The dynamic slack‐performance relationship from an efficiency perspective

The article aims to analyse the behaviour of firms in terms of managing their slack resources from the perspective of efficiency when faced with a generalised crisis. From a sample of 419 Spanish companies in 2006, 2010 and 2014, a cluster analysis was carried out to identify their position in relation to slack resources (whether there was an excess or a deficiency). Taking this position into account, a data envelopment analysis was carried out which allowed the efficiency frontier to be analysed with respect to the different performances of the company. The results show firstly how companies' resource endowment is affected as a result of adaptation to the crisis and, in turn, how said adaptations accentuate the efficiency of the companies. The management of capacity and resources is an element that companies have failed to prioritise. The recent financial crisis and the current crisis underline the importance of maintaining and managing these resources beyond the vision of simply reducing slack as shown by many companies. The study has two particularities. First, it analyses the changes before, during and after one of the most important crises. Second, the complexity of the phenomenon means that a multiple methodology must be adopted.