Decision Making in Crisis: The Entrepreneur's Perspective in Contingency Contexts and Its Contribution to Business Death

The purpose of this work is to understand the lived experiences of entrepreneurs, emphasizing how their decisions impact the mortality of companies in crisis contexts. From this perspective, reality is a socially constructed phenomenon, and the analysis of the narratives of decision makers allows us to unravel the complex dynamics that underlie their decision-making processes. The study takes place in Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico, one of the most violent and unsafe cities. It investigates how external pressure and uncertainty affect the perspective of entrepreneurs in contingency situations. These factors can distort your judgment and consequently influence the development of strategies and decision making for survival and continuity. This study is framed in the constructivist paradigm and uses a qualitative approach that combines narrative phenomenological methodologies and grounded theory. It has been identified how the choices they make at critical moments can lead to both the survival and dissolution of their businesses. These choices are not necessarily referenced to instrumental and economic rationality, but rather are impregnated with the history of the businessman's life, his lived experience, his emotions and his fears regarding the past, present and future of the business company.