Case Study: Four companies that failed spectacularly, and the lessons of their demise Written by David Chancellor Thursday 17 September 2015 Share Share to LinkedIn Share to Facebook Share via email There are many reasons why businesses fail. Failure can be rooted in bad management, misguided leadership, strategic failings, market changes or just bad luck. Or, often, a combination of all these… A recent study published in the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis (a rip-roaring read!) suggests that more than 50% of companies won’t survive to age 16, with the highest corporate mortality occurring in the fourth year. The Boston Consulting Group’s 2015 report, Die Another Day: What leaders Can Do About the Shrinking Life Expectancy of Corporations, involving 35,000 companies publicly listed in the US since 1950, claims that today almost one-tenth of all public companies fail each year, a fourfold increase since 1965. The “five-year exit risk” for public companies traded in the US now stands at 32%, compared with a five per cent risk 50 years ago. Since this one-in-three chance of not surviving the next five years falls within typical CEO tenures and investor time horizons, we decided to analyse four companies that suffered early demise to learn why they “prematurely” failed. Want to learn more about lessons learnt from the demise of companies that failed spectacularly? Login or register below for Free Instant Access Login If you are already registered as a CMI Friend, Subscriber or Member, just login to view this article. Confirm your registration Login below to confirm your details and access this article. Sign in with email Email remember me remember Forget? Please confirm that you want to switch off the "Sign in with email" remember me feature. Yes No Register for Free Access Not yet a Member, Subscriber or Friend? Register as a CMI Friend for free, and get access to this and many other exclusive resources, as well as weekly updates straight to your inbox. You have successfully registered As a CMI Friend, you now have access to whole range of CMI Friendship benefits. Please login to the left to confirm your registration and access the article. Case Study We’re really proud of all of the managers, employers and training providers who choose to work with CMI, so here we’ve arranged a selection of their success stories. Members See More CMI Members have access to thousands of online learning and CPD resources. Learn more about our membership benefits Join The Community CMI offers a variety of flexible membership solutions, tailored to your needs. Find out more and get involved in the CMI community today.
