Stars in the fog: Michelin-starred restaurants trajectories during the Covid-19 pandemic

This article examines why some organizations act while others adopt a wait-and-see posture when confronted with discontinuous disruption. While the literature has documented the diversity of business model responses to disruptions, it has primarily focused on what organizations do, and far less on the factors explaining why, when exposed to the same exogenous shock, some choose to act while others remain inactive. This gap limits our understanding of the drivers underlying strategic (in)action in contexts of discontinuous disruption. Drawing on a longitudinal qualitative study of French Michelin-starred restaurants during the major disruption of COVID-19 pandemic, we develop a framework of business model adaptation trajectories, ranging from action to inaction, encompassing BM maintenance, temporary BM innovation, BM innovation, BM pivot, and BM portfolio diversification. By doing so, this study makes two main contributions: an integrative contribution to the business model adaptation literature, and an explanatory contribution to the literature on cognitive framing and organizational slack in contexts of discontinuous disruption. First, at an integrative level, we propose a unified, processual account of the full range of trajectories organizations may pursue under discontinuous disruption, from deliberate inaction to radical strategic action. Second, at an explanatory level, we show that the interplay between organizational slack and cognitive framing constitutes the key explanatory mechanism shaping strategic (in)action when facing disruption.