Entrepreneurial responses to crisis

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/sej.1383
• Author: Gary Dushnitsky,Melissa E. Graebner,Christoph Zott
• Date: 01 December 2020
• Published date: 01 December 2020

EDITORIAL

Entrepreneurial responses to crisis

1|ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN CRISIS?

What is a crisis? According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary (n.d.), the concept refer s to “an unstable or crucial time in

which a decisive change is impending, especially with the distinct possibility of a highly undesirable outcome.”The COVID-

19 pandemic that is sweeping across the globe certainly qualifies as a crisis, even a mega one. It has already caused vast

economic and social instability, sent shock waves through national health systems and global supply chains, and upended

people's lives abruptly and in unprecedented ways, causing hardship and misery. As we are writing this article, more than

1 million people have already lost their lives to the pandemic, and countless others have suffered its dire consequences.

What is the interplay between entrepreneurship and crisis? Entrepreneurship can be viewed as the pursuit of

opportunities irrespective of the context: startup or corporate, for-profit or non-for-profit, public or private, discov-

ery or creation (Alvarez & Barney, 2007). It typically plays out for entrepreneurs under conditions of high uncertainty

and acute resource scarcity (McMullen & Shepherd, 2006; Stinchcombe, 1967) and involves a high probability of fail-

ure. As we have seen above, these very same conditions are also characteristic of crises. They make entrepreneurial

projects particularly vulnerable to crises, which explains in part their low survival prospects and poor financial perfor-

mance (Gimeno, Folta, Cooper, & Woo, 1997).

However, every crisis also carries the seeds of renewal. As Schumpeter (1934, p. 64) observed, “it is spontane-

ous and discontinuous change…which forever alters and displaces the equilibrium state previously existing”and gives

rise to opportunities for innovative goods, novel markets, transformed methods of production, new sources of sup-

ply, and “new organization of any industry”(p. 66). These tenets undergird Schumpeter's famous Theory of Creative

Destruction, which postulates that entrepreneurs are key actors in establishing a new equilibrium, creating prosperity

and social wealth from the ashes of the old, destroyed equilibrium. They also suggest that crises and opportunities,

from an entrepreneur's point of view, are two sides of the same coin.

Building on these arguments, we can see that entrepreneurs are exposed to a theoretically as well as empirically

interesting tension between extreme vulnerability to economic volatility on the one hand and a focus on (and almost

obsession with) the opportunities that accompany crises on the other hand. This tension seems particularly salient

during a time of crisis like the one we are currently witnessing. The good and the bad, the bright and the dark sides

are inextricably linked and clearly visible under the prism of entrepreneurship. They are often experienced in rapid

succession and give rise to a rollercoaster of emotions for everyone involved: entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial team

members, employees, investors, and partners (Huy & Zott, 2019).

In light of these considerations, the COVID-19 pandemic brings into sharp focus an important set of questions, such as:

•Is entrepreneurship a common strategic response to a crisis? Do we observe more or less entrepreneurial activity

among individuals and incumbent firms? What are the performance implications of undertaking entrepreneurial

projects during a time of crisis?

•During a crisis, how do those involved in entrepreneurial projects in both new and established firms deal with the

fundamental tension between the need to cut costs in order to survive and the opportunity to change and grow?

•With what kinds of mindsets, attitudes, behaviors, and skills do entrepreneurs and those who support them han-

dle crisis situations?

DOI: 10.1002/sej.1383

© 2020 Strategic Management Society

Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal. 2020;14:537–548. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/sej 537