Dealing with failure: : Serial entrepreneurs and the costs of changing industries between ventures

• Autores: J. P. Eggers, Lin Song
• Localización: Academy of management journal, ISSN-e 0001-4273, Vol. 58, Nº 6, 2015, págs. 1785-1803
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • As part of the recent interest in serial entrepreneurship, studies have investigated the presence (or absence) of learning benefits from a previous to a subsequent venture. We extend this literature by integrating behavioral concepts on attribution and learning from failure that highlight the differences in behavioral responses to success versus failure. We theorize that serial entrepreneurs whose previous venture failed are likely to blame the external environment and change industries for their subsequent venture, and that this industry change is costly in that it invalidates potentially useful industry experience, thereby hindering their subsequent venture. In contrast, founders of failed ventures are unlikely to change aspects of their previous business (when starting their subsequent venture) that would be attributable to their leadership--that is, strategy, decision-making, and planning style. Using data on entrepreneurs in China and the U.S., we find support for our theory. The results have important implications for the study of serial entrepreneurship, and more broadly for research on behavioral responses to failure.