Small & Medium-Sized Enterprises, Organizational Resilience Capacity and Flash Floods: Insights from a Literature Review

Antonis Skouloudis, Thomas Tsalis, Ioannis Nikolaou, Konstantinos Evangelinos and Walter Leal Filho
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Thomas Tsalis: Department of Environmental Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Vasilissis Sofias 12, 67100 Xanthi, Greece
Ioannis Nikolaou: Department of Environmental Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Vasilissis Sofias 12, 67100 Xanthi, Greece
Konstantinos Evangelinos: Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, Xenia Building, 81132 Mytilini, Greece
Walter Leal Filho: Research and Transfer Centre “Sustainability and Climate Change Management” (FTZ-NK), Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Ulmenliet 20, 21033 Hamburg, Germany

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 18, 1-17

Abstract: From a managerial standpoint, sustainability poses numerous challenges for the business community. One of the prominent concerns in the context of organizational sustainability is the impact of climate change and extreme weather events (EWEs), which create discontinuity and damages to business operations. In this respect, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are particularly vulnerable to EWEs, such as flash floods, having disastrous consequences to SMEs that tend to be ill-prepared. Taking into consideration that these negatives effects are also transferred into the local communities in which SMEs are located, it is crucial to create appropriate mechanisms that will enable these enterprises to build relevant capacities and acquire necessary resources in order to deal with relevant disruptive events. With this in mind, this paper attempts to delineate the emerging literature in relation to strategic approaches in dealing with high impact/low probability EWEs. With this analysis, we aim to provide insights for enhancing the robustness of SMEs against such natural hazards through effective resilience and adaptation strategies. The paper reveals that resilience to EWEs is indeed a multifaceted issue posing numerous challenges to SMEs. Taking into account their intrinsic characteristics, there is a need for a holistic management approach that will assist SMEs to safeguard their assets against extreme weather.

Keywords: climate change; resilience; extreme weather events (EWEs); small and medium enterprises (SMEs); floods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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