The importance of tolerance for failure and risk-taking among insurance firms in hyperinflationary Zimbabwe
Southern African Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management
| Field | Value | |
| Title | The importance of tolerance for failure and risk-taking among insurance firms in hyperinflationary Zimbabwe | |
| Creator | Kapepa, Oliver van Vuuren, Jurie | |
| Description | Background: At the dawn of the 21st century, Zimbabwe started moving towards dangerous levels of the infamous hyperinflation trajectory that made management of businesses a nightmare. Many businesses failed.Aim: This study seeks to explore if entrepreneurship, and in particular the aspects of risk-taking and tolerance of failure, could have saved the few companies that survived the menace that ravaged the insurance industries among many other sectors of the economy.Setting: The study looks at this particular entrepreneurial behaviour of risk-taking among insurance companies in Zimbabwe during the hyperinflationary environment that ravaged and defied economic logic and fundamentals. Savings were being eroded at a pace faster than anywhere in the world ever before, taking a toll on businesses as they struggled to survive.Methods: Using a survey sample of insurance companies in Zimbabwe, a quantitative approach was adopted. Questionnaires were used to extract data from participants to establish the nature and extent of risk-taking, and in particular tolerance for failure during this period. Therefore, tolerance of failure in corporate entities is discussed in this article as a critical aspect of risk-taking that enhances entrepreneurial innovation and ultimate prospects of corporate prosperity among insurance companies. A measure is developed to gauge the extent of tolerance of failure from the perspective of employees in the insurance industry in Zimbabwe.Results: The benefit of tolerance of failure or the lack thereof was measured on the dimension of profitability and growth. Results revealed that tolerance of failure is a necessary entrepreneurial virtue that encourages knowledge acquisition by both experimental and experiential learning – a risk element that also spurs entrepreneurial innovation and ultimately encourages both profitability and growth of the business entity, if well managed.Conclusion: The study concluded that firms that tolerate failure are more likely to be entrepreneurially innovative and perform better than those that are risk-averse and do not tolerate failure. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS Publishing | |
| Date | 2019-04-16 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/sajesbm.v11i1.142 | |
| Source | The Southern African Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management; Vol 11, No 1 (2019); 15 pages 2071-3185 2522-7343 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://sajesbm.co.za/index.php/sajesbm/article/view/142/268
https://sajesbm.co.za/index.php/sajesbm/article/view/142/267
https://sajesbm.co.za/index.php/sajesbm/article/view/142/269
https://sajesbm.co.za/index.php/sajesbm/article/view/142/265
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