The intersection between SMEs' business strategies and the phases of unexpected events: a systematic review of the literature (original) (raw)
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SMEs Survival in Time of Crisis: Strategies, Tactics and Commercial Success Stories
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2014
Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in periods of prolonged economic crisis may suffer disproportionately from economic downturns, because of their limited financial resources and dependence on banks' lending, paying such high interest rates. Adding to the financial aspect, their relative shortcomings in terms of technological, managerial and human capabilities may reduce their capacity to overcome the economic crisis. On the other hand, their greater dependence on (fewer) customers and suppliers may lead to increased difficulties in maintaining their activity in the face of the crisis. On the contrary, lots of studies show that there are still some sectors that have been affected a lot from the financial crisis, there are companies, which show a remarkable yield and it seems that they get a benefit from the crisis and make use of chances. The difference of the companies' attribution still observed in the same geographical region even though to the same local market. Into this specific paper there is going to be examined how SMEs in the area of commerce develop alternative marketing strategies, innovative tactics and new concepts in order to survive.
Functional Strategies for Small Businesses During Crisis Situations
Academy of Entrepreneurship Journal, 2021
Crisis situations are often unforeseeable and they have the capacity to cause the collapse of small businesses or disrupt their general operations. As a result it is essential to consider the functional strategies that can be pursued by small business to ensure their viability and continuity. This study employed the case study approach to explore the functional strategies that can be available to ensure the survival, sustainability and continuity of small businesses. The study considered the crisis situation created by the Covid-19 pandemic and relied on it to select a case study of a small business that endured the pandemic and continued in operation despite many other small businesses having closed. A telephone interview conducted with the small business entrepreneur as well as observations of the nature of operations conducted by the small business entrepreneur to remain operational were the main data collection methods adopted. The results of the study indicated that crisis-fit functional strategies that could be adopted by small business entrepreneurs include repurposing operations, collaborating with relevant stakeholders, remodeling traditional operations as well as adopting customer centric approaches. The study recommended that small business entrepreneurs should always have a generalized crisis response plan to enhance their capacity to handle disruptive situations
Strategic Agility or Resilience: What Should Smes Focus on During the Crisis?
InterConf, 2022
The article provides an outline for the utilization of strategic agility and resilience practices as part of the crisis management in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The nature of strategic agility and organizational resilience are analysed from the comparative perspective. The importance of strategic agility and entrepreneurial resilience as the reaction to crisis are considered and evaluated. It was found that both aspects are highly crucial for successful overcoming of the crisis situation, with each of the case should be considered individually.
International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal
This study attempts to identify the roles of different coping strategies (pivoting and persevering) and entrepreneurial orientation that could interact and affect SMEs’ financial performance in the context of a sudden and pervasive external crisis. For this purpose, we applied asymmetric configurational theorizing and methods. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis was applied to a dataset combining survey results and financial reports of 201 Finnish SMEs. Our analysis showed that, as a response to the COVID-19 crisis, it was more common to apply pivoting than the perseverance strategy. Entrepreneurial orientation was positively related to pivoting, growth, and subjective performance but not related to profitability. Firms that had faced more problems tended to apply the perseverance strategy, and their financial performance was weaker. We also found combinations of factors that led to poor performance as non-entrepreneurial firms that faced major problems consistently perfo...
OPUS, 2022
The global pandemic COVID-19 had worst hit the businesses all over the world particularly micro and small business. The small businesses especially in the essential commodity category have joggled both financial and social front. A quick response to crisis may help small and micro business to sustain and survive, therefore, it appears as a quest for many researchers and practitioners in recent past. Based on social exchange theory, the research paper attempts to understand key issues faced by small business through a case study approach and thereafter identify potential solutions from stakeholder's perspective through interview. Based on content analysis, the study summarizes and assembles the results into five strategic responses to crisis namely government assured schemes, industry mentoring, ecosystem support, owners' self-sufficiency, and goal-driven business strategy. The paper uniquely demonstrates interactionist view of problem and presents an integrated framework as a response to crisis by small and medium enterprises.
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 148 ( 2014 ) 639 – 644, 2014
Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in periods of prolonged economic crisis may suffer disproportionately from economic downturns, because of their limited financial resources and dependence on banks' lending, paying such high interest rates. Adding to the financial aspect, their relative shortcomings in terms of technological, managerial and human capabilities may reduce their capacity to overcome the economic crisis. On the other hand, their greater dependence on (fewer) customers and suppliers may lead to increased difficulties in maintaining their activity in the face of the crisis. On the contrary, lots of studies show that there are still some sectors that have been affected a lot from the financial crisis, there are companies, which show a remarkable yield and it seems that they get a benefit from the crisis and make use of chances. The difference of the companies' attribution still observed in the same geographical region even though to the same local market. Into this specific paper there is going to be examined how SMEs in the area of commerce develop alternative marketing strategies, innovative tactics and new concepts in order to survive.
The Prevention of Crisis and the Competitive Edge at Sme’s
Regional and Business Studies, 2011
SME’s represent a very significant force in the Hungarian economy; it is important to be familiar with the state, development, strengths and weaknesses of the sector. The rating of the SME’s has changed a lot recently. In 2004 and 2005 they increased the limits for determining the classification (annual net income, total assets). That is why lots of companies' situations have changed; formerly medium-sized enterprises now qualify as small businesses. Nowadays there is no single key to survival; several business factors must be considered. Companies must identify deteriorating conditions in time, accept the need for change, effect a quick response, provide continuous monitoring, and adopt a planning and controlling perspective. Domestic firms typically face liquidity problems; daily tasks and taxation issues cause a lot of trouble. They often feel that they are unable even to manage their own operations, let alone prepare a financial plan. The crisis has changed the style of leadership; usual labor relations have transformed. The acquisition of orders and reasonable cost reduction became an extensive “task,” one that is no longer solely the boss’s responsibility and interest. Because SME's have become quite heterogeneous, it is hard to define to whom the method presented in this study or this way of thinking should be recommended. In my opinion, the size of the investigated firms is not so important. The important thing is that those companies that rejected such a way of thinking should consider their activities and start using financial planning tools. Keywords: SME, financial planning, crisis, liquidity, effectiveness
We know that SMEs are among the businesses most affected by the COVID-19 shutdown. The rst theoretical and practical observations in SMEs show that innovation in business models can be a solution to successfully improve and cope with the COVID-19 crisis. In a way that arouses curiosity, some SMEs have already begun to successfully change and reconciling their business models. This paper provides a qualitative analysis of six local SMEs in Iran to explore how SMEs adapt their business models to crisis. We collected interview data from managers with one of their middle managers for each case, which we triangle for analysis with secondary data. According to the results, BMI could be used during and after a crisis to generate new income, maintain and exit precrisis conditions, and develop.
7th International Symposium and 29th National Conference on Operational Research, 2018
Conference Paper Book of Proceedings pp. 206-214 link: http://eeee2018.maich.gr/en/publications Abstract The purpose of this paper is to study the drivers of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) competitiveness in sectors of the Greek manufacturing industry, both in the pro and during economic crisis era (i.e. covering the time period of 2003-2008 and 2009-2011 respectively), based on firm-level financial and qualitative data set attempting to identify key issues for Greek SMEs regarding their competitive characteristics. Although considerable empirical work has been done on this subject, research on the topic is limited for the Greek manufacturing SMEs. A Competitiveness Index is developed to measure the competitiveness level of Greek SMEs. The method to determine the drivers of competitiveness in Greek manufacturing SMEs is novel and using several factors associated with firms’ knowledge management, information technology, innovation and absorptive capacity of technological indicators in combination with other financial data presenting the drivers of competitiveness especially during the crisis period.
Stakeholders and Long-Term Sustainability of SMEs. Who Really Matters in Crisis Contexts, and When
Sustainability, 2019
The impact of crises on the long-term sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has been attracting growing interest in the literature and from governments due to the significance of such companies with respect to economic growth, innovation, and employment. Although failure prediction models have been proposed based on accounting and other qualitative information, little is known regarding the influence of stakeholders on the failure process of SMEs. From the perspective of long-term sustainability, this article analyzes the role of the financial influence of stakeholders on the likelihood of business failure. An empirical study was carried out on a sample of 2352 Spanish SMEs, examining the differences between failed and non-failed SMEs and using a classification tree methodology to investigate the role played by each type of stakeholder in overcoming crisis events. The study provides empirical evidence regarding the relative importance of stakeholders to SMEs un...