Are small businesses better prepared for crises? Czech case

Abstract

Small businesses often suffer from a lack of resources, which in many cases they cite as a reason why they cannot prepare for crises. Increasingly frequent threats may have forced them to rethink their thinking. The aim of this study is to compare data from 2009, 2012, 2019 and 2021 and thus provide the basis for the non/ confirmation of the hypothesis of continuously increasing crisis preparedness in small enterprises. A questionnaire survey was conducted within Czech small businesses in the mentioned years. More than 1000 respondents participated in the research each year. The outputs were statistically processed. Different prevention approach strategies in each year, barriers that complicate preparation and understanding of the not/importance of prevention have been identified. A basic hypothesis could not be confirmed. However, in the context of how highly the importance of crisis preparedness is assessed, actual active prevention is still low. Managers still do not consider crisis preparedness to be part of their competitiveness. The practical benefit of the research is to initiate their reflection on the necessity of crisis prevention. Theoretical contribution is its comparative character over time, allowing to monitor the evolution of the approach of small business managers.

SME Preparedness in Surviving the Health Pandemic in Malaysia

“…Crisis preparation requires multiple resources, and the significance of crisis situations is often undervalued (Novák, 2015). The recent health pandemic, COVID-19, brought alarming information yet SMEs were not well prepared for crisis situations (Cowling et al, 2020; Mikusova & Horvathova, 2023). This finding aligns with Marjański and Sułkowski’s (2021) assertion that SMEs are unprepared to deal with uncertainty, such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…This finding aligns with Marjański and Sułkowski’s (2021) assertion that SMEs are unprepared to deal with uncertainty, such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, according to Tilcsik (2016) and Mikusova and Horvathova (2023), efforts in preparation for a crisis are often essential, especially for SMEs.…”

Business continuity management and organizational resilience: A small and medium enterprises (SMEs) perspective

“…Hence, when disaster strikes, SMEs suffer longer and are slower to recover than larger companies (UNDRR, 2020). In this context, companies have to be resilient to achieve long‐term sustainability and overcome unexpected events (Giancotti & Mauro, 2020) by developing the ability to cope with emerging threats, adapt to turbulent environments, and to satisfy stakeholders' and customers' needs (Mikušová & Horváthová, 2023). Therefore, to provide effective answers to such threats, SMEs need to adopt a management framework (Burnard et al, 2018) that makes them capable to identify capabilities, strategies and tools that are essential in developing and improving their level of resiliency (Giancotti & Mauro, 2020).…”