Business Under Crisis, Volume III: Avenues for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Sustainability

Chapter 1: Editorial Introduction: Reconsidering Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Sustainability under and post Crises' Conditions

In the first chapter of this volume, authors encourage us to consider crisis and adaptation as different positions on the same continuum. Rather than picturing a polar opposite, crisis and adaptation is rather a learning process where people operate within situations. It is a set of systems that are forced to experiment; organisations that explore their space of possibilities; and businesses that create new patterns of relationships. The chapters put forward the idea that change should be part of organizational culture rather than a reaction to events

Chapter 2: The impact of Sustainability and Total Quality Management on SMEs Financial Performance under crisis conditions

 Sainis Georgios, Thanos Kriemadis and Kapnisi Dimitra (University of Peloponnese, Greece)

The economic lockdown caused by COVID-19 revealed capacities of some innovation-driven companies to demonstrate growth instead of decline. Following this lime of thought, this chapter aims to analyse motivational factors for Lithuanian companies fostering investments in research; as well as development and innovations (R&D&I) under conditions of COVID-19 crisis. Research results demonstrate the relationship between propensity to innovation, investment into research and partnership with research institutions. Also, results disclosed differences in motivational factors between the whole sample and companies which invest in innovations consistently

Chapter 3: Hotel Entrepreneurs' well-being in the spectrum of a crisis

 George Afksentiou (CTL Eurocollege, Cyprus)

Within the framework of Human Resource Management (HRM), this chapter explores the link between talent management and responsible leadership in Luxembourg. In addition, the study relies on the findings of 41 semi-structured interviews, which were conducted before and after the Coronavirus outbreak, to explain the impact on talent management before and after the crisis. The discussion presents implications concerning the link between talent management, responsible leadership, and the need for change and innovation, with the Luxembourgish language as identifier. 

Chapter 4: Covid Crisis and the Impact on Local Communities, Sustainable Development and Smart Tourism

Paula Rodrigues, Mónica Gómez-Suárez, Álvaro Matias, Ana Brochado, Ana Pinto Borges and Mónica Velos (Universidade Lusiada, Norte, Portugal

Chapter 12 seeks to understanding the behavior and adaptation of publicly own hospitals in Israel, as a case study for creative adaptation to the constantly changing surroundings, and in times of crisis. In recent decades Israel has started implementing reforms in the public health services that have led to far-reaching changes in the health system, and consequently, increased competition within it. Together with pressure to reduce per capita public health costs, and the increased demand due to greater health awareness, covid-19 has accelerated the problem in areas such as work pressure, stress, manpower, number of beds and organisational finances.  

Chapter 5: The Effect of Militancy on Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Development in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

 Ignatius Ekanem, (Middlesex University, UK) Ayebaniminyo Munasuonyo (River State University, Nigeria)

The chapter explores the impact of militancy and violence on entrepreneurship and SMEs. Relying on the findings of semi-structured interviews, the study suggests that violent agitations put business at constant crisis, resulting to closures, loss of business opportunities, insecurity and industry disruptions. The study, highlights the correlation between reduction of local violent and economic development.

Chapter 6: Russian Economy in Risk Zone: the most affected SME industries

 Anna S. Zotova, Aleksandra A. Chudaeva, Irina A. Svetkina (Samara State University of Economics)

This study explores the impact of Covid-19 on entrepreneurs in of Russia. 49 types of economic activities (OKVED) are included in the list of individual spheres of activity in the risk zone. For SMEs operating in the most affected industries the pandemic crisis has been superimposed on a host of serious problems these industries have already been grappling with for years. The aim of the research is diagnostics of the consequences of the crisis phenomena in social and economic life in the Russian Federation in certain spheres of economic activity that are at risk. The main result of the research is the analysis of opportunities and development of targeted proposals for effective measures to bring enterprises out of the crisis.

Chapter 7: European entrepreneurial systems and Italian family SMEs: new challenges

The main goal of this chapter is to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the entire entrepreneurial and institutional ecosystem at the national level in Italy. To do so, it applies a quantitative non-aggregative approach, known as Partial Order Set (Poset) on Eurostat data. By Poset method it identifies and analyses a) the size of the pandemic wave resulting from COVID-19 for each EU Country; and b) the value of the entrepreneurial and institutional ecosystem, considered as a set of factors that jointly affect economic growth. Then, the chapter proposes strategies for the Italian SME sector

 Andrea Ciacci, Enrico Ivaldi, Lara Penco (Università degli Studi di Genova)

Chapter 8: Sustainability Assessment: A Tool to build resilience in the face of future crisis

This study aims to review current practices regarding sustainability evaluation amongst the agrarian sector, in order to enlighten major traits of distinguished assessment tools developed worldwide. By benchmarking 105 different tools amid the process, findings confirm well-established observations from literature on sustainability assessment research. Among others, the chapter provides relevant information to implement micro-level performance evaluations, decision-making and application of benchmark tools.

 Trigo, Ana¹; Marta-Costa, Ana¹; Fragoso, Rui² (¹CETRAD, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal. ²CEFAGE, Universidade de Évora, UÉVORA, Évora, Portugal)

Chapter 9: Macro-economic sustainability - the operation was successful, but the patient died

 Alkis Thrassou (University of Nicosia, Cyprus)

Chapter 10: Innovation Tendencies at times of Crisis

 Katerina Kampouri, Hajidimitriou, Yannis, Innovation, Eva Mouratidou (University of Macedonia, Greece)

This chapter reviews and discusses key papers in the field of Internationalised family businesses (IFBs) to provide insights into IFBs' strategic responses to crises through innovation. The analysis identifies triggers of innovation in IFBs and presents a conceptual model that integrates the relevant findings. By doing this, a mapping and organization of the relevant literature is enables, resulting to alternative explanations of the behaviour of IFBs concerning innovation during crises.

Chapter 11: The routinizaton of crisis in marketing sustainability

 Demetris Vrontis (University of Nicosia, Cyprus

Marketing is about agility and flexibility to shifting market dynamics, changing customer needs and competitive threats. However, while small shifts are easy, critical disruptive events, such as a pandemic, result to increased complexity. Solving marketing complexity is not simply about agility and flexibility. Rather, it is about complexity science. Relying on the latest ideas from behavioral economics, neuroscience, psychology, system dynamics, and network theory, this chapter suggests an adaptive Marketing Mix, within the framework of complexity science.