Publication: Resilience is a Key Resource for Entrepreneurs

Resilience is an essential skill and resource for businesses and entrepreneurs. Crises in the recent years, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, have further increased the significance of resilience also in the European business landscape. The importance of resilience becomes especially emphasized during crises and unexpected situations. In those the lack of it can lead to significant financial losses or even bankruptcy. A recent publication from the Kerttu Saalasti Institute at the University of Oulu delves into this topic.
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Resilience refers to the ability of an individual or organization to recover from challenges and adversities. To clarify the ongoing discussion surrounding entrepreneurial resilience, researchers Santeri Halonen and Peetu Virkkala from the Micro-Entrepreneurship Centre MicroENTRE® at the Kerttu Saalasti Institute, University of Oulu, recently published a comprehensive literature review on the resilience of micro- and small entrepreneurs in the American Journal of Management.

Halonen and Virkkala conducted a systematic literature review to explore how entrepreneurial resilience is examined in academic literature and what is already known about its development. Through systematic data collection and classification, they identified 36 key studies related to the resilience of micro- and small-scale entrepreneurs. The data revealed that the development of resilience in businesses can be approached from three perspectives: processes, individuals, and tangible and intangible resources. This highlights the multifaceted nature of entrepreneurial resilience and the need for its comprehensive development.

The studies show that an entrepreneur's resilience develops as a learning process when facing challenges and crises. Therefore encountering crises and challenges is beneficial for the development of entrepreneurial resilience, provided the entrepreneur is able to overcome them. The research provides an overview of entrepreneurial resilience, enabling its more comprehensive consideration in research and project activities related to micro- and small-scale entrepreneurs.

The findings are useful for both academic research and practical business development, offering tools for enhancing entrepreneurial resilience and identifying resilience factors. These results have already been used as a basis for further research and in the development of entrepreneur training programs, such as those in the Laukaa Yritystankkaamo project, which aims to strengthen entrepreneurs' resilience through community support and shared workspace.

Publication:
Entrepreneurial Resilience in the Micro and Small Business Context – Systematic Literature Review.
Halonen, Santeri; Virkkala, Peetu (2023-10-24)

Last updated: 1.10.2024