Understanding firm survival in a global crisis
本研究以疫情为背景，通过三角验证方法提出一个组织框架，识别了市场对危机的三种反应顺序（管理响应、消费者响应和关键业务转型），并指出通过促进与客户、员工和资源的互动，企业可以确保生存。
Purpose Global crises create an environment that is characterized by a fight for survival by countries, companies and citizens. While firms have adopted business initiatives to ensure survival in a global crisis, many measures are geared toward preventing customer churn, declining revenues and eroding market share. Such short-term focus raises an important question regarding long-term survival – how can firms survive a global crisis? The purpose of this study is to investigate how firms can survive a global crisis. Design/methodology/approach This study considers pandemics as the study context and uses a triangulation methodology (past research, managerial insights and popular press articles) to advance the organizing framework. Using the process study approach, the proposed framework recognizes the onset characteristics of a global crisis with a focus on pandemics and the government actions that reflect the pandemic onset. The framework also identifies a logical order of three marketplace reactions to the pandemic – management response, consumer response and critical business transformations that ultimately lead to firm survival – and advances related research propositions of such reactions. Findings By deploying critical business transformations, firms can ensure firm survival in a pandemic by fostering engagement with customers, employees and resources. Additionally, the moderators that influence the relationships between (1) management response and critical business transformations, (2) consumer response and critical business transformations, and (3) critical business transformations and firm survival are identified. Finally, this study presents an agenda for future research. Research limitations/implications To the authors' best knowledge, this is the first study to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to study firm survival in a global crisis such as a pandemic. This study answers the call for more research to the growing field of pandemic research in the areas of marketing research and marketing strategy. Practical implications The learnings from this study can help firms on what to anticipate and how to respond in a crisis such as a pandemic. Social implications Societal welfare is accounted for as firms plan to deal with a crisis. Originality/value This is the first study to propose a strategic framework to deal with a crisis that is largely unanticipated where the duration and the impact is not predictable.