How Small Printing Firms Alleviate Impact of Pandemic Crisis? Identifying Configurations of Successful Strategies with Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

• Autorzy: Marcin Suder , Rafał Kusa , Joanna Duda , Margarita Dunska
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Objective: The objective of this article is to identify strategies that can help small firms alleviate the negative impact of the Covid-19 crisis. We tested six strategies (namely, entrepreneurial, market penetration, market development, product development, diversification, and cooperation). In particular, we identified combinations of these strategies that may lead to performance during the current pandemic crisis.
Research Design & Methods: This is a quantitative study that uses fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). We identified and compared combinations of strategies that are specific for three market conditions; namely, non-crisis, the initial phase of the crisis, and the advanced phase of the crisis. The research sample consisted of 150 small printing enterprises operating across Poland.
Findings: Our findings show that combinations that may lead to firm performance during crises differ from those that are specific for non-crisis conditions. Specifically, the presence of a diversification strategy together with the absence of a market-penetration strategy along with the presence of entrepreneurial, market-development, and product-development strategies may lead to an increase in firm performance before the crisis. During the initial phase of a crisis, the presence of an entrepreneurial strategy together with a product-development strategy or a product-development strategy that is accompanied by a diversification strategy may lead to an increase in firm performance. During the advanced phase of the crisis, the presence of an entrepreneurial strategy together with a product-development strategy along with a set of entrepreneurial, market-penetration, market-development, and cooperation strategies may lead to an increase in firm performance. The most common strategies are product-development and entrepreneurial strategies; these are present under all market conditions.
Implications & Recommendations: This study confirms the role of a firm's strategy. This study exposes the necessity of adapting the strategy to changing market conditions. In particular, this study indicates which strategies and their combinations enable a firm to alleviate the impact of a crisis. These observations have meaningful managerial implications for entrepreneurs regarding the current Covid-19 pandemic crisis and possible future crises.
Contribution & Value Added: The findings of this study contribute to the literature on the response to the Covid-19 crisis. In particular, this study indicates strategies that can help firms mitigate the impact of the pandemic crisis. This study implemented the fsQCA methodology to identify combinations of strategies that enable the mitigation of the negative impact of the crisis. (original abstract)

Słowa kluczowe

PL

Małe i średnie przedsiębiorstwa; COVID-19; Pandemia; Kryzys finansowy; Zbiory rozmyte

EN

Small business; COVID-19; Pandemic; Financial crisis; Fuzzy sets

• Czasopismo: Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review
• Rocznik: 2022
• Tom: 10
• Numer: nr 2
• Strony: 61-80

Twórcy

autor

Marcin Suder

• AGH University of Science and Technology

autor

Rafał Kusa

• AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland

autor

Joanna Duda

• AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland

autor

Margarita Dunska

• University of Latvia

Bibliografia

• Alkasim, Sidi, B., Hilman, H., Manaf, A., Sivaraj Sh., & Sallehddin A. (2018). The mediating effect of cost leadership on the relationship between market penetration, market development, and firm performance. Journal of Business and Retail Management Research (JBRMR), 12(3), 190-199.
• Ansoff, H. I. (1957). Strategies for diversification. Harvard Business Review, 35(5), 113-124.
• Beynon, M.J., Jones, P., & Pickernell, D. (2016). Country-based comparison analysis using fsQCA investigating entrepreneurial attitudes and activity. Journal of Business Research, 69(4), 1271-1276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.10.091
• Brunswicker, S., & Vanhaverbeke, W. (2015). Open Innovation in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs): External Knowledge Sourcing Strategies and Internal Organizational Facilitators. Journal of Small Business Management, 53, 1241-1263. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsbm.12120
• Brzozowski, J., & Cucculelli, M. (2016). Proactive and Reactive Attitude to Crisis: Evidence from European Firms. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 4(1), 181-191. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2016.040111
• Cavallo, A., Ghezzi, A., & Balocco, R. (2018). Entrepreneurial ecosystem research: present debates and future directions. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal 15(4), 1291-3121. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-018-0526-3
• Child, J., Faulkner, D., & Tallman, S. (2005). Cooperative Strategy. Managing Alliances, Networks, and Joint Ventures. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199266241.001.0001
• Chung, Y.C. (2016). Study on Effects of E-Commerce Application and New Product Development Strategy on New Product Development Performance: Using Enterprises of Science Park as Examples. International Journal of Operations and Logistics Management, 5(3), 154-163.
• Chung, Y.C. (2016). Study on Effects of E-Commerce Application and New Product Development Strategy on New Product Development Performance: Using Enterprises of Science Park as Examples. International Journal of Operations and Logistics Management, 5(3), 154-163.
• Covin, J.G., & Lumpkin, G.T. (2011). Entrepreneurial Orientation Theory and Research: Reflections on a Needed Construct. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 35(5), 855-872. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540- 6520.2011.00482.x
• Crick, J.M., & Crick D. (2020). Coopetition and COVID-19: Collaborative business-to-business marketing strategies in a pandemic crisis. Industrial Marketing Management, 88, 206-213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.05.016
• Crilly, D. (2011). Predicting stakeholder orientation in the multinational enterprise: A mid-range theory. Journal of International Business Studies, 42(5), 694-717.
• Conti, C. R., Goldszmidt, R., & Carvalho de Vasconcelos, F. (2020). Firm characteristics and capabilities that enable superior performance in recessions. Journal of Business Research, 119, 553-561.
• Della Peruta, M.R., Del Giudice, M., Lombardi, R., & Soto-Acosta, P. (2018). Open Innovation, Product Development, and Inter-Company Relationships Within Regional Knowledge Clusters. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 9, 680-693. http://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-016-0356-x
• Drucker, P.F. (1985). Innovation and Entrepreneurship. New York: Harper & Row. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.3930240410
• Duda J. (2018). Kooperacja mikro- i małych przedsiębiorstw w sieci (Cooperation of micro- and small enterprises within the business network). In: K. Bratnicka-Myśliwiec, A. Dyląg, B. (eds.), Proaktywność i podejmowanie ryzyka w procesie rozwoju organizacji (Proactivity and risk-taking in the organizational development process) (pp. 51-63). Krakow: Jagiellonian University.
• Dul, J., (2016). Identifying single necessary conditions with NCA and fsQCA. Journal of Business Research, 69(4), 1516-1523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.10.134
• Dyduch, W. (2019). Entrepreneurial Strategy Stimulating Value Creation: Conceptual Findings and Some Empirical Tests. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 7(3), 65-82. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2019.070304
• Dyduch, W., Chudziński, P., Cyfert, S., & Zastempowski, M. (2021). Dynamic capabilities, value creation and value capture: Evidence from SMEs under Covid-19 lockdown in Poland. PLOS ONE, 16(6), e0252423. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252423
• Eggers, F. (2020). Masters of disasters? Challenges and opportunities for SMEs in times of crisis. Journal of Business Research, 116, 199-208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.025
• Faulkner, D. O. (1995). International Strategic Alliances: Co-operating to Compete. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.
• Fiss, P.C. (2011). Building better causal theories: a fuzzy set approach to typologies in organization research. Academy of Management Journal, 54(2), 393-420. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2011.60263120
• Greckhamer, T. Misangyi, V.F., & Fiss, P.C. (2013). The two QCAs: From a small-N to a large-N set-theoretic approach. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 38, 49-75. http://doi.org/10.1108/S0733- 558X(2013)0000038007
• Harkiolakis, N. (2014). Multipreneurship: Diversification in Times of Crisis. London: Gower Publishing.
• Harrison, J, & Taylor, B. (1996). Supergrowth companies: Entrepreneurs in Action. Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann.
• Hatak, I., & Hyslop K. (2015). Cooperation between family businesses of different size: A case study. Journal of Co-operative Organization and Management, 3, 52-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcom.2015.11.003
• He, N.N., Wu, W.S., & Liu, S.J. (2021). Relationship between Logistics Firm Size and Business Diversification: An Empirical Study of Chongqing, Area in China. Open Journal of Statistics, 11, 1-18. http://doi.org/10.4236/ojs.2021.111001
• Hitt, M., Ireland, R., Camp, M., & Sexton, D. (2001). Strategic Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurial Strategies for Wealth Creation. Strategic Management Journal, 22, 479-491. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.196
• Ismail, S., Malone, S. M., & van Geest, Y. (2014). Expotential organizations. New York: Diversion Books.
• Kocór M., & Worek B., (2017), Porównawcza analiza jakościowa w ewaluacji wpływu opartej na teorii, w: J. Pokorski, Z. Popis, T. Wyszyńska, & K. Hermann-Pawłowska (eds.), Ewaluacja oparta na teorii w złożonym otoczeniu społeczno-ekonomicznym. Warszawa: Polska Agencja Rozwoju Przedsiębiorczości.
• Kowalik, I., Danik, L., Král, P., & Řezanková, H. (2017). Antecedents of Accelerated Internationalisation of Polish and Czech Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 5(3), 31- 48. http://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2017.050302
• Kraus, S., & Kauranen, I. (2009). Strategic management and entrepreneurship: Friends or foes? International Journal of Business Science & Applied Management (IJBSAM), 4(1-1), 37-50.
• Kusa, R., Duda, J., & Suder, M. (2021). Explaining SME performance with fsQCA: The role of entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneur motivation, and opportunity perception. Journal of Innovation and Knowledge, 6(4), 234-245. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2021.06.001
• Kusa, R., Duda, J., & Suder, M. (2022). How to sustain company growth in times of crisis: The mitigating role of entrepreneurial management. Journal of Business Research, 142, 377-389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.12.081
• Le, H. (2019). Literature Review on Diversification Strategy, Enterprise Core Competence and Enterprise Performance. American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 9, 91-108. http://doi.org/10.4236/ajibm.2019.91008
• Lechner, C., & Gudmundsson, S. V. (2014). Entrepreneurial orientation, firm strategy and small firm performance. International Small Business Journal, 32(1), 36-60. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242612455034
• Leitner, K. (2014). Strategy formation in the innovation and market domain: emergent or deliberate? Journal of Strategy and Management, 7(4), 354-375. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSMA-02-2014-0015
• Lendel, V., Soviar, J., & Vodák, J. (2015). Creation of Corporate Cooperation Strategy (2nd Global Conference on Business, Economics, Management and Tourism, 30-31 October 2014, Prague, Czech Republic). Procedia Economics and Finance, 23, 434-438. http://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(15)00384-6
• Li, Y., Huang, L., & Tong, Y. (2021). Cooperation with competitor or not? The strategic choice of a focal firm's green innovation strategy. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 157, 107301. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2021.107301
• Lumpkin, G.T., & Dess, G.G. (1996). Clarifying the EO construct and linking it to performance. Academy of Management Review, 21(1), 135-172. https://doi.org/10.2307/258632
• Marjański, A., & Sułkowski, Łukasz. (2021). Consolidation strategies of small family firms in Poland during Covid19 crisis. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 9(2), 167-182. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2021.090211
• Meuer, J. (2014). Archetypes of inter-firm relations in the implementation of management innovation: A settheoretic study in China's biopharmaceutical industry. Organization Studies (01708406), 35(1), 121-145. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840613495339
• Morgan, T., Anokhin, S., & Wincent, J. (2016). Entrepreneurial orientation, firm market power and opportunism in networks. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 31(1), 99-111. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-03- 2014-0063
• Mwau, P.M., Oloko, M., & Muturi, W. (2016). The influence of market development strategy on performance of firms within the insurance industry in Kenya. International Journal of Advanced Engineering and Management Research, 1(2), 111-150.
• Natsubidze, A.S., Likholetov E.A., Malofeev A.V., Zabaznova T.A., & Patsyuk E.V. (2017). Model of Global Crisis Management of Entrepreneurial Activities. In: Popkova E. (eds.) Overcoming Uncertainty of Institutional Environment as a Tool of Global Crisis Management. Contributions to Economics (pp. 515-521). Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60696-5_65
• Nielsen, R.P. (1986). Cooperative strategies. Planning Review, 14(2), 16-20. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb054137
• Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1967). Psychometric Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill Inc.
• Parida, V., Pesämaa, O., Wincent, J., & Westerberg, M. (2017). Network capability, innovativeness, and performance: a multidimensional extension for entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 29(1-2), 94-115. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2016.1255434
• Porter, M.E. (1985). Competitive Advantage. New York: The Free Press.
• Ragin, C.C. (2008). Redesigning social inquiry: fuzzy sets and beyond. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Ragin, C.C. (2009). Qualitative comparative analysis using fuzzy sets (fsQCA). Configurational comparative methods: Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and related techniques, 51, 87-121. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452226569.n5
• Ragin, C.C. (2018). User's Guide to Fuzzy-Set/Qualitative Comparative Analysis 3.0. Irvine, California: Department of Sociology, University of California.
• Ragin, C.C., & Sean, D. (2016). Fuzzy-Set/Qualitative Comparative Analysis 3.0. Irvine, California: Department of Sociology, University of California.
• Rihoux, B., & Ragin, C. C. (2009). Configurational comparative methods: Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and related techniques. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452226569
• Ritter, T., & Lund Pedersen, C. (2020). Assessing Coronavirus impact on your business model. Harvard Business Review, Digital Articles. Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/2020/04/assessing-coronaviruss-impact-on-yourbusiness-model on June 19, 2020.
• Roig-Tierno, N., Gonzalez-Cruz, T. F., & Llopis-Martinez, J. (2017). An overview of qualitative comparative analysis: A bibliometric analysis. Journal of Innovation and Knowledge, 2(1), 15-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2016.12.002
• Simón-Moya, V., Revuelto-Taboada, L., & Ribeiro-Soriano, D. (2016). Influence of economic crisis on new SME survival: Reality or fiction?. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 28(1-2), 157-176. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2015.1118560
• Schneider, C. Q., & Wagemann, C. (2010). Standards of good practice in qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and fuzzy sets. Comparative Sociology, 9(3), 397-418. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156913210X12493538729793
• Schneider, C. Q., & Wagemann, C. (2012). Set-theoretic methods for the social sciences: a guide to qualitative comparative analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Staniewski, M.W., Nowacki, R., & Awruk, K. (2016). Entrepreneurship and innovativeness of small and mediumsized construction enterprises. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 12, 861-877. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-016-0385-8
• Szostak, M, & Sułkowski, Ł. (2021). Identity crisis of artists during the Covid-19 pandemic and shift towards entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 9(3) - Ahead-of-Print. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2021.090306
• Tyagi, S., Choudhary, A., Cai, X., & Yang, K. (2015). Value stream mapping to reduce the lead-time of a product development process. International Journal of Production Economics, 160, 202-212. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2014.11.002
• Woodside, A. G. (2012). Proposing a new logic for data analysis in marketing and consumer behavior: case study research of large-N survey data for estimating algorithms that accurately profile X (extremely high use) consumers. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 22(4), 277-289. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21639159.2012.717369
• Varadarajan, R. (2010). Strategic marketing and marketing strategy: domain, definition, fundamental issues and foundational premises. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 38, 119-140. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11747-009-0176-7
• Vorhies, D.W., Harker, M. (2000). The Capabilities and Performance Advantages of Market-Driven Firms: An Empirical Investigation. Australian Journal of Management, 25(2), 145-171. https://doi.org/10.1177/031289620002500203
• Vorhies, D.W., Morgan, R.E., & Aurty, Ch.W. (2009). Product-Market Strategy and the Marketing Capabilities of the Firm: Impact on Market Effectiveness and Cash Flow Performance. Strategic Management Journal, 30(12), 1310-1334. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.798

Identyfikatory

DOI

10.15678/EBER.2022.100204