Talha Zubair Ahmad Khan of the University of Central Punjab’s Faculty of Management Studies, joined by Waqas Farooq of the University of the Punjab’s Hailey College of Banking & Finance, delve into the complexities faced by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in developing economies like Pakistan during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The research examines the important requirement for resilience in businesses as the corporate landscape grapples with the far-reaching effects of the COVID-19 epidemic, economic slowdown, and rapid transformations in customer preferences and digital innovations. This problem is especially significant for SMEs due to limited financial resources, funding availability, and working capital.
This study pioneers a transition from a’resilience response’ to a’resilience potential’ approach, defining organizational resilience as a dynamic capability rather than a reactive strategy. The study emphasizes that, in the event of a crisis, SMEs must look beyond typical survival strategies. It provides empirical evidence indicating how companies generate dynamic capabilities by leveraging an interconnected network of operant resources such as skills, knowledge, culture, processes, and routines.
The findings highlight the need of an organizational learning culture and a readiness to reallocate existing resources to create new ones in order to build resilience. Surprisingly, the presence of slack resources does not ensure organizational resilience capabilities.
This study is a theoretical development, shining light on SMEs’ ability to not only respond to crises but also to proactively nurture resilience potential, thereby giving a blueprint for navigating the uncharted waters of today’s changing business climate.
