A week is a long time in a pandemic: learning strategy and survival insights from a micro-enterprise owner

Abstract

PurposeThis article explores the value of engaging a hybrid learning strategy in a micro-enterprise setting when responding to a global pandemic. The research question asks: “Does a hybrid learning strategy enhance a micro-enterprise's response to extreme events?”.Design/methodology/approachA micro-enterprise owner–manager (OM) reflects on their experience running a business during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which resulted in the complete decimation of the organization’s revenue stream in early 2020. Captured in conversation with an academic peer, these practitioner insights provide valuable case evidence relating to micro-enterprise response to extreme commercial events, such as a global pandemic.FindingsThe journey from initial survival-mode to emergent market opportunity recognition and subsequent growth is recorded. The paper contributes to the limited research on the impact of learning strategy plans on micro-enterprise crisis response strategies and provides insights into the value of engaging a hybrid learning strategy when responding to a significant external business shock.Originality/valueDrawing from these insights, the authors offer a literature-informed framework from which to consider the dynamics of an adaptive strategic response in a micro-enterprise setting, offering a means through which micro-enterprises can plan for and respond to extreme events in the future.

Editorial: Exploring the impact of agility and learning in organisations

“…Gerard and Allcorn (2022) invoke the lens of psychoanalytic insight to illuminate unconscious forces of power and authority in organisational cultures, revealing the potential for profound and sustainable change to influence the quality of work environments and employee morale. Conversely, Murphy and Kelliher (2022) explore the consequences of an SME's unplanned and adaptive strategic response to an extreme event and offer a range of agile recommendations, including a hybrid learning strategy intended to strengthen decision-making and progress during future periods of crisis. Together the two papers emphasise the critically important contribution that planned work-applied interventions, professional development and management learning can make to employee engagement and agility to inform business performance in all sizes and types of business across the globe.…”

“…The next two articles draw upon exploratory case studies to direct our attention to the value of strategic planning in a medium-sized organisation to improve employee engagement and business performance demonstrated by Gerard and Allcorn (2022) in the fourth article, juxtaposed with dynamic and adaptive survival strategies in a micro-enterprise in response to an extreme event presented by Murphy and Kelliher (2022) in the fifth paper. Gerard and Allcorn (2022) invoke the lens of psychoanalytic insight to illuminate unconscious forces of power and authority in organisational cultures, revealing the potential for profound and sustainable change to influence the quality of work environments and employee morale.…”