Reorienting the organisational strategy of SMEs during the COVID-19 crisis: can entrepreneurial orientation help?

Purpose: This paper offers innovative strategies on how small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can respond to the COVID-19 crisis by incorporating an entrepreneurial orientation concept corresponding to the nature of the environmental shock. Design/methodology/approach: This paper conceptualises a solution by elaborating three critical items, namely entrepreneurial orientation, adaptive process and strategy types as key factors to develop the framework solution. This paper outlines a strategy proposal for SMEs to respond to the crisis. Findings: The environmental factor represents the crisis, which leads to a degree of innovation, i.e., radical and incremental, and can be approached using an adjusted adaptive consolidation process from Child. This paper identifies four strategy options from Miles and Snow to respond to the crisis; i.e. (1) defender–exploitative innovation; (2) analyser–organisational ambidexterity; (3) prospector–exploratory innovation and (4) reactor–abandon or shut down the business. Originality/value: While most of the suggestions from previous COVID-19-related works are acknowledged, this paper brings more insight from an academic perspective, specifically organisational theory, to cope with the pandemic crisis. The steps and strategy to be chosen can guide policymakers to decide what is their best move to respond to this crisis. In addition, the proposed strategies call for future research to provide empirical evidence by exploring and examining various scenarios in different kinds of businesses. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.