부산대학교 도서관

The COVID-19 pandemic brought extreme challenges directly impacting the survival of businesses worldwide, including restrictions on inter-regional movement, disruptions in production and supply chains, a sharp decline in consumer demand, and a plummet in business investments. In such dire circumstances, certain essential factors for the survival and sustainable growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have gained significant attention, namely entrepreneurial orientation, digital capabilities, and firm resilience. This study aims to reexamine the characteristics and sub-concepts of corporate resilience, which is still in the exploratory phase academically among SMEs, and seeks to determine whether corporate resilience can mediate the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation, digital capabilities, and corporate performance. Initially, firm resilience is defined as a combination of proactive capabilities to predict and mitigate damage from external shocks, as well as reactive capabilities to acquire, manage, and sustain resources, and transform crises into opportunities for even greater growth compared to the past. Drawing upon resource-based theory and dynamic capability theory, this research empirically investigates the complex relationships among entrepreneurial orientation, digital capabilities, firm resilience, and business performance, utilizing a sample of 197 SMEs that have been established for over five years as of the study's inception date. The results indicate that entrepreneurial orientation and digital capabilities positively influence business performance, and firm resilience mediates the relationship between these variables and business performance. Ultimately, it is revealed that entrepreneurial orientation, digital capabilities, and firm resilience are all crucial competencies for businesses to unearth new opportunities and achieve substantial growth even amidst adversity. Lastly, considering that SMEs often face inherent resource constraints, the study suggests that bold investments in entrepreneurial orientation, digital capabilities, and firm resilience are necessary to secure a competitive advantage and ensure sustainable growth.