The Emotional Process of a Business Failure : An in-depth multiple case study

Abstract: In this thesis we develop a new model that explains the overall grief recovery process for abusiness failure on a family group level. The model builds on, and expands the theories ofanticipatory grief as presented by Shepherd, Wiklund, and Haynie (2009) and the dual processof coping presented by Shepherd (2003). The qualitative method used for this thesiswas a multiple case study approach, with an in-depth focus. Our main findings was the importanceof aligning the entrepreneurs anticipatory grief stage with the family’s coping process,by maintaining transparent and open relationships where information could easily beexchanged. In addition we found that maintaining this transparency was often difficult forthe entrepreneur due to a series of factors, which we refer to as a “barrier to informationflow”, which include everything from stress to societal interference. Finally we proposehow our model can be applied and used to generate further knowledge and additional researchon the emotional aspects of a business failure.