Abstract: The COVID-19 outbreak has triggered the largest public health crisis– largely unpredictable - for the global economy and its dramatic consequences are still affecting the social, political and economic context worldwide (WEF, 2020; WHO, 2020). All companies belonging to different sectors have been (and still are) called to tackle new risks and uncertainties (Ritter and Pederson, 2020). In such a context SMEs have particularly suffered the economic downturn since this has amplified and accelerated the effects of the crisis compared to larger firms (Cowling et al., 2020; OECD, 2020; Pencarelli et al., 2021). Crises are always an expression of the fragility of societies. At the same time, they are also tests of our resilience and require radical changes in the face of radical shocks (Manyena, 2006; Zolli and Healy, 2012). In this vein, companies are called to looking inward to truly understand what is needed (in terms of new strategies, products, competencies, etc.) to move forward and activate those changes - in the production systems, in the organization, in the relationships with the markets - that cannot be postponed any longer (Cortez and Johnston, 2020; Modina, 2020). Starting from these premises the works aims to investigate under the theoretical and empirical perspectives how the crisis has emphasized the need to (re)think about the economy and society as a whole (Barbier and Burgess, 2020), accelerating the innovation of the business models towards sustainability (Donthu and Gustafsson, 2020; Giones et al., 2020). In this vein, the humanistic management approach (Pirson and Lawrence, 2010; Spitzeck, 2011; Melé, 2013 and 2016; Dierksmeier, 2016) will be discussed through the analysis of multiple case studies (Yin, 1981) to understand the entrepreneurs/managers’ capability to guide their business toward a holistic model of development that rests on essential drivers of moral, cultural and intangible values fostered by business activities (Spitzeck 2011, Dierksmeier 2016) and assess the soundness of this approach in overcoming the crisis caused by the pandemic.
OVERCOMING THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK THROUGH HUMANISTIC MANAGEMENT: A SUSTAINABLE PERSPECTIVE FOR BUSINESS?
MARA DEL BALDO
2021
Abstract
Abstract: The COVID-19 outbreak has triggered the largest public health crisis– largely unpredictable - for the global economy and its dramatic consequences are still affecting the social, political and economic context worldwide (WEF, 2020; WHO, 2020). All companies belonging to different sectors have been (and still are) called to tackle new risks and uncertainties (Ritter and Pederson, 2020). In such a context SMEs have particularly suffered the economic downturn since this has amplified and accelerated the effects of the crisis compared to larger firms (Cowling et al., 2020; OECD, 2020; Pencarelli et al., 2021). Crises are always an expression of the fragility of societies. At the same time, they are also tests of our resilience and require radical changes in the face of radical shocks (Manyena, 2006; Zolli and Healy, 2012). In this vein, companies are called to looking inward to truly understand what is needed (in terms of new strategies, products, competencies, etc.) to move forward and activate those changes - in the production systems, in the organization, in the relationships with the markets - that cannot be postponed any longer (Cortez and Johnston, 2020; Modina, 2020). Starting from these premises the works aims to investigate under the theoretical and empirical perspectives how the crisis has emphasized the need to (re)think about the economy and society as a whole (Barbier and Burgess, 2020), accelerating the innovation of the business models towards sustainability (Donthu and Gustafsson, 2020; Giones et al., 2020). In this vein, the humanistic management approach (Pirson and Lawrence, 2010; Spitzeck, 2011; Melé, 2013 and 2016; Dierksmeier, 2016) will be discussed through the analysis of multiple case studies (Yin, 1981) to understand the entrepreneurs/managers’ capability to guide their business toward a holistic model of development that rests on essential drivers of moral, cultural and intangible values fostered by business activities (Spitzeck 2011, Dierksmeier 2016) and assess the soundness of this approach in overcoming the crisis caused by the pandemic.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
