The Stigmatization and Devaluation of Elites Associated with Corporate Failures: A Process Model

Failed, not finished: A narrative approach to understanding venture failure stigmatization

“…Wiesenfeld et al (2008) described stigma as the defamation of executives due to their association with a failed company. Executives' stigmatization sometimes went further than social disgrace (Semadeni et al 2008) and involved the loss of economic and professional opportunities as well as ostracism from the corporate world (Wiesenfeld et al . 2008).…”

“…Existing research implies that entrepreneurial failure and ensuing stigmatization would be a strongly negative experience for individual entrepreneurs (Cardon et al, 2011). For example, failed entrepreneurs may well experience negative outcomes (already described) analogous to those endured by failed executives in the corporate context (Paetzold et al, 2008;Sutton and Callahan 1987;Wiesenfeld et al 2008). This seems especially likely since research shows that an entrepreneur's identity is closely intertwined with his/her venture (Cardon et al 2005).…”

Dance with the one that brought you? Venture capital firms and the retention of founder‐CEOs

“…it maintains appearances and validates an organization' even if its substantive effects on actual organizational effi ciency are unclear. Replacing the CEO is often employed as a ritual means of moving an organization in a new strategic direction or distinguishing between past and future organizational events (Boeker, 1992;Finkelstein et al, 2009;Wiesenfeld, Wurthmann, and Hambrick, 2008). Further, professionalization can play an important symbolic as well as substantive role because it is an activity that absorbs perceived uncertainty (Meyer and Rowan, 1977).…”

Motivation and Entrepreneurial Cognition

“…There are many reasons why an opportunity's specific harm to the natural environment could adversely affect entrepreneurs' evaluations of its appeal. For instance, entrepreneurs may foresee harm to their personal and/or their venture's reputation as a result of pursuing an opportunity that damages the environment (which is in line with findings related to the relationship between illegal activity and damage to a manager's and an organization's reputation [Karpoff et al 2008;Karpoff and Lott 1993;Wiesenfeld et al 2008]). However, entrepreneurs are likely to judge the significance of expected losses differently because personal values are likely to influence such judgments.…”