Uncertainty, innovations and legacies of the Covid-19 pandemic

Recognizing opportunities during the crisis: a longitudinal analysis of Italian SMEs during Covid-19 crisis

Valentina Cucino, Giulio Ferrigno, Andrea Piccaluga

SMEs’ opportunity recognition has been extensively studied in entrepreneurship literature (Eggers, 2020). In times of crisis, when SMEs suffer the loss of profits, customers and perhaps even key employees, it is very difficult for them to identify and explore new opportunities (Liguori and Pittz, 2020). However, given their size, SMEs may benefit from their flexibility with regard to both opportunities and threats (Eggers et al., 2012).

Crises, such as Covid-19, determine negative consequences for SMEs (Bailey et al., 2020; Liguori and Pittz, 2020), but can also stimulate their innovation efforts (Chesbrough, 2020) and several authors have analyzed SMEs’ behaviors during crises, including the Covid-19 pandemic (Liguori and Pittz, 2020). Some authors acknowledge that SMEs are indeed particularly prone to recognize, evaluate, and exploit new opportunities associated with crises such as Covid-19 (Eggers, 2020).

#Covid-19 #crises #Italian SMEs #longitudinal analysis #opportunity recognition #Purpose-driven Companies