Strategies for Organizational Resilience During Pandemics in Small and Medium Enterprises in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Abstract

It is worth noting that availability of a strategy alone is not enough but effective implementation of resilience strategies is paramount. Establishment of strategies is not enough but proper implementation according to the set planned priorities is very important. Not long ago, majority of SMEs in the country have been faced with a number of pandemics ranging from, Covid-19, locust, floods, terrorism as well as the war in Ukraine. This has led to a number of SMEs going under. It is worth noting that resilience strategies are the main action plans that either propel or diminish the overall performance of the SMEs. These strategies should be embedded in the overall strategies of the organization and aligned to the mission and vison of the SMEs. This has brought to the fore a number of queries: could these SMEs be suffering from poor strategic partner’s management? Could there be inadequate ICT deployment among the SMEs? Could there be lack of staff training? Or could it be there is ineffective customer relationship? Upon this premise, the study sought to pursue to determine the influence strategy for organizational resilience during pandemics in SMEs in Uasin Gishu County. Study objectives are: to determine the influence of strategic partner’s management during pandemic in Small and Medium Enterprises in Uasin Gishu County; to examine the influence ICT deployment during pandemics in Small and Medium Enterprises in Uasin Gishu County; to assess the influence of customer relationship during pandemics in Small and Medium Enterprises in Uasin Gishu County; and to determine the influence of capacity building during pandemics in Small and Medium Enterprises in Uasin Gishu County. Theories that anchored this research were: contingency theory; dynamic capability theory and Kurt Lewin’s theory. This research adopts a case study research design. Target population comprises registered SMEs in Uasin Gishu totaling to 272 respondents with a sample of 162. Questionnaires were used to collect data before being analyzed using SPSS software. The questionnaire response rate was 90.1%. The study concluded based on the findings that strategies for resilience during pandemic are very important in ensuring continuity of the business. It can further be concluded that even though capacity building has been very important in ensuring that the staff in SMEs get the required knowledge and skills, it has not had a great impact when done during pandemics. The study further concludes that strategic partner’s management has a relationship with pandemics. The study also concludes that customer relationship during pandemics affect the level of output of the organization. The study also concluded that partners have not been very helpful in supporting SMEs to increase their capacity building during pandemics. Many of the partners are very busy strategizing on how they can wade through the pandemic. It further concludes that external relations have an impact on SMEs during pandemics. Finally, a conclusion is made based on the findings that resilience strategies determines organizational resilience of SMEs during pandemics.