IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/entreg/v36y2024i1-2p182-207.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How small firms build resilience to ward off crises: a paradox perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Sanjay Chaudhary
  • Amandeep Dhir
  • N. Meenakshi
  • Michael Christofi

Abstract

Despite crises being a dominant theme in organizational research, little inquiry has been conducted into how small firms built resilience and coped with uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we explore the challenges faced by small firms during this crisis and how they handled it and built resilience. We collected qualitative data using the open-ended essay method to answer our research questions. Findings reveal that small firms encountered challenges that were predominantly related to employees, technology, and liquidity. Three key paradoxes also emerged during the crisis: short-term and long-term performance, efficiency and adaptability, and safety and profit. The findings further revealed that small firms employed digitalization, prior and new knowledge, and leadership to cope with these challenges. By elucidating these challenges and coping strategies, the research contributes to the existing literature on resilience in small firms. Our findings emphasize that the survival prospects of small firms during the COVID-19 crisis depended on understanding potential paradoxes that needed to be resolved and utilizing the coping mechanisms developed to build resilience.

Suggested Citation

  • Sanjay Chaudhary & Amandeep Dhir & N. Meenakshi & Michael Christofi, 2024. "How small firms build resilience to ward off crises: a paradox perspective," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1-2), pages 182-207, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:entreg:v:36:y:2024:i:1-2:p:182-207
    DOI: 10.1080/08985626.2023.2265327
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/08985626.2023.2265327
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/08985626.2023.2265327?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:taf:entreg:v:36:y:2024:i:1-2:p:182-207. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/TEPN20 .

    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.