Coping with floods: impacts, preparedness and resilience capacity of Greek micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises in flood-affected areas

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to investigate aspects of flood experience, attitudes and responses of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Greece and to indicate a typology of strategies associated with their relative effort to build flood resilience capacity. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study protocol was used, based on pertinent literature that considers how business entities withstand, adapt and/or recover from non-linear climate change impacts, natural hazards and extreme weather. Data was obtained by conducting semi-structured interviews with 82 MSMEs’ owners-managers who had recently experienced flooding. Findings The study reports limited activities of MSMEs towards flood resilience capacity despite the threat of relevant disasters. Findings suggest that most owners-managers of these enterprises are not adequately preparing their businesses for the impacts of flooding. Research limitations/implications The findings call for multi-level and dynamic perspectives to be examined in assessing MSME resilience capacity to floods. It is attitudinal, managerial, organisational, behavioural and regulatory (as well as other institutional) factors that merit further investigation. Such an investigation would allow a better understanding as to whether these factors hinder or enable conditions for microeconomic flood preparedness and resilience as well as how they may interact with each other or create feedback loops. Practical implications The study carries managerial implications and policy recommendations in terms of nurturing opportunities towards awareness-raising campaigns for reducing deficits in managerial knowledge and competencies. It also encapsulates practical implications in terms of emphasising supporting mechanisms from key institutional stakeholders to allow MSMEs scan available options they have in effectively reinforcing the business premises from the forces of rising waters. Originality/value Most of the related studies have examined flood impacts, responses and/or resilience capacity at the household- or community-level. Empirical work that is conducted to ascertain how MSMEs cope with flooding remains thin on the ground. In response to this, the current study and the typology of MSMEs’ strategic postures that are suggested seek to contribute to this under-researched topic.

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“…Firms' disaster preparedness level is usually measured based on a list of activities conducted to mitigate disaster events (Skouloudis et al 2023). Yet, the determinants of firms' disaster preparedness are not fully understood.…”

“…Further, most studies on firms' disaster preparedness are qualitative and, thus, cannot be used to draw causal conclusions. Broadly, they find that firms do not sufficiently prepare for disasters for various structural and individual reasons, and some are even reluctant to prepare (Bollettino et al 2020;Howe 2011;Josephson et al 2017;Skouloudis et al 2023;Veeravalli et al 2022).…”

“…Research on disaster preparedness of micro-enterprises is scant (Howe 2011;Skouloudis et al 2023;Veeravalli et al 2022). While it is understood that most enterprises do not apply any or only a few preparedness measures (Egbelakin et al 2016;Howe 2011;Leitold et al 2021), we know less about the reasons for this inaction.…”

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