title: Experiencing and Learning from Entrepreneurial Failure

authors: Singh, Smita

subjects: venture failure

abstract: Entrepreneurship literature has long focused on stories of entrepreneurial success. However, in recent years consensus has begun to build around the importance of also studying failure in order to develop a more holistic understanding of entrepreneurship. It has been argued that failure can have an impact on entrepreneurial decision-making in subsequent ventures and can be a difficult experience for an entrepreneur to go through. In spite of such speculations and acknowledgements, failure remains a relatively underresearched area, except perhaps from the primary perspective of the reasons behind failure. While this is an important area of investigation − as understanding reasons behind failure can improve the probability of success in subsequent entrepreneurial endeavours – it is equally important to understand the experience of failure.  The primary aim of this thesis is to understand failure from the perspective of entrepreneurs who have experienced it.  Its second aim is to build a theoretical framework of failure based on those experiences.  

The overarching research question for this study is: “How do entrepreneurs experience venture failure and learn from this experience?” The three supporting subquestions are: “What do entrepreneurs experience when their venture fails?”, “How do entrepreneurs stay resilient when the venture fails?”, and “What do the entrepreneurs learn from experiencing venture failure?”  Using the philosophical position of interpretive, phenomenological symbolic interactionism and narrative as a strategy of inquiry, stories of failure as told by 21 entrepreneurs during in-depth interviews are analysed. Using the metaphor of fabric tear and repair, theoretical constructs developed from the findings are integrated into a framework and discussed in the light of relevant literature. The framework highlights that failure leads to considerable challenges for the entrepreneurs and triggers grief. After grief, however, comes resilience. In this journey, resilience came from acceptance and hope, states that shifted the entrepreneurs’ perspective on venture failure from one which saw it as a negative, end-all event to one that framed it as a challenging, survivable event. This resilience fuelled their efforts to adapt to their changed reality. Grief faded as entrepreneurs dealt with the challenges.  From this experience, the entrepreneurs learnt business lessons and transformed in such a way as to become more spiritually inclined.

The study extends the understanding of the phenomenon of failure in entrepreneurship by presenting an empirical evidence-based framework that incorporates failure-related challenges, entrepreneurs’ adaptation to these challenges, and the lessons learnt from this experience. Second, this study illustrates the importance of hope and acceptance in building entrepreneurial resilience, and how entrepreneurs’ social environment and sometimes spiritual beliefs play an important role in nurturing hope and an acceptance of adapting to the challenges. Policy makers, educators, and entrepreneurs can benefit from the findings of this study as it highlights factors leading to failure, the repercussions of it. The study also shows how failure, although an undesirable experience, can be utilised as a springboard to bounce into a satisfying career by tapping into one’s spiritual beliefs, support networks, and resources within the social environment.

text: Experiencing and Learning from Entrepreneurial Failure Entrepreneurship literature has long focused on stories of entrepreneurial success. However, in recent years consensus has begun to build around the importance of also studying failure in order to develop a more holistic understanding of entrepreneurship. It has been argued that failure can have an impact on entrepreneurial decision-making in subsequent ventures and can be a difficult experience for an entrepreneur to go through. In spite of such speculations and acknowledgements, failure remains a relatively underresearched area, except perhaps from the primary perspective of the reasons behind failure. While this is an important area of investigation − as understanding reasons behind failure can improve the probability of success in subsequent entrepreneurial endeavours – it is equally important to understand the experience of failure.  The primary aim of this thesis is to understand failure from the perspective of entrepreneurs who have experienced it.  Its second aim is to build a theoretical framework of failure based on those experiences.  

The overarching research question for this study is: “How do entrepreneurs experience venture failure and learn from this experience?” The three supporting subquestions are: “What do entrepreneurs experience when their venture fails?”, “How do entrepreneurs stay resilient when the venture fails?”, and “What do the entrepreneurs learn from experiencing venture failure?”  Using the philosophical position of interpretive, phenomenological symbolic interactionism and narrative as a strategy of inquiry, stories of failure as told by 21 entrepreneurs during in-depth interviews are analysed. Using the metaphor of fabric tear and repair, theoretical constructs developed from the findings are integrated into a framework and discussed in the light of relevant literature. The framework highlights that failure leads to considerable challenges for the entrepreneurs and triggers grief. After grief, however, comes resilience. In this journey, resilience came from acceptance and hope, states that shifted the entrepreneurs’ perspective on venture failure from one which saw it as a negative, end-all event to one that framed it as a challenging, survivable event. This resilience fuelled their efforts to adapt to their changed reality. Grief faded as entrepreneurs dealt with the challenges.  From this experience, the entrepreneurs learnt business lessons and transformed in such a way as to become more spiritually inclined.

The study extends the understanding of the phenomenon of failure in entrepreneurship by presenting an empirical evidence-based framework that incorporates failure-related challenges, entrepreneurs’ adaptation to these challenges, and the lessons learnt from this experience. Second, this study illustrates the importance of hope and acceptance in building entrepreneurial resilience, and how entrepreneurs’ social environment and sometimes spiritual beliefs play an important role in nurturing hope and an acceptance of adapting to the challenges. Policy makers, educators, and entrepreneurs can benefit from the findings of this study as it highlights factors leading to failure, the repercussions of it. The study also shows how failure, although an undesirable experience, can be utilised as a springboard to bounce into a satisfying career by tapping into one’s spiritual beliefs, support networks, and resources within the social environment.

year: 2011

title: General Anaesthetic Modulation of Memory-Related Gene Expression in the Cerebral Cortex

authors: Bell, Laura Maree

subjects: Anaesthetic

abstract: General anaesthetics have been widely used in a clinical setting, having remained one of the most important drugs in medicine for their role in enabling major surgical procedures to be carried out. One of the fundamental outcomes of an anaesthetic is amnesia, as this prevents patient recall of events surrounding surgery. The hippocampal region of the mammalian brain has been investigated for its role in memory formation, however the cerebral cortex also has recognised importance in memory consolidation and storage processes. General anaesthetics cause widespread neurochemical changes in the brain and the disruption to memory consolidation processes is likely to involve alteration to the expression patterns of memory-related genes. The aim of this research was to investigate the cerebrocortical gene expression pattern of five memory-related genes, Arc, Bdnf, CaMKIIα, Gjd2 and Grin1 during exposure to anaesthesia induced by sevoflurane, isoflurane and propofol. Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to analyse expression of the individual mRNA transcripts and REST© software was used to carry out statistical analysis of the mRNA expression of each gene of interest. Our research demonstrated that Bdnf was significantly down-regulated by sevoflurane at t=2 hours and t=4 hours and propofol at t=2 hours (p<0.05). Up-regulation of Arc after a four exposure to propofol was also observed but no change in Arc was found at the other time points. There was no change in the expression of CaMKIIα, Gjd2 or Grin1 during sevoflurane- or propofol- induced anaesthesia. We recommend analysis of other Bdnf transcript variants in the mouse brain during anaesthesia, as well as levels of the BDNF protein to further validate these results.

text: General Anaesthetic Modulation of Memory-Related Gene Expression in the Cerebral Cortex General anaesthetics have been widely used in a clinical setting, having remained one of the most important drugs in medicine for their role in enabling major surgical procedures to be carried out. One of the fundamental outcomes of an anaesthetic is amnesia, as this prevents patient recall of events surrounding surgery. The hippocampal region of the mammalian brain has been investigated for its role in memory formation, however the cerebral cortex also has recognised importance in memory consolidation and storage processes. General anaesthetics cause widespread neurochemical changes in the brain and the disruption to memory consolidation processes is likely to involve alteration to the expression patterns of memory-related genes. The aim of this research was to investigate the cerebrocortical gene expression pattern of five memory-related genes, Arc, Bdnf, CaMKIIα, Gjd2 and Grin1 during exposure to anaesthesia induced by sevoflurane, isoflurane and propofol. Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to analyse expression of the individual mRNA transcripts and REST© software was used to carry out statistical analysis of the mRNA expression of each gene of interest. Our research demonstrated that Bdnf was significantly down-regulated by sevoflurane at t=2 hours and t=4 hours and propofol at t=2 hours (p<0.05). Up-regulation of Arc after a four exposure to propofol was also observed but no change in Arc was found at the other time points. There was no change in the expression of CaMKIIα, Gjd2 or Grin1 during sevoflurane- or propofol- induced anaesthesia. We recommend analysis of other Bdnf transcript variants in the mouse brain during anaesthesia, as well as levels of the BDNF protein to further validate these results.

year: 2015

title: The Treaty, tikanga Māori, ecosystem-based management, mainstream law and power sharing for environmental integrity in Aotearoa New Zealand – possible ways forward

authors: Joseph, Robert

subjects: Maori, ecosystem-based management, coastal marine estate, sustainability, Treaty of Waitangi

abstract: Ecosystem-based management (EBM) has become an appropriate international response for addressing alarming global environmental degradation trends. EBM is designed and executed as an adaptive, learning-based process that applies the following common international principles:
•	the connections and relationships within an ecosystem;
•	the cumulative impacts that affect marine welfare; 
•	focus on maintaining the natural structure and function of ecosystems and their productivity;
•	incorporate human use and values of ecosystems in managing the resource;
•	recognise that ecosystems are dynamic and constantly changing;
•	are based on a shared vision of all key participants; and
•	are based on scientific knowledge, adopted by continual learning and monitoring.

The New Zealand Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge agrees with these EBM principles but has adapted them into an Aotearoa New Zealand theoretical approach that fundamentally acknowledges mātauranga and tikanga Māori law hence the following Aotearoa New Zealand EBM principles:
•	a co-governance and co-design structure that recognises the Māori constitutional relationship and mana whenua at all levels (whānau, hapū, iwi), together with the guiding principles of mauri, whakapapa, kaitiakitanga, mātauranga-a-iwi and mātauranga-a-hapū;
•	is place and time-specific, recognising/understanding the ecosystem as a whole in all its ecological complexities and connectedness and addressing cumulative and multiple stressors;
•	acknowledges humans as ecosystem components with multiple values;
•	views long-term sustainability as a fundamental value, in particular maintaining values and uses for future generations;
•	includes collaborative and participatory management throughout the whole process, considering all values and involving all interested parties from agencies and iwi to industries, whānau, hapū and local communities;
•	has clear goals and objectives based on knowledge; and
•	includes adaptive management, appropriate monitoring and acknowledgement of uncertainty.

The report focuses on analysing EBM through the incorporation of mātauranga and tikanga Māori and power sharing through Treaty partnerships over the marine and coastal estate.

text: The Treaty, tikanga Māori, ecosystem-based management, mainstream law and power sharing for environmental integrity in Aotearoa New Zealand – possible ways forward Ecosystem-based management (EBM) has become an appropriate international response for addressing alarming global environmental degradation trends. EBM is designed and executed as an adaptive, learning-based process that applies the following common international principles:
•	the connections and relationships within an ecosystem;
•	the cumulative impacts that affect marine welfare; 
•	focus on maintaining the natural structure and function of ecosystems and their productivity;
•	incorporate human use and values of ecosystems in managing the resource;
•	recognise that ecosystems are dynamic and constantly changing;
•	are based on a shared vision of all key participants; and
•	are based on scientific knowledge, adopted by continual learning and monitoring.

The New Zealand Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge agrees with these EBM principles but has adapted them into an Aotearoa New Zealand theoretical approach that fundamentally acknowledges mātauranga and tikanga Māori law hence the following Aotearoa New Zealand EBM principles:
•	a co-governance and co-design structure that recognises the Māori constitutional relationship and mana whenua at all levels (whānau, hapū, iwi), together with the guiding principles of mauri, whakapapa, kaitiakitanga, mātauranga-a-iwi and mātauranga-a-hapū;
•	is place and time-specific, recognising/understanding the ecosystem as a whole in all its ecological complexities and connectedness and addressing cumulative and multiple stressors;
•	acknowledges humans as ecosystem components with multiple values;
•	views long-term sustainability as a fundamental value, in particular maintaining values and uses for future generations;
•	includes collaborative and participatory management throughout the whole process, considering all values and involving all interested parties from agencies and iwi to industries, whānau, hapū and local communities;
•	has clear goals and objectives based on knowledge; and
•	includes adaptive management, appropriate monitoring and acknowledgement of uncertainty.

The report focuses on analysing EBM through the incorporation of mātauranga and tikanga Māori and power sharing through Treaty partnerships over the marine and coastal estate.

year: 2019-07-30