The Challenges Underlying Firm Revival and Resilience in the Post-COVID-19 Phase

Abstract

Covid-19 is an exogenous shock that has deeply modified the basic building blocks and the micro-mechanisms on which socio-economic systems and organizations rest. The vast majority of both factor markets and final markets have been significantly disrupted on a worldwide scale. As all factors that determine severe crises, the Covid-19 pandemic is a low probability and high impact shock which has significantly changed the environment in which firms operate (Grewal and Tansuhaj 2001, Hudecheck et al. 2020). Such changes have nonetheless been asymmetric, whilst they have menaced the survival of a huge number of firms and have brought to their knees many key industries, it has also ignited rapid growth in consolidated or new fields. Whilst entire industries such as tourism, Ho.re.ca, traditional retail are suffering huge losses, existent firms or star-ups in fields related to addressing the Covid-19 pandemic challenge, such as firms in pharmaceutical and medical industries connected to tracing, testing and diagnostics, treatment and vaccination, as well as industries connected to digital technology development and distribution, healthcare, home computing and working have experienced exponential growth opportunities. In order to scrutinize the challenges underlying firm resilience and revival in Covid-19 crisis and post-Covid phases, in this section we illustrate the substantial impacts of Covid-19 on both final markets and factor markets. These impacts call for a proactive approach to deal with fast-changing consumer demand and supply chain management. Then, we focus on the adoption of pivoting to sense and seize the entrepreneurial opportunities emerging during the Covid-19 crisis. Finally, we present an overview of the major post-pandemic governmental interventions aimed at consolidating the financial stability of Italian firms.