The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record.

In light of growing scholarly works on business failure, across the social science domains, it is surprising that past studies have largely overlooked how extreme environmental shocks and ‘black swan’ events such as those caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and other global crises, can precipitate business failures. Drawing insights from the current literature on business failure and the unfolding event of COVID-19, we highlight the paradoxes posed by novel exogenous shocks (that is, shocks that transcend past experiences) and the implications for SMEs. The pandemic has accelerated the reconfiguration of the relationship between states and markets, increasing the divide between those with political connections and those without, and it may pose new legitimacy challenges for some players even as others seem less concerned by such matters, whilst experiential knowledge resources may be both an advantage and a burden.

This article discusses microlevel actions undertaken by owner-managers, and how such actions affect stakeholders in enhancing the sustainability of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the knowledge on which is lacking in the extant literature. The paper, by adopting an inductive analytical approach, draws key insights from the literature on microfoundations and sustainability and evidence from representatives of 5 Cultural and Creative Industry SMEs in Italy and of 5 in the United Kingdom. The findings suggest that owner-managers play a crucial role when engaging in sustainability activities jointly with employees and other stakeholders, through which individual-level actions enhance collective organizational-level sustainability practices. The U.K.and Italian cases highlight 2 contrasting approaches to dealing with sustainability; thus, the paper contributes to the emerging literature on SME microfoundations and sustainability.

The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record.

The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record.

Inspired by burgeoning scholarly interest in the role of digitalization in the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper examines how the COVID-19 pandemic is driving or constraining the digitalization of businesses around the globe. We contend that COVID‐19 is “ the great accelerator ” in fast-tracking the existing global trend towards embracing modern emerging technologies ushering in transformations in lifestyle, work patterns, and business strategies. Thus, COVID-19 has evolved to be a kind of “ catalyst ” for the adoption and increasing use of digitalization in work organization and the office, alongside presenting foreseen and unforeseen opportunities, challenges, and costs—leading to negative and positive feedback loops. In this article, we develop and advance a conceptual model by linking the different forces for and against digitalization in response to the pandemic. Our analysis indicates that adoption of emerging technologies may be hindered by vested external interests, nostalgia, and employer opportunism, as well as negative effects on employee well-being that undermine productivity, work–life balance, and future of work. Whilst digitalization may bring new opportunities, the process imparts risks that may be hard to mitigate or prepare for. Finally, we draw out the wider theoretical and practical implications of our analysis.

No abstract

Although scholars in management recognize the value of harnessing big data to understand, predict and respond to future events, there remains little or very limited overview of how various analytics techniques can be harnessed to provide the basis for guiding scholars in studying contemporary management topics and global grand challenges raised by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this Methodology Corner, we present a review of the methodological innovations in studying big data analytics and how they can be better utilized to examine contemporary organizational issues. We provide insights on methods in descriptive/diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive analytics, and how they can be leveraged to study 'black swan' events such as the COVID-19-related global crisis and its aftermath's implications for managers and policymakers.