Proceedings of World Business Research Conference
11 - 13 June 2015, Hotel Novotel Xin Qiao, Beijing, China, ISBN: 978-1-922069-78-8
The Impact of Adversity Perceived on Entrepreneurial Exit: The
Case of Taiwanese Small Ventures
Hui-Chi Lien and Chwo-Ming Joseph Yu
The possibility of business failure is high, especially in the early years of a firm. However, few
studies about entrepreneurship have developed the knowledge of entrepreneurial exit. Unlike
most previous studies on entrepreneurial exits highlight the initial conditions at the time of
entrepreneurial entry and the likelihood or intention of entrepreneurs, this research focuses on
actual exits by examining the entrepreneurial process of new ventures. By in-depth interviews
with three nascent entrepreneurs chosen from the 2012 business disbandment lists maintained
by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, R.O.C., we explores why and when entrepreneurs
choosing to exit their new ventures and the findings lead us to develop a theoretical framework
for entrepreneurial exists.
Our findings suggest that firm-level entrepreneurial exits are related to the total adversity
perceived by entrepreneurs which is caused by the combination of financial and non-financial
factors, instead of just financial problems or personal traits as earlier studies have claimed. The
total adversity perceived by entrepreneurs is a cumulative process contributed by two types of
factors, with one increasing the entrepreneur’s perception of adversity and the other
decreasing his/her perception of adversity. Over time the adversity perceived accumulates and
it can be increasing or decreasing depending on the factors an entrepreneur has experienced.
Once the total adversity perceived gets to a threshold, which is different for different
entrepreneurs, an entrepreneur will make the decision to exit regardless of the financial status
of a venture.
Keywords: Entrepreneurial Exit, Adversity, Exit
Submission Track: Management (Entrepreneurship
_______________________________________________________
Miss Hui-Chi Lien, Department of Business Administration, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan,
Address: NO.64, Sec.2, ZhiNan Rd., Wenshan District, Taipei 11605,Taiwan (R.O.C), Tel: +886-921-927-480,
Fax : :886-2-2939-8005, Email: 99355506@nccu.edu.tw
Mr. Chwo-Ming Joseph Yu, Department of Business Administration, National Chengchi University, Taipei,
Taiwan, Address: NO.64, Sec.2, ZhiNan Rd., Wenshan District, Taipei 11605,Taiwan (R.O.C), Tel:
+886-2-2939-3091*81021, Fax : :886-2-2939-8005, Email: yu54@nccu.edu.tw