Surviving or solidarity? Crisis responses of small and medium‐sized enterprises during the Covid‐19 pandemic

The Covid‐19 pandemic posed a serious threat to small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). This explorative qualitative study of 100 SMEs from 20 industries and 21 countries investigates how entrepreneurs responded to the Covid‐19 pandemic and which cognitive frames guided their actions. Observed co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Business ethics (Oxford, England) England), 2023-10, Vol.32 (S3), p.243-256
Main Author: Roloff, Julia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bricolage
Cognition
Companies
COVID-19
Crises
Entrepreneurs
Innovations
Life Sciences
Pandemics
Resilience
Santé publique et épidémiologie
Social acceptance
Social cohesion
Social response
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Summary:The Covid‐19 pandemic posed a serious threat to small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). This explorative qualitative study of 100 SMEs from 20 industries and 21 countries investigates how entrepreneurs responded to the Covid‐19 pandemic and which cognitive frames guided their actions. Observed cognitive frames prioritize either business survival, conversion of business and stakeholder interest, or acceptance of conflicting social and financial goals. These cognitive frames influence the choice of crisis response without determining it. Four response patterns were found: weathering the storm, bricolage, solidarity and support, and social innovation. Strategic innovation creating access to new markets is the most successful response. The findings support a more encompassing definition of the concept of organizational resilience and shed light on motivations for acts of solidarity and social innovation as crisis responses.
ISSN:2694-6416
2694-6424
DOI:10.1111/beer.12537