Learning from success and failure: implications for entrepreneurs, SMEs, and policy

Despite the valuable contributions of earlier learning studies, the specific analysis of how entrepreneurs and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) learn has been sidelined in the literature. Significant research opportunities remain open in various unexplored realms. By adopting a multidisciplinary perspective that combines a variety of frameworks (i.e., organizational, economic, and innovation management), the collection of 11 studies of this special issue dedicated to learning delivers valuable insights into how entrepreneurs and SMEs capitalize on learning processes, while identifying how these processes are affected by the type of experience (i.e., success and failure). This paper first overviews the contributions of the 11 papers included in the special issue. Next, we discuss a number of yet unresolved topics that deserve academic attention, paying special attention to entrepreneurs’ direct and indirect experiences, knowledge obsolescence caused by technology upgrading, and the role of digital technologies—i.e., Internet-of-things and artificial intelligence—in the learning processes. From the literature on learning, which has mostly evaluated organizational learning, an evident gap emerges, that of the analysis of how entrepreneurs and SMEs learn from different types of experiences. The 11 studies included in this special issue bring together research that addresses various aspects related to learning from the entrepreneur and SME levels. This special issue advances our knowledge by providing clear nuances of how both entrepreneurs and SMEs can learn and generate different benefits from both successful and failure experiences. After examining the papers in this special issue, promising future research should focus on the analysis of entrepreneurs’ direct and indirect experience, knowledge obsolescence caused by technology upgrading, and the role of Internet-of-things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) in enabling learning processes.