Gains and losses of control: The construct "sense of failure" and the competence to "rescue an enterprise from failure"

Abstract

Background: We posit that nascent entrepreneurs should develop a competence dealing with success and a competence preventing and treating failure. We call these competences "Sense of Success" and "Sense of Failure". Both a sense of success and a sense of failure (Oser & Volery, ERVET, 4,1: 27-44, 2012) are to be modelled and measured, both are necessary for starting an enterprise. While "Sense of Success" is related to capabilities in launching business ventures, "Sense of Failure" focuses on adverse situations in start-up processes and considers mistakes and shaking situations. We suggest "Sense of Failure" (SoF) being a concept which influences a specific form of problem solving competence, the competence to "Rescue an Enterprise from Failure" (REF). Whereas REF is the competence to deal with adverse situations during start-up in insecure environments, SoF can be seen as essential precondition, as a source model for REF. For modelling and measuring SoF on the one hand and REF on the other hand, in a first step it is essential to specify the construct (SoF) and the competence (REF). Methods: To validate epistemically the proposed construct SoF and to validate the suggested five stepalgorithm, we use qualitative material and illustrate each element and each step with statements and passages from interviews conducted with nascent entrepreneurs. The target subjects were Swiss entrepreneurs, eight interviews with successful and eight with failed entrepreneurs were conducted. Results: Although the construct is not tested for its intensity, its regressional influence or its extension, we found adequate material for the existence of each element of SoF and each step of REF. Thus, the requirement to describe the construct "Sense of Failure" and the competence to "Rescue an Enterprise from Failure" appears to be satisfactory given. Conclusions: SoF as a construct and REF as a competence can be seen as necessary psychological requirements to deal with adverse and threatening situation during start up processes in entrepreneurial contexts. The next steps in our research process will be (1) the development of instruments to measure the different variables of SoF and (2) to search for a possible method to measure REF.