IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i20p13549-d947805.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Survival during Times of Disruptions: Rethinking Strategies for Enabling Business Viability in the Developing Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Ayodotun Stephen Ibidunni

    (Department of Business Administration, Chrisland University, Abeokuta 110118, Nigeria
    International Centre for Policy Research and Industry Linkages (ICePRIL), Shaveh Consulting, Lagos 106104, Nigeria
    Centre for Economic policy and Development Research (CEPDeR), Covenant University, Ota 112104, Nigeria)

  • Adebanji William Adejuwon Ayeni

    (Department of Business Administration, Landmark University, Omu-Aran 251103, Nigeria)

  • Oyedele Martins Ogundana

    (Accounting and Finance Department, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham NG1 4FQ, UK)

  • Bisayo Otokiti

    (Department of Business and Entrepreneurship, Kwara State University, Malete 241103, Nigeria)

  • Lerato Mohalajeng

    (Department of Business Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom 2531, South Africa)

Abstract

There exists a noticeable void in the literature about strategies that business operators, especially those in highly vulnerable economies, can adapt to sustain their survival and to achieve growth in economically turbulent times. This study investigated strategies that can support the viability and survival of businesses in times of environmental disruptions. The study adopted a qualitative research design that involved the interview of 31 business owners across different sectoral groups including fashion and telecommunication that are operating in Nigeria’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector. The interview sessions were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. The findings reveal that amid disruptions, the business owners were resilient and established diverse digital strategies that helped them to keep their businesses afloat throughout the time of disruption. This finding contributes to the field of entrepreneurship as it offers practical strategies for supporting business owners during times of disruptions, especially in a developing country context.

Suggested Citation

  • Ayodotun Stephen Ibidunni & Adebanji William Adejuwon Ayeni & Oyedele Martins Ogundana & Bisayo Otokiti & Lerato Mohalajeng, 2022. "Survival during Times of Disruptions: Rethinking Strategies for Enabling Business Viability in the Developing Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-14, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:20:p:13549-:d:947805
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/20/13549/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/20/13549/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Reizer, Abira & Galperin, Bella L. & Chavan, Meena & Behl, Abhishek & Pereira, Vijay, 2022. "Examining the relationship between fear of COVID-19, intolerance for uncertainty, and cyberloafing: A mediational model," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 660-670.
    2. John Eric Humphries & Christopher Neilson & Gabriel Ulyssea, 2020. "The evolving impacts of COVID-19 on small businesses since the CARES Act," Working Papers 2020-48, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    3. Friederike Welter, 2011. "Contextualizing Entrepreneurship—Conceptual Challenges and Ways Forward," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(1), pages 165-184, January.
    4. Ayodotun Stephen Ibidunni & Oyedele Martins Ogundana & Arinze Okonkwo, 2021. "Entrepreneurial Competencies and the Performance of Informal SMEs: The Contingent Role of Business Environment," Journal of African Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(4), pages 468-490, October.
    5. Thorgren, Sara & Williams, Trenton Alma, 2020. "Staying alive during an unfolding crisis: How SMEs ward off impending disaster," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).
    6. Theodoraki, Christina & Dana, Léo-Paul & Caputo, Andrea, 2022. "Building sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems: A holistic approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 346-360.
    7. Kuckertz, Andreas & Brändle, Leif & Gaudig, Anja & Hinderer, Sebastian & Morales Reyes, Carlos Arturo & Prochotta, Alicia & Steinbrink, Kathrin M. & Berger, Elisabeth S.C., 2020. "Startups in times of crisis – A rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 13(C).
    8. Emma Brandon-Jones & Brian Squire & Chad W. Autry & Kenneth J. Petersen, 2014. "A Contingent Resource-Based Perspective of Supply Chain Resilience and Robustness," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 50(3), pages 55-73, July.
    9. Dubey, Rameshwar & Bryde, David J. & Dwivedi, Yogesh K. & Graham, Gary & Foropon, Cyril, 2022. "Impact of artificial intelligence-driven big data analytics culture on agility and resilience in humanitarian supply chain: A practice-based view," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    10. David Smallbone & Friederike Welter, 2006. "Conceptualising entrepreneurship in a transition context," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 3(2), pages 190-206.
    11. Haridimos Tsoukas & Efi Vladimirou, 2001. "What is Organizational Knowledge?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(7), pages 973-993, November.
    12. R Maria del Rio-Chanona & Penny Mealy & Anton Pichler & François Lafond & J Doyne Farmer, 2020. "Supply and demand shocks in the COVID-19 pandemic: an industry and occupation perspective," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 36(Supplemen), pages 94-137.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ganotakis, Panagiotis & Angelidou, Sofia & Saridakis, Charalampos & Piperopoulos, Panagiotis & Dindial, Miguel, 2023. "Innovation, digital technologies, and sales growth during exogenous shocks," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Iva Gregurec & Martina Tomičić Furjan & Katarina Tomičić-Pupek, 2021. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Sustainable Business Models in SMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-24, January.
    2. Kochaniak, Katarzyna & Ulman, Paweł & Zajkowski, Robert, 2023. "Effectiveness of COVID-19 state aid for microenterprises in Poland," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 483-497.
    3. Martina Pilloni & József Kádár & Tareq Abu Hamed, 2022. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Energy Start-Up Companies: The Use of Global Financial Crisis (GFC) as a Lesson for Future Recovery," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-15, May.
    4. Andreas Kuckertz & Leif Brändle, 2022. "Creative reconstruction: a structured literature review of the early empirical research on the COVID-19 crisis and entrepreneurship," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 72(2), pages 281-307, June.
    5. Hossain, Mohammad Rokibul & Akhter, Fahmida & Sultana, Mir Misnad, 2022. "SMEs in Covid-19 Crisis and Combating Strategies: A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) and A Case from Emerging Economy," Operations Research Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 9(C).
    6. Maksim Belitski & Christina Guenther & Alexander S. Kritikos & Roy Thurik, 2022. "Economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on entrepreneurship and small businesses," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 593-609, February.
    7. Klyver, Kim & Nielsen, Suna Løwe, 2021. "Which crisis strategies are (expectedly) effective among SMEs during COVID-19?," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 16(C).
    8. Joern H. Block & Christian Fisch & Mirko Hirschmann, 2022. "The determinants of bootstrap financing in crises: evidence from entrepreneurial ventures in the COVID-19 pandemic," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 867-885, February.
    9. Diego A. B. Marconatto & Gaspar A. Peixoto & Emidio G. Teixeira & Adelar Fochezatto, 2022. "Women on the Front Line: The Growth of SMEs during Crises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-18, August.
    10. Franczak, Jennifer & Lanivich, Stephen E. & Adomako, Samuel, 2023. "Filling institutional voids: Combinative effects of institutional shortcomings and gender on the alertness – Opportunity recognition relationship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PB).
    11. Marina Sheresheva & Marina Efremova & Lilia Valitova & Anna Polukhina & Georgy Laptev, 2021. "Russian Tourism Enterprises’ Marketing Innovations to Meet the COVID-19 Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-17, March.
    12. Beniamino Callegari & Christophe Feder, 2022. "Entrepreneurship and the systemic consequences of epidemics: A literature review and emerging model," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 1653-1684, December.
    13. Víctor Hugo Fernández-Bedoya & Monica Elisa Meneses-La-Riva & Josefina Amanda Suyo-Vega & Johanna de Jesús Stephanie Gago-Chávez, 2023. "Entrepreneurship Research in Times of COVID-19: Experiences from South America," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, March.
    14. Tiberiu Foris & Alina Simona Tecău & Camelia-Cristina Dragomir & Diana Foris, 2022. "The Start-Up Manager in Times of Crisis: Challenges and Solutions for Increasing the Resilience of Companies and Sustainable Reconstruction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-20, July.
    15. Kritinee Pongtanalert & Nuttapol Assarut, 2022. "Entrepreneur Mindset, Social Capital and Adaptive Capacity for Tourism SME Resilience and Transformation during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-18, October.
    16. Evila Piva & Massimiliano Guerini, 2023. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and pandemic-related policies on new firm creation: an analysis of the Italian case," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 1009-1031, March.
    17. Zhao, Nanyang & Hong, Jiangtao & Lau, Kwok Hung, 2023. "Impact of supply chain digitalization on supply chain resilience and performance: A multi-mediation model," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    18. Anna Cororaton & Samuel Rosen, 2021. "Public Firm Borrowers of the U.S. Paycheck Protection Program [The risk of being a fallen angel and the corporate dash for cash in the midst of COVID]," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(4), pages 641-693.
    19. Grashuis, Jasper, 2021. "Self-employment duration during the COVID-19 pandemic: A competing risk analysis," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 15(C).
    20. Silvia Sanasi, 2023. "Entrepreneurial experimentation in business model dynamics: Current understanding and future opportunities," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 805-836, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:20:p:13549-:d:947805. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.