Which crisis strategies are (expectedly) effective among SMEs during COVID-19?

The prolificacy of green transformational leadership in shaping employee green behavior during times of crises in small and medium enterprises: a moderated mediation model

Besides various other potent efforts to contain and consolidate, post-pandemic crisis management requires an adequate display of green transformational leadership. Green transformational leaders exhibit a formidable commitment to sustainability in making managerial choices and subsequently inspiring and motivating their employees to participate vigorously in the ensuing green initiatives. Such initiatives could profoundly help organizations adjust to shifting market situations, follow requirements, and preserve stakeholder trust. While making appeals to the central tenants of the transformation leadership theory, social exchange theory, and the social cognition theory, the study examines the impact of green transformational leadership on employees' green behaviors during times of crises using employees' self-esteem as a mediator and work engagement as the critical moderator. The relevant context of the study has been the small and medium enterprises of Saudi Arabia. Data from 232 SMEs employing less than 250 employees selected through convenience sampling was collected using structured questionnaires. After performing hierarchical regression modeling using SPSS 23, macro V4 model 58, and Amos 24, it has been found that green transformational leadership is positively associated with employees' green behaviors, with self-esteem and work engagement acting as significant mediating and moderating conditions, respectively. Besides, providing firsthand empirical evidence on the impact of green transformational leadership on employees' green behaviors, in unique industrial (SMEs), contextual (times of crises), and regional (Middle Eastern) settings, the study offers useful implications to the managers aspiring to enhance the sustainable performance of their firms through maturing green behaviors among their employees.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a pandemic: A systematic review of pandemic risk impacts, coping strategies and resilience

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are particularly vulnerable to pandemics. Therefore, resilience and adaptation to shocks from pandemics such as COVID-19 are urgently needed. However, despite some coping strategies already in place among SMEs, research on their nature and effectiveness is limited. Thus, it remains unclear how effectively and sustainably documented coping strategies reduce SMEs' vulnerability and increase their resilience to pandemic risk. This article reviews academic literature for evidence of pandemic risk impacts on SMEs, coping strategies in response to these impacts, and the degree to which these strategies reduce SMEs' vulnerability and increase their resilience. According to the literature review, seven essential pandemic risk impacts were identified for SMEs - human movement restrictions, financial constraints, operational challenges, logistics difficulties, delayed business reopening, short-term policy focus and tacit knowledge workers. The study also outlined eleven critical coping strategies, notably structural or physical and behavioural changes. Study analysis reveals that resilience research among SMEs is predominantly conceptual with limited empirical evidence. To conclude, this study urges more adaptation research focused on developing new forms of pandemic risk education for SMEs addressing their complexities.

Act or Wait-and-See? Adversity, Agility, and Entrepreneur Wellbeing across Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic

How can entrepreneurs protect their wellbeing during a crisis? Does engaging agility (namely, opportunity agility and planning agility) in response to adversity help entrepreneurs safeguard their wellbeing? Activated by adversity, agility may function as a specific resilience mechanism enabling positive adaption to crisis. We studied 3162 entrepreneurs from 20 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and found that more severe national lockdowns enhanced firm-level adversity for entrepreneurs and diminished their wellbeing. Moreover, entrepreneurs who combined opportunity agility with planning agility experienced higher wellbeing but planning agility alone lowered wellbeing. Entrepreneur agility offers a new agentic perspective to research on entrepreneur wellbeing.

No Resilience Without Partners: A Case Study on German Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Context of COVID-19

Much research has been conducted on the effects of COVID-19 on company and supply chain resilience. However, few contributions have focused on small and medium-sized enterprises. These companies are claimed to be the drivers of economic growth but often lack access to resources and alternatives when interruptions occur, making them a bottleneck for supply chains. Using a multiple case study approach, this paper links resilience theory to the design of the relationships between eight German small and medium-sized enterprises and their suppliers and customers. It analyzes the way in which these companies combine contractual and relational investments across their supply chain flows of product, finance, and information in order to improve resilience. Company representatives were interviewed on three occasions between June 2018 and December 2020, that is, before COVID-19 and during the lockdowns. The results of the case study explain why and how companies of this type have been able to anticipate and manage the crisis. The interviews revealed that those companies that made the largest investments in the relational aspects of their partnerships while safeguarding product and financial flows through contracts performed best. In principle, contractual investments are higher in partnerships with suppliers. However, the precise combination of contractual and relational investments depends on the business model, the business philosophy of the CEO, and the allocation of power within the supply chain. These findings indicate that, when collaborating with small businesses, supply chain partners should focus on building relationships in order to create resilience in the supply chain.

Start-ups' business model changes during the COVID-19 pandemic: Counteracting adversities and pursuing opportunities

This article investigates how start-ups have been affected by, and have responded to, the COVID-19 pandemic by analysing interview data from 32 Australian start-ups during Australia's second wave of COVID-19. A framework and visualisation were developed, capturing unexplored heterogeneity within these start-ups, depending whether the emphasis was upon opportunities or adversity, and the type and extent of business model changes. Six start-up types were identified: stable beneficiaries, business-as-usual continuers, digital adjusters, adversity survivors, opportunity graspers and lemonade makers. The findings suggest that most start-ups responded to the crisis through business model changes because of crisis-induced opportunities and crisis-induced adversity The anaysis found that the interplay between firm size and crisis influences whether start-ups focus on business model adaptation or business model innovation or a combination of both We thus contribute to the literature on business models, crisis management and a newly emerging field focusing on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for start-ups.