Albeit abundant, the literature on entrepreneurial failure has thus far overlooked the period of financial difficulty prior to bankruptcy when entrepreneurs run the risk of failure and depend on the support of their financial partners to prevent it. This research aims to address this gap through an in-depth analysis of the loan officer/entrepreneur relationship under these specific circumstances. We do so by comparing their cognitive maps to show to what extent successful collaboration is possible between the two partners. This study thus provides a new understanding of the purpose of the loan officer/entrepreneur relationship, their representational gaps, and the tendency of each side to externalize problem solving.
