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Sebastian Frericks examines, based on a qualitative content analysis, the factors that lead large German listed companies to downfall. He finds factors and motives uncaredfor as well as new interrelations between variables that can be used to develop a future-looking risk sensitivity based on a going-concern-principle. Therefore, he first works out latent factors that are primarily responsible for not preventing a firm from losing its independency. In a second step the motives of sellers in a company sale process are examined. Within the following comprehensive cross-study, the author presents relations between motives, factors, field of business and type of downfall. The results provide new insights for any organization to address the probabilities of failure and downfall and to think beyond about securing the company´s existence.

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Mortality of Blue Chips.- Process of Corporate Crises.- Theories of Organizational Decline. Factors for Downfalls.- Motives for a Company Sale.

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Sebastian Frericks, M. Sc., completed his bachelor´s degree in business administration at Cooperative State University Mannheim. Afterwards, he completed his master´s degree in business administration at University of Leipzig with a focus on banking and insurance.

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