Crisis response efficacy: Perceived ability to respond entrepreneurially to crises

Abstract

Prior research indicates the importance of entrepreneurial responses to external crises. This article theoretically extends the concept of self-efficacy to the task domain of entrepreneurial response to crisis situations. Crisis response efficacy is conceptualized as a task-specific (perceived) efficacy, a CEO's beliefs in their firm's skills, knowledge, and readiness to respond effectively to an external crisis – dealing with crisis impacts and responding entrepreneurially to pursue opportunities. We further theorize that crisis response efficacy mediates the relationship between several antecedents and entrepreneurial responses to crises and that the nature of the response varies with the crisis stages. We provide a preliminary empirical illustration of the utility of crisis response efficacy as a construct.