Business-community relations under COVID-19: A study of micro and small firms

Alessandro Bressan, Abel Duarte Alonso and Oanh Thi Kim Vu

Journal of Business Research, 2023, vol. 155, issue PA

Abstract: In considering the premises of social capital and stakeholder theory, this study examines the extent to which firm-community relationships were affected during the COVID-19 crisis, and the significance of firms for their community during this unprecedented event. Responses from 107 Italian micro and small firms were gathered through an online questionnaire. The findings first reveal a strengthening of relations, particularly between firms and other businesses in their community; however, participants’ comments also recognise no changes or even weakening relations. Second, three dimensions highlighting the significance of firms’ survival during the crisis emerged: the community context, underlining firms’ socioeconomic and symbolic contributions, the immediate stakeholders, emphasising contributions towards employment and support of local businesses, and the broader community-society context, underscoring firms’ contribution towards consumer and societal needs. The study proposes a conceptual framework illustrating various relationships between the findings and the considered conceptual underpinnings and suggests various implications.

Keywords: Micro and small firms; COVID-19; Firm-community relations; Social capital theory; Stakeholder theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296322009067
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:155:y:2023:i:pa:s0148296322009067

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.113441

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Business Research is currently edited by A. G. Woodside

More articles in Journal of Business Research from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().