The Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on Growth-Oriented SMEs: Building Entrepreneurial Resilience

Jelle Schepers, Pieter Vandekerkhof and Yannick Dillen
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Jelle Schepers: Research Center for Entrepreneurship and Family Firms, Hasselt University, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium
Pieter Vandekerkhof: Research Center for Entrepreneurship and Family Firms, Hasselt University, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium
Yannick Dillen: Entrepreneurship Department, Vlerick Business School, 9000 Gent, Belgium

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 16, 1-20

Abstract: This study explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has forced Flemish growth-oriented entrepreneurs to build entrepreneurial resilience. We rely on a research framework that consists of a “challenge-reaction-learning loop” to empirically investigate how entrepreneurial resilience is built in times of the COVID-19 crisis. To investigate this complex entrepreneurial learning process, we use data that have been collected during the first and second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. By using several datapoints, we could identify (1) the specific challenges growth-oriented firms are facing as a result of the COVID-19 crisis; (2) how these entrepreneurs reacted to these challenges; and (3) what they learned during the first and second wave of the pandemic and how they perceive the future. By making this entrepreneurial learning process explicit and dividing it into an iterative “challenge-reaction-learning loop”, this study is relevant for all entrepreneurs, as it contains several interesting lessons learned. We also contribute to academic literature as we provide future researchers a tangible framework to further elucidate how entrepreneurial resilience is built in times of crisis.

Keywords: entrepreneurship; COVID-19; crisis; growth-orientation; resilience (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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