Resilience measures to dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic Evidence from Romanian micro and small enterprises

Abstract COVID-19 has created an un-precedent crisis for SMEs and challenged each single enterprise to reconsider its business operations and to adapt to the new unexpected circumstances. The present paper aims to explore the resilience measures that the micro and small enterprises in Romania can consider to dealing with the disruptions caused by the pandemic. A questionnaire-based survey was used to collect data from a sample of micro and small enterprises operating in the central part of the country. An exploratory factor analysis was employed to identify underlying variables that explain the pattern of correlations between the resilience measures for enterprises, which help them cope with the pandemic effects. There are seventeen resilience measures to the pandemic included in the analysis and further tested in the paper. In addition, a multiple linear regression was conducted to determine which of the resilience measures has the most impact on the enterprises’ overcoming illness. The results show that in order for the micro and small enterprises to better cope with the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic they should demonstrate, on the first place, openness to production innovation and adaptation and ensure a strong support for customers and communities. On the second place, efforts should be directed toward ensuring efficiency of their internal operational management and worker protection. While there exist external circumstances that lead enterprises to adopt several resilience measures to better respond to the pandemic, the motivations that are most relevant in this decision are generally internal in nature.