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The Covid-19 outbreak and Business Continuity : an empirical assessment amongst SME’s located in Twente

Haren, Quinten van (2020) The Covid-19 outbreak and Business Continuity : an empirical assessment amongst SME’s located in Twente.

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Abstract:The rise of globalization has resulted in an increasingly complex, lengthy and global supply chain. Besides, firms rely on their supply chain to obtain a competitive advantage. Consequently, the supply chain has become more difficult to manage and not surprisingly, the supply chain is more exposed to risk. These risks can vary in nature, ranging from disruptive low probability- high impact events to non-disruptive high probability-low impact events. In the current study the focus lies on disruptive low probability-high impact events specifically the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to overcome such major supply chain disruptions, adequate response strategies and risk management tools should be implemented to create a resilient firm. Applying several regression models, this study offers theoretical and empirical evidence as to whether a flexible or procedural response strategy minimizes the operational damage caused by Covid-19. Moreover, this study provides insights on whether a business continuity plan moderates the effect of the above mentioned response strategies with regard to lessening the operational damage caused by Covid-19. Lastly, the concept of obtaining the preferred customer status was introduced to provide insights on how obtaining the preferred customer status could diminish the operational damage caused by Covid-19. In this study, the hypotheses were tested based on subjective data (Likert-based responses) and matched from a cross-section of SMEs located in Twente. Results suggest that implementing a flexible response or procedural response strategy has no significant effect on diminishing the operational damage caused by Covid-19. Furthermore, the expected moderating effect of business continuity plans on the response strategies was not detected. Finally, results derived from the analysis indicated that obtaining the preferred customer status has no significant effect on diminishing the operational caused by Covid-19.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:85 business administration, organizational science
Programme:Business Administration MSc (60644)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/83196
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