Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities of countless organizations beyond their size, type, and location. In the UK context, a diverse sector of ethnic small and medium enterprises (SMEs) turns out to be the most precarious group among all private sectors. Many ethnic SMEs shut down their business operations during the pandemic and still a large portion of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) owners have huge concerns regarding their businesses’ survival and resilience. Current UK-centric studies have focused on the business population at large and there is a gap in terms of ethnic SMEs and how they were affected by COVID-19. Moreover, there is a need to further knowledge and academic research to investigate the fundamental factors that could strengthen the resilience of ethnic SMEs as well as contribute to long-term sustainability. Therefore, this study captures the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on UK ethnic SMEs as well as to assess the survival measures taken by ethnic SMEs during COVID-19. This study includes a systematic review of the literature that specifically addresses the contextual analysis of ethnic SMEs in the UK, the COVID-19 impact on diverse business sectors and their resilience strategy. We conceptualized that ethnic SMEs are having different challenges compared to their majority white-owned SMEs. Thus, they have experienced a more intense impact of COVID-19 both economically and psychologically. We propose that entrepreneurial, financial and HR resilience are crucial for their post-pandemic recovery as well as for sustainability.
Presenters
Muhammad Bilal MustafaPhD Scholar, Business School, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Community Diversity and Governance
KEYWORDS
COVID-19 PANDEMIC, ETHNIC MINORITY SMES, RESILIENCE, BUSINESS DIVERSITY, SUSTAINABILITY
