Navigating the storm: how managers’ decisions shape companies in crisis

Ulpiano J. Vázquez-Martínez, Javier Morales-Mediano (), Antonio L. Leal-Rodríguez and Carla Pennano
Additional contact information
Ulpiano J. Vázquez-Martínez: Universidad Europea de Madrid
Javier Morales-Mediano: Universidad Pontificia Comillas
Antonio L. Leal-Rodríguez: Universidad de Sevilla
Carla Pennano: Universidad del Pacífico

Review of Managerial Science, 2025, vol. 19, issue 5, No 9, 1567-1597

Abstract: Abstract This research aims to examine how managers responded and behaved in the highly chaotic environment generated by the COVID-19 crisis. Understanding their response is important because each decision taken impacted differently and significantly on their companies’ performance. The first part of the study uses topic modeling to interpret text from 113 interviews with executives published in general media. The second part analyzes responses from 518 managers across 15 countries using PLS-SEM. The survey was conducted during the most severe stage of the pandemic (2020), ensuring real-time opinions from managers rather than relying on recollections. The study’s main finding reveals that managers made strategic/operational and financial decisions, which helped companies adapt and survive in this new environment. However, they had a negative effect on firm performance. These findings delineate significant theoretical implications for managerial decision-making amidst chaotic contexts, as well as guiding practitioners in facing future crises.

Keywords: Business environment; COVID-19; Decision making; Poliheuristic theory; Cynefin framework; Context perception; Crisis management; Firm performance; L10; L20; M10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11846-024-00801-w Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:spr:rvmgts:v:19:y:2025:i:5:d:10.1007_s11846-024-00801-w

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/business/journal/11846

DOI: 10.1007/s11846-024-00801-w

Access Statistics for this article

Review of Managerial Science is currently edited by R. Ewert and W. Kürsten

More articles in Review of Managerial Science from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().