Turn calamities into blessings: the impact of resource reconfiguration and firm resilience on the company's recovery and growth in the COVID-19 times

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to construct an integrated theoretical framework of firm resilience, and examine the relationship between resource reconfiguration, firm resilience, disruption impact, profit growth, innovation and environmental uncertainty in the context of COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachA survey was distributed to 220 companies and a total of 207 respondents returned the survey. chief executive officer (CEO) and chief financial officer (CFO) of each company participants in the survey. The hypotheses are tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) technique.FindingsThe results showed that firm resilience can be stimulated through the reconstruction of existing resources, and environmental uncertainty played a moderating role in this process; in turn, the improvement of firm resilience enabled companies to reduce the impact of disruptions, achieve profit growth and promote innovation.Practical implicationsThis study provides practical implications for how business management shapes firm resilience and promotes organization recovery and development.Originality/valueThis study expands the literature of firm resilience by providing an integrated theoretical framework of firm resilience. Firstly, based on the perspective of dynamic capabilities, this study reveals that resource reconfiguration plays a key role in shaping firm resilience. Secondly, this study enriches the boundary research on firm resilience by incorporating environmental uncertainty into the research framework. Thirdly, this study validates the impact of firm resilience on disruption impact, profit growth and innovation of companies, providing sufficient empirical evidence for the outcomes of firm resilience.