affect entrepreneurship development around the world?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 505-520, September.
    8. Frédéric C. Godart & Andrew V. Shipilov & Kim Claes, 2014. "Making the Most of the Revolving Door: The Impact of Outward Personnel Mobility Networks on Organizational Creativity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(2), pages 377-400, April.
    9. Karabag, Solmaz Filiz, 2019. "Factors impacting firm failure and technological development: A study of three emerging-economy firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 462-474.
    10. Christian Pieter Hoffmann & Peggy Simcic Brønn & Christian Fieseler, 2016. "A Good Reputation: Protection against Shareholder Activism," Corporate Reputation Review, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(1), pages 35-46, February.
    11. Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph, 2015. "Solar energy in sub-Saharan Africa: The challenges and opportunities of technological leapfrogging," MPRA Paper 88627, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Giuseppe D’Onza & Alessandra Rigolini, 2017. "Does director capital influence board turnover after an incident of fraud? Evidence from Italian listed companies," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 21(4), pages 993-1022, December.
    13. Costa, Paula L. & Ferreira, João J. & Torres de Oliveira, Rui, 2023. "From entrepreneurial failure to re-entry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    14. Sidney G. Winter, 2016. "The place of entrepreneurship in “The Economics that Might Have Been”," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 15-34, June.
    15. Li, Peng-Yu, 2018. "Top management team characteristics and firm internationalization: The moderating role of the size of middle managers," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 125-138.
    16. Lars Schweizer & Andreas Nienhaus, 2017. "Corporate distress and turnaround: integrating the literature and directing future research," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 10(1), pages 3-47, June.
    17. Ruth V. Aguilera & Igor Filatotchev & Howard Gospel & Gregory Jackson, 2008. "An Organizational Approach to Comparative Corporate Governance: Costs, Contingencies, and Complementarities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(3), pages 475-492, June.
    18. Michael C. Withers & Kevin G. Corley & Amy J. Hillman, 2012. "Stay or Leave: Director Identities and Voluntary Exit from the Board During Organizational Crisis," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(3), pages 835-850, June.
    19. Ruth Mateos de Cabo & Ricardo Gimeno & María Nieto, 2012. "Gender Diversity on European Banks’ Boards of Directors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(2), pages 145-162, August.
    20. Sunaina Kanojia & Shasta Gupta, 2023. "Bankruptcy in Indian context: perspectives from corporate governance," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 27(2), pages 505-545, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Business failure; attribution; collapse;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance
    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
    • M0 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - General
    • M11 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Production Management
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:63384. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.