With the great discrepancy in the literature as to which variables do in fact lead to success or failure of small businesses there is no theory; the Lussier 15 variable business success versus failure prediction model stands out in its accuracy that has been tested and validated already in three very different parts of the world. This study further contributes by testing the model in Israel with a sample of 205 small businesses -101 failed and 104 successful. Results support the model's validity in Israel, reinforcing its global validity and moving toward a theory; while demonstrating similarity of SMEs in Israel to those in other economies.

Purpose To investigate small business success versus failure prediction variables in the emerging market of Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach Survey research was used to collect data in Sri Lanka with a sample size of 450 small businesses (200 failed and 250 successful) based on 10 of the 15 Lussier success versus failure prediction model variables. Findings The results reveal significant differences between all 10 successful and failed variables tested. Practical implications The findings indicate that small business owners and managers can benefit from starting their business with adequate capital, by maintaining good records with financial control, having prior business and management experience, developing a business plan, having higher levels of education, being able to staff the business, starting the business during the early stages of the product life cycle, having partners, and having marketing expertise. Originality/value This is the first major small business success versus failure study conducted in Sri Lanka. Results support the Lussier model’s validity in Sri Lanka, reinforcing its global validity and moving toward a theory; while demonstrating similarity to those in other economies. There is no accepted theory of success vs failure, thus this study is a foundation for further research and comparisons between developed countries and emerging markets.

The Coronavirus outbreak caught the world by surprise, spreading like wildfire and causing fatal illness to many. The ongoing pandemic and its implications have led to severe global socioeconomic disruption, halting most regular activities. Coping with the pandemic and its horrible consequences required to pull together all resources and unite efforts by individuals, organizations and governments. Businesses have embarked on an effort to support coping with the pandemic in various ways, as aligned with the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The article reviews the various ongoing CSR efforts in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic, serving better understanding on best CSR practices at times of crisis and in the afterwards ‘new normal’.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the issue of social responsibility of crowdfunding industry, an industry that is expanding rapidly as an alternative source of finance and new business model, while failing to sufficiently advance and adhere to good social responsibility practices. The paper develops a stakeholder-based rating system of corporate social responsibility (CSR) among crowdfunding platforms that could assist in making this industry more trustworthy and robust. Design/methodology/approach The approach is based on exploratory research methodology, using interviews as data collection tool, to develop an initial understanding of the dimension and issues that define a construct for measuring the social responsibility of crowdfunding businesses. Findings The paper offers a preliminary construct for measuring the social responsibility of crowdfunding businesses, which identifies the stakeholders’ dimensions to be measured, assigned a relative weight for those stakeholders within an aggregated CSR measure and identified the social responsibility issues to be gauged. Originality/value This research adds to the understanding of the under studied subject of social responsibility of crowdfunding industry by developing a stakeholder-based rating system of CSR among crowdfunding businesses that could assist in making this industry more trustworthy and robust, thereby laying out an agenda for further research on the topic.

This paper tests the Lussier success versus failure prediction model in Ghana, an emerging country and Israel, a developed country. The logit results of Israel (N = 205; p = 0.000) and Ghana (N = 208; p = 0.000) support the model validity to predict the success or failure of a group of businesses. The accuracy rate of predicting a specific business as successful or failure was greater than 85 percent in both countries, with high R square. Testing the t-values of the individual variables in each country revealed some differences between the two countries; results and implications are presented. LITERATURE REVIEW Development and Selection of the Prediction Model The development of success or failure prediction models was started with univariate models pioneered by Beaver (1966), and other quantitative prediction models have been developed (Altman,