Factors Influencing Business Resilience of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Basis for Crafting Crisis Management Plan

Vol.4, No.1

Abstract

During and after the COVID-19 Pandemic, many businesses, especially SMEs or Small and
Medium Enterprises, have been affected in the way these enterprises operate, manage,
innovate, and continue their economic foothold in the current situation because of the
challenges the pandemic brought. This study aims to analyze the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and provide practices to survive in
this ongoing pandemic situation. By effectively managing business processes, changing
business models, and digital transformation by adapting to the situation of the pandemic, it is
expected that SME strategies will be able to successfully overcome these challenges of
coping with the crisis amid the pandemic.

The analysis of small and medium-sized businesses' assessments in the areas of adaptability,
leadership and management, technical advancements, compliance, and regulations reveals
no significant differences. The null hypothesis is accepted since it was supported by the
calculation of the t-tabulated value of 0.333, which is smaller than the t-value of 2.819 with a
0.01 level of significance and 22 degrees of freedom. We also discovered that most SME
employees had difficulty boosting orders and sales, but due to the adaptability of the
enterprises, they were able to adopt a click-and-mortar strategy, where products are sold both
online and offline, significantly increasing sales.

The results of the study are discussed in the paper, along with the best practices adopted by
the two groups of respondents during the COVID-19 pandemic and how these practices aided
in their crisis resilience. Additionally, we go over the crisis management plan's proposed
proactive measures and step-by-step procedure in great detail.