Call for Papers: Business Failure in Post Pandemic Era

Deadline for submission: 31st May 2022

Motivation and Objectives of the Special Issue

Today’s global news headlines are rightly occupied with latest incidents and cases of the COVID‐19 pandemic. In the midst of this challenging and evolving global economy, it is plausible to argue that the COVID-19 pandemic has become the “great accelerator” (Lozada, 2020). This is because the pandemic has precipitated and accelerated the collapse of countless businesses around the globe (Amankwah-Amoah, Khan & Wood, 2021). Although many businesses including online retailers (e.g., Amazon, eBay, Alibaba) have weathered the pandemic by capitalizing on the challenges of the pandemic to usher in rapid expansion strategy (Harris, 2020). However, many businesses especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have consistently missed the mark in ushering timely reforms and thereby culminating in failure and financial distress. For analytical clarity, business failure refers to the interaction of organization-specific and external environmental factors that force a business to lose its identity, cease operations and lay off workers (Mellahi & Wilkinson, 2004; Sheppard, 1994; Zhang et al., 2019). In other words, business failure reflects a situation “when an entire company goes out of business” (Marks & Vansteenkiste, 2008, p. 810).

Instructively, organizational theorists and business historians have sought to examine the reasons why business failure occurs by focusing on two competitive views: the deterministic and voluntaristic perspectives (Mellahi and Wilkinson, 2004). Under the umbrella of the deterministic-based perspective, business failure results from conditions such as technological change, competition and economic decline which emerges from “outside the boundary of the firm” (Amankwah-Amoah & Zhang, 2015, p. 529). The voluntaristic perspective suggests that business failure is an outcome of weaknesses and constraints within the firm stemming from factors such as poor leadership and mismanagement (Hager, Galaskiewicz, & Larson, 2004; Habersang et al., 2019). Although the literature on the deterministic-based perspective has enriched our understanding of external threats, there has been lack of insights on sudden and extreme environmental shocks, floods and other natural disasters that can equally precipitate business failure (Amankwah-Amoah & Wang, 2019). In recent years, researchers have found evidence to support the hypothesis that learning from failure remains underutilized resources which can be tapped into firm-level innovation (Amankwah-Amoah & Wang, 2019). In the context of franchise firms, business failure has also been attributed to franchisor’s agential power (Dada & Onyas, 2021). Thus, there is a potential for future studies to examine learning from business failure to innovate.

Despite the burgeoning research on business failure (Mu?oz-Izquierdo, Segovia-Vargas, & Pascual-Ezama, 2019), many questions remain underexplored. By answering these questions, researchers and practitioners are likely to the driver business failure in this changing world. For example, additional scholarly attention is required to understand how coopetition strategies may refrain or expose businesses towards failure in a post-pandemic world. Notwithstanding the fact that innovation is often related to business failure (e.g., D’Attoma & Leva 2020), the effects of innovation on business failure during the era of pandemic and post-pandemic is under-explored. Recent research also classifies four key intertwined areas (digital transformation, decision making, leadership, emotions) that has been examined in industrial marketing settings during pandemic (Cortez & Johnston, 2020). Hence, these areas would also be critical for examination in the post-pandemic era. Another fruitful avenue is the examination of the role of non-market capabilities in exacerbating or mitigating business failure of B2B organizations in post-pandemic era. Studies have shown efficacy of non-market strategies (social and political strategies) in order to be successful in a market (Rao-Nicholson, Khan & Marinova, 2019) and for gaining resources from government and protect from unfair regulations (Peng, 2003). Research has also shown that a firm requires both holistic set of market and non-market strategies to deal with external challenges and managing performance (Du & Kim, 2021). However, the effectiveness of market vs non-market strategies in mitigating risks of business failures lack scholarly attention.

Against this backdrop of shifting business landscape, this special issue seeks to offer avenues for scholars to showcase their works on business failure and learning from failure in the post-pandemic world. We hope to shed light concurrently and broaden current thinking on business failure in the post pandemic era. We also seek and welcome multidisciplinary approaches to the topic. In an effort to foster greater understanding of this evolving event, both empirical and conceptual papers are also welcomed. Suggested topics include the following but not limited to:

●                      Causes and processes of business failure in B2B organizations.

●                      Exploring the dark side of business failures in industrial networks.

●                      Role of networks in mitigating business failure in B2B organizations.

●                      Service and product failure and innovation as a consequence of business failure in B2B organizational settings.

●                      Learning and bouncing back from B2B firm failure in a post pandemic world.

●                      B2B market strategies in post pandemic era and business failure process.

●                      Non-market strategies, industrial networks behaviors and business failures.   

●                      Digital transformation and B2B business closures.

●                      Cost of failure and failure experiences of B2B managers.

●                      Managerial impression management, emotions and leadership in failing or failed B2B activities.

●                      Strategic failures in industrial markets.

Plans for publicizing the special issue:

1. Organizing a PDW and/or panel dedicated to the theme of the special issue at one or two of the following forums: IMP Annual conference, Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) annual conference, 2021 Academy of Marketing Annual Conference, Industrial Marketing Management (IMM) Summit, Annual Meetings of Academy of Management (AOM), Academy of International Business (AIB)- marketing track, European Academy of Management (EURAM), and British Academy of Management (BAM) marketing-related tracks.

2. Using many professional and personal networks and sending a call for papers to about 25,000 scholars using Academy of Management (AOM), Academy of International Business (AIB), European Academy of Management (EURAM), 63rd ELMAR-2021, the European Marketing Academy and British Academy of Management (BAM) mailing lists.

Plans for recruiting an appropriately qualified reviewing team:

A list of approximately 70 reviewers with proven track record will be drawn based on the publications in such outlets as Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Management Journal, Academy of Management Annals, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Management, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management Studies, Strategic Management Journal, Organization Studies, British Journal of Management, Industry and Innovation, and others.

Submission and Review Process

Manuscripts must adhere to the scope, standards, format, and editorial policy of Industrial Marketing Management. All papers must be submitted through the official Industrial Marketing Management system (https://www.editorialmanager.com/immgt/default.aspx) with clear selection designating that the submission is for this Special Issue. Before submission, authors are encouraged to read carefully the journal’s “Guide for Authors. Papers submitted to the Special Issue will be subjected to the journal’s normal double-blind review process. 

Submission Deadline and Tentative Publication Schedule:

Milestone

Date

Submission deadline: May 31, 2022

First round decisions: August 25, 2022

Final editorial decisions: March-April 2023

Guest Editors: Joseph Amankwah-Amoah, Zaheer Khan, Samuel Adomako, and Huda Khan

All enquiries should be directed to Joseph Amankwah-Amoah at E-mail: [email protected]

References

Amankwah-Amoah, J., & Adomako, S. (2019). Big data analytics and business failures in data-Rich environments: An organizing framework. Computers in Industry, 105, pp. 204-212.

Amankwah-Amoah, J., & Wang, X. (2019). Business failures around the world: Emerging trends and new research agenda. Journal of Business Research, 98 (May 2019), pp. 367-369.

Amankwah-Amoah, J., & Zhang, H. (2015). Tales from the grave”: what can we learn from failed international companies?. Foresight, 17 (5), pp.528-541

Amankwah-Amoah, J., Khan, Z., & Wood, G. (2021). COVID-19 and business failures: The paradoxes of experience, scale, and scope for theory and practice. European Management Journal, 39(2), pp. 179-184.

Cortez, R.M. & Johnston, W.J. (2020). The Coronavirus crisis in B2B settings: Crisis uniqueness and managerial implications based on social exchange theory, Industrial Marketing Management, 88(July 2020), pp. 125-135.

Crick, J,M. & Crick, D. (2020). Coopetition and COVID-19: Collaborative business to business marketing strategies in a pandemic crisis. Industrial Marketing Management, 88(July 2020), pp. 206-213.

D’Attoma, I., & Leva, M. (2020). Determinants of technological success and failure: Does marketing innovation matter? Industrial Marketing Management, 91(November 2020), pp. 64-81.

Dada, O., & Onyas, W.I. (2021). Negotiating agency in mitigating franchisee failure: A critical discourse analysis. Industrial Marketing Management, 98(October 2021), pp. 1-16.

Du, Y. & Kim, P.H. (2021). One size does not fit all: Strategy configurations, complex environments, and venture performance in emerging economies, Journal of Business Research, 124(January 2021), pp. 272-285.

Habersang, S., Küberling‐Jost, J., Reihlen, M., & Seckler, C. (2019). A process perspective on organizational failure: a qualitative meta‐analysis. Journal of Management Studies, 56(1), pp. 19-56.

Hager, M.A., Galaskiewicz, J. & Larson, J.A. (2004). Structural embeddedness and the liability of newness among nonprofit organizations, Public Management Review, 6 (2), pp. 159-188.

Hambrick, D. & D’Aveni, R. A. (1988). Large corporate failures as downward spirals, Administrative Science Quarterly, 33(1), pp. 1–23.

Harris, J (2020). How Amazon became a pandemic giant – and why that could be a threat to us all. Retrieved 10.5.2021, from: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/nov/18/how-amazon-became-a-pandemic-giant-and-why-that-could-be-a-threat-to-us-all.

Lozada, C. (2020). The great acceleration. Retrieved 10.5.2021, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/12/18/coronavirus-great-acceleration-changes-society/.

Marks, M. L., & Vansteenkiste, R. (2008). Preparing for organizational death: Proactive HR engagement in an organizational transition. Human Resource Management, 47 (4), pp. 809-827.

Mellahi, K. & Wilkinson, A. (2004), Organizational failure: a critique of recent research and a proposed integrative framework, International Journal of Management Reviews, 5 (1), pp. 21-41.

Mu?oz-Izquierdo, N., Segovia-Vargas, M. J., & Pascual-Ezama, D. (2019). Explaining the causes of business failure using audit report disclosures. Journal of Business Research, 98, pp. 403-414.

Peng, M.W. (2003). Institutional transitions and strategic choices. Academy of Management Review, 28 (2), pp. 275-296.

Rao-Nicholson, R., Khan, Z., & Marinova, S. (2019). Balancing social and political strategies in emerging markets: Evidence in India, Business Ethics, The Environment and Responsibility, 28 (1), pp. 56-70.

Sheppard, J. P. (1994). Strategy and bankruptcy: An exploration into organizational death. Journal of Management, 20 (4), pp. 795-833.

Zhang, H., Amankwah-Amoah, J., & Beaverstock, J. (2019). Toward a construct of dynamic capabilities malfunction: Insights from failed Chinese entrepreneurs. Journal of Business Research, 98, pp. 415-429.