Weathering the Inflationary Storm 2021-2022: Crisis Management Modalities for the Informal Microenterprise Sector

Kazi Ziaul Zafri, Tippawan Lertatthakornkit, Sarana Photchanachan, Tao Zhu and Walton Wider
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Kazi Ziaul Zafri: Faculty of Management, Shinawatra University, Pathumthani, Thailand
Tippawan Lertatthakornkit: Faculty of Management, Shinawatra University, Pathumthani, Thailand
Sarana Photchanachan: Faculty of Management, Shinawatra University, Pathumthani, Thailand
Tao Zhu: Department of Economics and Management, Guangxi Minzu Normal University, Chongzuo, China
Walton Wider: Faculty of Business and Communications, INTI International University, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 2024, vol. 14, issue 5, 47-61

Abstract: Although the unforeseen shocks of the global inflation crisis of 2021-2022 rattled business practitioners, investors, and policy-makers, prior research on this phenomenon is centered on ‘mainstream’ business organizations, while the scholarly attention on informal micro-entrepreneurship businesses in the context of crisis management has been relatively sparse. This qualitative study intends to fill this gap in entrepreneurial crisis management literature by investigating the first-hand account of the adversity of the crisis and management practices as the inflation crisis unfolds. Based on semi-structured interviews and the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) method with 16 informal micro-entrepreneurs from four different informal microenterprise sectors (service, trade, manufacturing, and agricultural) in Thailand, the findings revealed that this sector endured inflationary constraints related to customer base, profit margin, cash holding, and household borrowing. This study simultaneously demonstrates how informal micro-entrepreneurs bricolage responses by optimizing inventory agility and transformative supplier partnerships that shaped the immediate adjustments and doubling down on customer services, offering disruptive products and services, and digital shifting contributed to developing long-term resilient practices to navigate the inflation crisis. Furthermore, to advance our theoretical understanding for bolstering inflation crisis preparedness of micro-entrepreneurship via strategic policy responses with implications for policy-makers are also discussed.

Keywords: Inflation; Crisis Management; Resilience; Informal Microenterprise; Micro-Entrepreneurship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D22 E31 L26 O17 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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