Essays on the Prevention of Small Business Failure : Taxonomy and Validation of Five Explanatory Business Failure Patterns (EBPFs)

Carried out into an interpretative perspective (Thiétart, 2003), the present research has as an objective to fill the gaps identified in previous literature in order to make further progress in the prevention of business failure. On the basis of a conceptual model of the (small) business failure process which integrates previous research, this research gathers empirical evidence on distinctive explanatory business failure patterns amongst small firms. Five main explanatory business failure patterns are identified amongst a sample of 203 small distressed firms and some relationships between these patterns and specific financial indicators are then tested.

Besides its scientific outputs, this research aims at providing key actors in the prevention of small business failures (such as the Courts of Commerce, Local Organizations concerned with small businesses, consultants or entrepreneurs) with new insights about distinctive explanatory business failure patterns and related financial symptoms.