Small and medium-sized enterprises response to Covid-19: The effect of external openness and procedural management

• Crisis management research is strongly influenced by the behaviour of large multinationals with few insights into how small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) mitigate the negative effects of exogenous shocks such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Inspired by the capability-based view on crisis management, we postulate that management openness and degree of interactivity determine SME crisis response. We test our theoretical model with an original dataset of 902 Swedish SMEs compiled from a telephone-based survey conducted in June 2020. We find that formalised procedures for crisis management and openness to input from others, particularly external actors, enhances an organisation’s ability to make a decisive rapid response. We discuss our findings and suggest that formalised procedures and openness are important components of an SME’s rapid response capability.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

crisis management

internal and external openness

procedural and interactive management

rapid response

small- and medium-sized enterprises

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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