Success of SMEs in the era of pandemics

Abstract

Purpose: The objective of this article is the identification of SMEs‘ business environment factors affecting success during a pandemic. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research was based on a deductive approach and was conducted in the first months of the pandemic in 2020 in the Lower Silesia. The research technique used GOOGLE electronic survey questionnaire and the collected data were statistically processed (SPSS). Nonparametric tests were used to analyze the data. Findings: The results of the collected data confirmed the previous literature analysis conducted in the theoretical part of the paper. The verification of the research hypotheses on the assumptions of the influence of the environment on the success of enterprises during pandemmic did not confirm what may be the reason for the initial shock of the market and the lack of preparation of entrepreneurs for the new economic reality during pandemic. The verification of the specific hypotheses showed that the empirical approach adopted coincided with the conceptual approach formed based on the theoretical analysis of the literature on the subject. Practical Implications: The analysis of the results is partially consistent with the literature studies on the impact of the environment on micro and small enterprises conducted before the pandemic. Nevertheless, the assumptions made at the stage of selecting the research sample, allow to formulate a thesis about the broader universality of the confirmed regularities, which should be confirmed in extended research. Originality/value: The paper describes the diagnosed competence gap in the area of SMEs management in the current economic conditions of the pandemic. Which is an extremely complicated task due to the lack of precedents giving guidance to enterprises resulting from history and literature on the subject. In view of this, the identification of environmental factors leading to the maintenance of success in such unusual conditions is a desirable goal to achieve in scientific and practical aspects.