Corporate Resilience Research Articles

ESG risk analysis and preparedness of companies in the Czech Republic

This study examines the integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles into the strategies of companies in the Czech Republic, a region where ESG considerations are increasingly influencing investment decisions and corporate governance. As global sustainability concerns gain momentum, Czech companies face growing scrutiny from investors, regulators, and stakeholders. This research aims to assess the current state of ESG risk analysis and evaluate the readiness of these companies to address the challenges posed by environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and governance effectiveness. To achieve this, the study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with industry experts, corporate leaders, and regulatory authorities, and quantitative data from a survey distributed to a representative sample of companies across various sectors in the Czech Republic. The qualitative interviews provide in-depth insights into the challenges and strategies surrounding ESG integration, while the quantitative survey assesses the extent of ESG adoption, identifies key risk areas, and evaluates companies’ preparedness to tackle these issues. Data analysis includes thematic analysis of interview transcripts and statistical analysis of survey responses, offering a comprehensive view of ESG practices in the Czech business landscape. The findings reveal both best practices and areas needing improvement, providing valuable insights for stakeholders committed to enhancing corporate sustainability. This study contributes to the broader discourse on ESG by highlighting the evolving role of these factors in shaping corporate resilience, innovation, and long-term value creation in the Czech Republic, ultimately promoting a more sustainable and responsible business environment.

Navigating the Challenges and Seizing Opportunities in Implementing Closed-Loop Supply Chains

Closed-Loop Supply Chains (CLSCs) present a transformative solution for industries seeking sustainability by reintegrating returned products through recycling, refurbishment, and remanufacturing, reducing waste and dependency on added resources. While offering substantial benefits, CLSC adoption faces challenges, including high infrastructure costs, complex reverse coordination, and inconsistent regulatory support, which hinder widespread application. Through a mixed-method approach using surveys and case studies, this study reveals barriers such as financial constraints and operational restructuring needs, while highlighting enablers like digital tools (e.g., blockchain, IoT) that enhance efficiency and transparency. Furthermore, it emphasizes the critical role of regulatory incentives (subsidies, tax breaks, and extended producer responsibility mandates) and strategic partnerships that pool resources and share risks, essential for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) aiming to implement CLSCs effectively. By proposing a practical CLSC framework, informed by empirical data, this research provides actionable insights for businesses to embrace circular economy principles, aligning environmental responsibility with corporate resilience, profitability, and consumer expectations. CLSCs, therefore, are not only an environmental solution but also a strategic opportunity that addresses sustainability imperatives while meeting regulatory requirements and advancing competitive advantage.

Developing a Disaster Recovery Plan to Enhance Corporate Resilience and Ensure Business Continuity

Disasters occur in the corporate operational environment. Earthquakes, floods, fires, and other unpredictable events that might disrupt company activities are among these calamities. The incidence of disasters in the workplace adds to unfavorable consequences. As a result, the construction of a disaster recovery plan becomes necessary for the firm to manage the bad consequences that may arise as a result of the unfavorable occurrences. With a disaster recovery strategy in place, a firm can sustain and swiftly restart normal operations. The firm's disaster recovery plan is a written document that outlines an efficient strategy for dealing with unforeseen and unmanageable catastrophes. Developing a disaster recovery strategy ensures the organization's survival by responding effectively to the present calamity.

Strategic Navigation of Firm-Specific Risks: A Comprehensive Analysis of Corporate Finance Challenges and Solutions

Abstract: This paper delves into the multifaceted nature of firm-specific risks (FSRs) within corporate finance, highlighting operational, financial, and strategic risks as pivotal challenges confronting companies across industries. Through detailed examinations of scenarios ranging from regulatory hurdles in the pharmaceutical industry to cyber threats in retail and currency fluctuations impacting multinational corporations, this study elucidates the intricate web of internal and external factors contributing to FSR. Furthermore, it explores the critical role of corporate governance, emphasizing board structure, transparency in financial reporting, and robust internal controls in effectively managing these risks. By integrating advanced data analytics and risk modeling with comprehensive risk management frameworks, the paper showcases strategies for identifying, assessing, and mitigating FSRs, thereby enhancing corporate resilience and strategic agility. This analysis not only contributes to the academic discourse on risk management but also offers practical insights for practitioners aiming to fortify their organizations against the unpredictability of the business landscape.

Driving sustainable competitive advantage in banking: The role of transformational leadership and digital transformation in organizational agility and corporate resiliency

AbstractObjectivesContinuous adaptation and innovation are critical for sustaining a competitive edge in the dynamic and technology‐driven banking sector. This study explores the impacts of transformational leadership and digital transformation on organizational agility and corporate resiliency, and how these factors contribute to sustainable competitive advantage in the banking sector.MethodologyA quantitative approach utilizing a survey method was implemented for the research, which included a sample of 185 units comprising the head office, branch offices, and sub‐branch offices of Regional Banks in Indonesia. Data analysis was conducted using PLS‐SEM with second‐order constructs.FindingsThe results reveal that transformational leadership significantly enhances organizational agility but does not significantly impact corporate resiliency or sustainable competitive advantage. Digital transformation significantly improves both organizational agility and corporate resiliency, yet its effect on sustainable competitive advantage is insignificant. Moreover, organizational agility significantly influences both corporate resiliency and sustainable competitive advantage. Additionally, corporate resiliency makes a significant contribution to sustainable competitive advantage.ConclusionThe study underscores the critical role of transformational leadership and digital transformation in enhancing organizational agility and resiliency. These elements are pivotal in sustaining competitive advantages in the rapidly evolving banking industry.ImplicationsThis research underscores the strategic importance of banks investing in leadership development and digital initiatives to enhance organizational agility and corporate resiliency, which are crucial for maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage.

Unretirement: Motivational Factors Among Financially Independent Seniors and Their Potential to Contribute to Organizational Productivity, Knowledge Transfer and Corporate Resilience

The main objective of this study is to investigate a solution for the current lack of skilled workers in Europe and to optimize the utilization of expertise. For this qualitative study, 36 semi-structured interviews were conducted (with a purposive sample of financially independent (soon-to-be) retirees and employers). The thematic analysis revealed (1) on both the employer’s and recruiter’s side, there are many stereotypes and prejudices, as well as a lack of creativity about how to integrate these highly motivated specialists into the organization’s workforce; (2) as regards senior experts, there is a worry that their competences and commitment will be judged based on how they have been treated in recent years of employment. The results also indicate that searching for intellectual challenges and solving them with a team of co-workers is one of the main attractions for senior experts. We identified six main patterns for unretirement choices: learning and intellectual challenges, applying expertise, public perception of retirees, belonging and social connections, compensating for loss of status, and feeling appreciated. Appreciating, valuing, and channeling this drive to solve present-day problems independent of a person’s chronological age should be self-evident for organizations and societies.

Financial performance of emerging market companies during the COVID-19 pandemic: moderating role of sustainability performance

Purpose This study aims to investigate whether sustainability performance (SP) served as a safeguard for firm profitability (FP) and enhanced corporate resilience in emerging markets during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of 1,091 firms in 25 emerging markets from 2017 to 2021, this study analyses the moderating role of SP on the relationship between FP and COVID-19 by using hierarchical linear modelling at three levels: (a) time-level; (b) firm-level; (c) country-level. Findings The results indicate that during the years 2020–2021, emerging market firms with robust SP showed better FP in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings also indicate that all dimensions of sustainability, i.e. environmental, social and governance (ESG), have significantly affected the FP in the post-COVID period. Hence, adhering to ESG principles aids in alleviating adverse financial repercussions during times of crises. Practical implications This study provides valuable insights for companies and policymakers for finding solutions that may assist them in improving SP globally and enduring crises resiliently. The findings are also relevant to institutional investors that consider SP as an investment criteria. Although the COVID-19 pandemic was temporary, the lessons learned could protect firms from future similar global crises. Originality/value This study enhances the understanding of the contingency relationship between sustainability and financial performance by offering up-to-date empirical insights within the context of emerging markets during the pandemic. It demonstrates how different institutional frameworks influenced the SP–FP association during the crisis. Thus, this paper expands the understanding of crisis management literature and bridges the research void concerning the impact of SP on FP in an emerging market context.

How does environmental concern affect corporate resilience? Evidence from China's energy SMEs

How does environmental concern affect corporate resilience? Evidence from China's energy SMEs

Exploring the effect of digital transformation on firm resilience: Evidence from China

Digital transformation has become a new driving force for the high-quality development of China's economy, and is also an important pivot point to safeguard the development of enterprises and promote the recovery of industries in an uncertain environment. In this paper, we apply textual analysis to measure the digital transformation index using the data of listed companies in China and explore the impact of digital transformation on corporate resilience. The results, which are based on a robustness test and endogeneity test, lead to the conclusion that digital transformation can have a significantly positive impact on enterprise resilience. Mechanism analysis finds that enterprise green innovation and total factor productivity (TFP) are important channels through which digital transformation significantly affects a firm’s resilience. Heterogeneity analysis further shows that the effect is more pronounced among state-owned enterprises (SOE), non-high-tech enterprises, labor-intensive enterprises and technology-intensive enterprises. These findings will help guide policies that promote digital transformation in order to resist the negative effects of external shocks.

Digital technology innovation and corporate resilience

This study identifies over 220,000 digital invention patent applications for digital invention and creates an index of enterprise-level digital technology innovations. Using an empirical analysis based on a two-way fixed-effects model, this study examines the impact of digital technology innovation on enterprise resilience. Results show that digital technology innovations improve enterprise resilience. This improvement is mainly achieved by reducing internal and external information asymmetry, reducing operating costs, improving management levels and operational efficiency, and increasing market profitability and sustainable earning capacity. Moreover, this study extracted all announcements containing phrases such as “strategic alliance,” “strategic co-operation,” and “business alliance” from 3.208 million announcements on the JUCHAO website and further filtered them to select those strategic alliances in digital technology as their content of collaboration and identified them as digital technology strategic alliances. The findings show that companies that join digital technology strategic alliances have a greater impact on improving enterprise resilience. Furthermore, this study found that digital technology innovation can significantly improve the enterprise resilience with better network infrastructure and a more comprehensive intellectual property protection system. This study expands the research scope of the microlevel effects of the digital economy and provides valuable insights for governments to optimize digital economy policies and enterprises to develop digital innovation strategies.

Corporate resilience during crises and the role of ESG factors: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic

This study explores the relationship between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors and investor behavior during the COVID-19 crisis, utilizing a sample of S&P 500 companies. Findings suggest that these factors may not have had a significant influence on investment decisions during this period. Despite a notable overall market response to major COVID-19 related events, our findings reveal that ESG factors provide minimal explanatory power for individual stock price returns. This observation invites further investigation into the conditions under which ESG considerations are prioritized by investors.

Default Risk, Risk Premium, and Corporate Resilience: The Role of Regulatory and Stabilization Policies

This study investigates the interaction between monetary and macroprudential policy measures and evaluates whether policymakers should address financial disruptions. To achieve this goal, we developed a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model that incorporates frictions in financial markets and financial shocks alongside traditional macroeconomic shocks. One of the main focuses of macroprudential policies is to stabilize credit cycles. We used Moroccan data to estimate the model and assess various policy actions to counter imbalances in financial markets, including adjustments to the interest rate tool. Our findings highlight the benefits of addressing financial disruptions, the extent depending on the shock characteristics. While acting on interest rates in response to financial variables may stabilize some economic factors, it has the potential to increase the volatility of others substantially. The results confirm that the use of optimal regimes can reduce default processes and ensure companies stabilize risk premiums. Implementing such regulations leads to greater opening of the companies’ capital to external financing sources. JEL Classification C11, D53, D58, E52, E58

Can the Reform of the Commercial System Enhance the Resilience of Enterprises? Evidence Based on Quasi Natural Experiments

Enterprise resilience refers to the capacity of businesses to effectively respond to crises and achieve sustainable development over the long term. It serves as a crucial assurance for businesses to attain high-quality growth. The current worry among policy makers and academia revolves around the impact of commercial system change on the resilience of firms. This article examines the reform of the commercial system as a “quasi natural experiment” by comparing manually collected data on the reform with data on Chinese A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2022. It thoroughly analyses the effects and mechanisms of the reform on corporate resilience. The research findings suggest that implementing reforms in the commercial system can improve the ability of firms to withstand and recover from challenges. This is primarily accomplished by decreasing limitations on obtaining funding, minimising expenses associated with institutional transactions, and strengthening the capacity for technological innovation. This conclusion remains strong and reliable even after conducting a series of experiments to ensure its robustness and addressing any potential issues related to endogeneity. Furthermore, the reformation of the commercial system has a more potent impact on bolstering the resilience of private firms, large-scale enterprises, highly competitive enterprises, and high-tech enterprises. The research findings of this article have significant implications for advancing the reform of the commercial system, strengthening enterprise resilience, and achieving high-quality development of firms.

The Mechanism of Enterprise Digital Transformation on Resilience from the Perspective of Financial Sustainability

In the period following the global COVID-19 pandemic, financial sustainability has become critical for the survival of enterprises around the world. This paper investigates the mechanisms and implications of digital transformation on resilience from the perspective of financial sustainability, that is, financial resilience. Employing a sample of Chinese listed firms, the study documents that digital transformation was positively related to financial resilience in normal states due to improved internal corporate governance, increased analyst coverage, alleviated financial constraints, and reduced operation risk. The relationship was more significant for companies with digitally literate executives, non–state–owned companies, and high–tech companies. However, it was not significant during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic and for companies with consecutive losses and delisting warnings. These findings provide unique evidence to support the beneficial effects of digital transformation on corporate resilience and to identify strategies for strengthening financial sustainability.

Book-Tax Differences during the Crisis: Does Corporate Social Responsibility Matter?

This study investigates the intricate relationship between corporate financial strategies, encapsulated by book-tax differences (BTDs), and firms’ engagement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs during economic crises. Using an unbalanced panel dataset drawn from financial, annual, and sustainability reports of over 97 Indonesian non-financial firms from 2017 to 2022, this study reveals that economic crises and CSR activities positively influence total BTD and permanent differences. Notably, firms strategically leverage CSR initiatives amidst crises to enhance their corporate image and manage internal challenges like aggressive tax planning. The robustness of these findings was validated through endogeneity analysis and by examining sub-samples from industries most impacted by the pandemic. In the industries least affected by the pandemic, the direct impact of CSR on BTD was found to be negative, indicating that in the general context, the CSR programs held by these industries are largely driven by normative motives. However, when specified in the crisis context, CSR serves as a strategic buffer for these industries, which reaffirms the prevalence of CSR strategic motives during Indonesia’s pandemic challenges. The findings suggest policy implications for shareholders, regulators, and policymakers to ensure CSR transparency aligns with long-term corporate values and societal impact, incentivizing genuine CSR practices amidst economic uncertainty. Despite its contributions, the study recommends future research explore different domains of CSR and validate findings across diverse contexts to enrich the understanding of CSR’s role in corporate resilience strategies.

The Impact of ESG Performance on Corporate Resilience of New Energy Vehicle Companies - The Case of BYD Company

The Impact of ESG Performance on Corporate Resilience of New Energy Vehicle Companies - The Case of BYD Company

The bright side of cross ownership: Evidence from the corporate resilience to COVID‐19 crisis in China

The bright side of cross ownership: Evidence from the corporate resilience to <scp>COVID</scp>‐19 crisis in China

Risk management, operational efficiency and corporate governance in the banking industry: Basis for corporate resiliency framework

Risk management, operational efficiency and corporate governance in the banking industry: Basis for corporate resiliency framework

Impact of Covid-19 on companies’ performance and financial resilience: Evidence from Moroccan listed companies

The study aims to evaluate the impact of Covid-19 on company performance and explore the moderating effect of companies’ financial resilience. Data were retrieved from 312 firm-year observations corresponding to 76 companies listed on the Moroccan Stock Exchange Market throughout 2018–2021. Five regression models are used to examine the overall impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on corporate performance, as well as the specific effect on corporate performance of each of the financial indicators of corporate resilience, namely sales, leverage, liquidity, and financial autonomy. The results show that although there is a decrease in the mean of both ratios of financial and operational performance of Moroccan listed companies, statistical tests confirm only a significant negative effect of Covid-19 on operational performance. The results also show that companies with high sales, low debt, high liquidity, and financial autonomy are more resilient to the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, given the significant size and the sectorial concentration of Moroccan listed companies, there is no statistical evidence that the negative impact of Covid-19 pandemic varies according to business sector or size. Based on the results, a number of recommendations are made for both governments and companies. Governments should maintain, despite the crisis, both public and private investment in order to sustain the growth of companies’ business sales. It is also important to implement solutions for rescheduling social and tax debts to safeguard the liquidity of companies and limit their recourse to costly debt.

Development of a Model for Comprehensive Evaluation of Corporate Resilience Against Disasters (1)—An Examination Based on Indicators Developed by “Resilient Organisations”

“Resilience” is the ability to recover after being affected by a disaster or accident. Companies are expected to be resilient against accidents and disasters; however, no method comprehensively evaluates corporate resilience. As a preparation for developing such an evaluation method, this study examines the 13 Resilience Indicators developed by “Resilient Organisations” as one of the models for organizational resilience to assess whether it comprehensively covers the factors that contribute to corporate resilience. This study compares the indicators with past accidents and disaster cases. Consequently, the study determined that the 13 Resilience Indicators do not explicitly cover the following four factors: (1) risk diversification related to external resources such as suppliers, (2) prompt decision-making and action, (3) countermeasures to protect corporate reputation, and (4) a never-give-up attitude. It cannot be said that this is a definitive conclusion, as subjectivity intervenes in various ways in the examination process. However, this study identified factors that should be considered while developing a model that comprehensively includes factors that contribute to corporate resilience.