Growing levels of education, increasing availability of capital, diversification and specialization of economic activities, and the numerous support options available to start a business has led to the creation of more and more micro and small businesses across Europe. But while the process of setting up a business is increasingly straightforward, keeping it going is much tougher. In normal times, business entry and business exit are natural processes, inherent to economic life. Yet, the number of bankruptcies peaked during the recent financial crisis. The Lisbon Partnership had identified the key role of overcoming the stigma of business failure as a strategy for growth and jobs.

There is a clear economic and social rationale in providing a second chance to failed entrepreneurs and helping them derive positive experiences from negative situations. First, businesses set up by restarters grow faster than those of first timers in terms of turnover and jobs created. The case studies of Ford, Hershey and Disney are instructive for young entrepreneurs in this matter.

Second, most of the time, the cause of a business failure is not the incompetence but external circumstances such as a slump in demand, financial crisis or rise of a new competitor. However, this professional failure is often confused with personal failure, and low self-esteem causes individuals to withdraw and retreat to safer employment options.

Third, it is accepted that a society does not generate innovation and productivity by steadfastly avoiding mistakes but rather by learning from them. Yet the culture of and incentive system in Europe does not reflect this.

Value of Failure is a comprehensive attempt to understand the various aspects of the phenomenon of business failure. It enables readers to understand business failure from the perspective of institutional theory; economic failure in the process of small business growth in the context of the shadow economy; Schumpeter’s theory of ‘creative destruction’ and the fear of failure; sustainable economic growth and development and system approach to failures and their impact on the enterprise operation.

Joanna Markiewicz, PhD, is assistant professor in the Chair of Effectiveness of Innovation at the University of Szczecin, Poland.

Leszek Gracz, PhD, is assistant professor in the Chair of Services Marketing at the University of Szczecin, Poland.

List of Illustrations; Preface; 1: From Losers to Heroes: How to Change the Perception of Business Failure and Recognize Its Value for the Economy (Joanna Markiewicz and Leszek Gracz); 2: Economic Failure in the Process of Small Business Growth in the Context of the Shadow Economy (Edward Stawasz and Jarosław Ropęga); 3: Failure as a Barrier to Entrepreneurial New Venturing in Northern Ireland (Caroline O’Kane); 4: Business and Sustainability: Key Drivers for Business Success and Business Failure from the Perspective of Sustainable Development (Magdalena Ziolo, Filip Fidanoski, Kiril Simeonovski, Vladimir Filipovski and Katerina Jovanovska); 5: Implementation of the Enterprise Resource Planning Systems: Case Studies of Failures and Their Impact on the Enterprise Operation (Magdalena Malinowska and Andrzej Rzeczycki).