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Where will the axe fall? An integrative framework for understanding attributions after a business failure

Amankwah-Amoah, J. (2015) Where will the axe fall? An integrative framework for understanding attributions after a business failure. European Business Review, 27 (4). pp. 409-429. ISSN 0955-534X. (doi:10.1108/EBR-05-2014-0046) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:57757)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/EBR-05-2014-0046

Abstract

Purpose

– This study aims to examine the types of attributions after a business failure. Although business failure has garnered a plethora of scholarly attention, there remains an ambiguity and a lack of clarity about the process and types of attribution 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 2 × 2 conceptual framework which accounts for not only 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 2 × 2 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 limitations/implications

– The 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. The framework removes some of the ambiguity in the existing literature and outlines a number of fruitful avenues for future research.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1108/EBR-05-2014-0046
Uncontrolled keywords: Decision, Business failure, Attribution, Organisational decision-makers
Subjects: H Social Sciences
H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions: Divisions > Kent Business School - Division > Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship and International Business
Depositing User: Joseph Amankwah-Amoah
Date Deposited: 06 Oct 2016 11:50 UTC
Last Modified: 17 Aug 2022 11:01 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/57757 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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