IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jobuve/v15y2021ics2352673420300779.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Knocked down but not out and fighting to go the distance: Small business responses to an unfolding crisis in the initial impact period

Author

Listed:
  • Doern, Rachel

Abstract

This study explores in real time how small businesses adjust to an unfolding crisis in the initial crisis impact period and what kinds of actions they take. A weekly diary study following a group of entrepreneurs in London over the first couple months of the COVID-19 inspired lockdown across the UK beginning March 23, 2020, found that small businesses were knocked down but not out by events. Small businesses were increasing their chances of survival (going the distance) by 1) monitoring business functioning and detecting risks (checking vitals), 2) initiating quick defensive moves to absorb damages and defend against additional risks (blocking), 3) undertaking more skilful moves to avoid further damages (deflecting), and 4) planning the next move and managing expectations (developing tactical awareness). While the unfolding crisis does not literally represent a fight, features of how boxers engage in a fight were borrowed to help explain small business responses.

Suggested Citation

  • Doern, Rachel, 2021. "Knocked down but not out and fighting to go the distance: Small business responses to an unfolding crisis in the initial impact period," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 15(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobuve:v:15:y:2021:i:c:s2352673420300779
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbvi.2020.e00221
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352673420300779
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbvi.2020.e00221?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Virginia Simón-Moya & Lorenzo Revuelto-Taboada & Domingo Ribeiro-Soriano, 2016. "Influence of economic crisis on new SME survival: reality or fiction?," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1-2), pages 157-176, January.
    2. Rachel Doern & Nick Williams & Tim Vorley, 2019. "Special issue on entrepreneurship and crises: business as usual? An introduction and review of the literature," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5-6), pages 400-412, May.
    3. William J. Burns & Ellen Peters & Paul Slovic, 2012. "Risk Perception and the Economic Crisis: A Longitudinal Study of the Trajectory of Perceived Risk," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(4), pages 659-677, April.
    4. Martina K. Linnenluecke & Brent McKnight, 2017. "Community resilience to natural disasters: the role of disaster entrepreneurship," Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(1), pages 166-185, March.
    5. Thorgren, Sara & Williams, Trenton Alma, 2020. "Staying alive during an unfolding crisis: How SMEs ward off impending disaster," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).
    6. Jürgen Brünjes & Javier Revilla Diez, 2013. "‘Recession push’ and ‘prosperity pull’ entrepreneurship in a rural developing context," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3-4), pages 251-271, April.
    7. Kuckertz, Andreas & Brändle, Leif & Gaudig, Anja & Hinderer, Sebastian & Morales Reyes, Carlos Arturo & Prochotta, Alicia & Steinbrink, Kathrin M. & Berger, Elisabeth S.C., 2020. "Startups in times of crisis – A rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 13(C).
    8. Brahim Herbane, 2019. "Rethinking organizational resilience and strategic renewal in SMEs," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5-6), pages 476-495, May.
    9. Amanda Bullough & Maija Renko & Tamara Myatt, 2014. "Danger Zone Entrepreneurs: The Importance of Resilience and Self–Efficacy for Entrepreneurial Intentions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(3), pages 473-499, May.
    10. Cope, Jason, 2011. "Entrepreneurial learning from failure: An interpretative phenomenological analysis," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 604-623.
    11. Pablo Muñoz & Jonathan Kimmitt & Ewald Kibler & Steffen Farny, 2019. "Living on the slopes: entrepreneurial preparedness in a context under continuous threat," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5-6), pages 413-434, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Staples, Aaron J. & Deming, Kristopher & Malone, Trey & Carpenter, Craig W. & Weiler, Stephan, 2024. "Pouring the Paycheck Protection Program into craft beer: PPP employment effects in service-intensive industries," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    2. Elias Hadjielias & Michael Christofi & Shlomo Tarba, 2022. "Contextualizing small business resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from small business owner-managers," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(4), pages 1351-1380, December.
    3. Oana Branzei & Ramzi Fathallah, 2023. "The End of Resilience? Managing Vulnerability Through Temporal Resourcing and Resisting," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(3), pages 831-863, May.
    4. Tomasz Ewertowski & Marcin Butlewski, 2021. "Development of a Pandemic Residual Risk Assessment Tool for Building Organizational Resilience within Polish Enterprises," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-14, June.
    5. Ute Stephan & Przemysław Zbierowski & Ana Pérez-Luño & Dominika Wach & Johan Wiklund & Marisleidy Alba Cabañas & Edgard Barki & Alexandre Benzari & Claudia Bernhard-Oettel & Janet A. Boekhorst & A, 2023. "Act or Wait-and-See? Adversity, Agility, and Entrepreneur Wellbeing across Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(3), pages 682-723, May.
    6. Mikaela Backman & Johannes Hagen & Orsa Kekezi & Lucia Naldi & Tina Wallin, 2023. "In the Eye of the Storm: Entrepreneurs and Well-Being During the COVID-19 Crisis," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(3), pages 751-787, May.
    7. Ali Anwar & Nicole Coviello & Maria Rouziou, 2023. "Weathering a Crisis: A Multi-Level Analysis of Resilience in Young Ventures," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(3), pages 864-892, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Björklund, Tua A. & Mikkonen, Maria & Mattila, Pauliina & van der Marel, Floris, 2020. "Expanding entrepreneurial solution spaces in times of crisis: Business model experimentation amongst packaged food and beverage ventures," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).
    2. Khurana, Indu & Dutta, Dev K. & Singh Ghura, Amarpreet, 2022. "SMEs and digital transformation during a crisis: The emergence of resilience as a second-order dynamic capability in an entrepreneurial ecosystem," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 623-641.
    3. Jose C. Alves & Tan Cheng Lok & Yubo Luo & Wei Hao, 2020. "Crisis challenges of small firms in Macao during the COVID-19 pandemic," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 1-23, December.
    4. Diego A. B. Marconatto & Gaspar A. Peixoto & Emidio G. Teixeira & Adelar Fochezatto, 2022. "Women on the Front Line: The Growth of SMEs during Crises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-18, August.
    5. Scheidgen, Katharina & Gümüsay, Ali Aslan & Günzel-Jensen, Franziska & Krlev, Gorgi & Wolf, Miriam, 2021. "Crises and entrepreneurial opportunities: Digital social innovation in response to physical distancing," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 15(C).
    6. Nguyen, Bach & Tran, Hai-Anh & Stephan, Ute & Van, Ha Nguyen & Anh, Pham Thi Hoang, 2024. "“I can't get it out of my mind” - Why, how, and when crisis rumination leads entrepreneurs to act and pivot during crises," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 39(4).
    7. Andreas Kuckertz & Leif Brändle, 2022. "Creative reconstruction: a structured literature review of the early empirical research on the COVID-19 crisis and entrepreneurship," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 72(2), pages 281-307, June.
    8. Brizeida Raquel Hernández-Sánchez & Giuseppina Maria Cardella & José Carlos Sánchez-García, 2020. "Psychological Factors that Lessen the Impact of COVID-19 on the Self-Employment Intention of Business Administration and Economics’ Students from Latin America," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-22, July.
    9. Tiberiu Foris & Alina Simona Tecău & Camelia-Cristina Dragomir & Diana Foris, 2022. "The Start-Up Manager in Times of Crisis: Challenges and Solutions for Increasing the Resilience of Companies and Sustainable Reconstruction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-20, July.
    10. Christopher Boudreaux & Anand Jha & Monica Escaleras, 2021. "Weathering the Storm: How Foreign Aid and Institutions Affect Entrepreneurship Following Natural Disasters," Papers 2104.12008, arXiv.org.
    11. Welter, Friederike & Schlepphorst, Susanne & Schneck, Stefan & Holz, Michael, 2020. "Der gesellschaftliche Beitrag des Mittelstands: Konzeptionelle Überlegungen [The societal impact of German Mittelstand: Conceptual considerations]," IfM-Materialien 283, Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn.
    12. Farhoud, Mohamed & Shah, Sheeza & Stenholm, Pekka & Kibler, Ewald & Renko, Maija & Terjesen, Siri, 2021. "Social enterprise crowdfunding in an acute crisis," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 15(C).
    13. Otrachshenko, Vladimir & Popova, Olga & Nikolova, Milena & Tyurina, Elena, 2022. "COVID-19 and entrepreneurship entry and exit: Opportunity amidst adversity," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    14. Kuckertz, Andreas & Bernhard, Alexander & Berger, Elisabeth S.C. & Dvouletý, Ondřej & Harms, Rainer & Jack, Sarah & Kibler, Ewald, 2023. "Scaling the right answers – Creating and maintaining hope through social entrepreneurship in light of humanitarian crises," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    15. Hoang, Huy Viet & Nguyen, Cuong & Nguyen, Duc Khuong, 2022. "Corporate immunity, national culture and stock returns: Startups amid the COVID-19 pandemic," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    16. Kuckertz, Andreas & Brändle, Leif & Gaudig, Anja & Hinderer, Sebastian & Morales Reyes, Carlos Arturo & Prochotta, Alicia & Steinbrink, Kathrin M. & Berger, Elisabeth S.C., 2020. "Startups in times of crisis – A rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 13(C).
    17. Susanne Durst & Ann Svensson & Mariano Martin Genaro Palacios Acuache, 2021. "Peruvian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Times of Crisis—Or What Is Happening over Time?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-17, December.
    18. Ali Anwar & Nicole Coviello & Maria Rouziou, 2023. "Weathering a Crisis: A Multi-Level Analysis of Resilience in Young Ventures," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(3), pages 864-892, May.
    19. Irene Bertschek & Joern Block & Alexander S. Kritikos & Caroline Stiel, 2024. "German financial state aid during Covid-19 pandemic: Higher impact among digitalized self-employed," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1-2), pages 76-97, January.
    20. Baier-Fuentes, Hugo & Andrade-Valbuena, Nelson A. & Huertas Gonzalez-Serrano, Maria & Gaviria-Marin, Magaly, 2023. "Bricolage as an effective tool for the survival of owner-managed SMEs during crises," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jobuve:v:15:y:2021:i:c:s2352673420300779. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-business-venturing-insights .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.