Business Performance during Crisis: A Case Study of Albania in the Period of COVID-19

7th International Scientific Conference – EMAN 2023 – Economics and Management: How to Cope With Disrupted Times, Ljubljana, Slovenia, March 23, 2023, CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS, published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans, Belgrade, Serbia; ISBN 978-86-80194-69-1, ISSN 2683-4510

Abstract:

Albanian businesses, similar to global ones, encountered numerous issues in coping with the various challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic manifested. The uncertainties of the moment, as well as those which many see in the long term, reinforced the role that certain aspects of running a business have in their survival and success. According to the studies con- ducted over the last three years, there was a boom in the financing and technology embraced by businesses to adapt to the situation. The systematic lit- erature review delineates a synopsis of the empirical analysis that various researchers provided as a contribution to overcoming the socio-economic impasse and the prudent management of uncertain future situations. The authors of this paper, given the importance of the factors considered in the study, looked into the approach applied by the “surviving” businesses in Al- bania to withstand the crisis. In the unfolded results, the scarcity of embrac- ing technology in doing business is still surprising.

Keywords:

Albania; Businesses Performance; COVID-19; Working Capital Management; Digitalization

REFERENCES

Akpan, I. J., Soopramanien, D., & Kwak, D. H. (2021). Cutting-edge technologies for small busi- ness and innovation in the era of COVID-19 global health pandemic. Journal of Small Busi- ness & Entrepreneurship, 33(6), 607-617. https://doi.org/10.1080/08276331.2020.1799294

Altig, D., Baker, S., Barrero, J. M., Bloom, N., Bunn, P., Chen, S., Davis, S. J., Leather, J., Meyer, B., Mihaylov, E., Mizen, P., Parker, N., Renault, T., Smietanka, P., & Thwaites, (2020). Economic uncertainty before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Public Economics, 191, 104274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104274

Beiske, B. (2007). Research methods: Uses and limitations of questionnaires, interviews, and case studies (pp. 1-11). GRIN verlag.

Brown, R., & Rocha, A. (2020). Entrepreneurial uncertainty during the COVID-19 crisis: Map- ping the temporal dynamics of entrepreneurial finance. Journal of Business Venturing In- sights, 14, e00174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbvi.2020.e00174

Clark, A., Jit, M., Warren-Gash, C., Guthrie, B., Wang, H. H. X., Mercer, S. W., Sanderson, C.,

McKee, M., Troeger, C., Ong, K. L., Checchi, F., Perel, P., Joseph, S., Gibbs, H. P., Banerjee, A., Eggo, R. M., Nightingale, E. S., O’Reilly, K., Jombart, T., … Jarvis, C. I. (2020). Global, regional, and national estimates of the population at increased risk of severe COV- ID-19 due to underlying health conditions in 2020: a modelling study. The Lancet Global Health, 8(8), e1003-e1017. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2214-109x(20)30264-3

Dimson, J., Mladenov, Z., Sharma, R., & Tadjeddine, K. (2020). COVID-19 and European small and medium-size enterprises: How they are weathering the storm. McKinsey & Company.

Donthu, N., & Gustafsson, A. (2020). Effects of COVID-19 on business and research. Journal of business research, 117, 284-289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.06.008

Durst, S., & Henschel, T. (2021). COVID-19 as an accelerator for developing strong (er) busi- nesses? Insights from Estonian small firms. Journal of the International Council for Small Business, 2(1), 1-29.

Giones, F., Brem, A., Pollack, J. M., Michaelis, T. L., Klyver, K., & Brinckmann, J. (2020). Re- vising entrepreneurial action in response to exogenous shocks: Considering the COV- ID-19 pandemic. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 14, e00186.

He, H., & Harris, L. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on corporate social respon- sibility and marketing philosophy. Journal of business research, 116, 176-182. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.030

 Ilollari, O., Papajorgji, P., & Todri, A. (2021). The need for governmental help for SME recov- ery in Albania. In Proceedings of the 5th UNICART Interdisciplinary International Con- ference. Rome / Castellana Grotte, Bari (Italy).

Janssen, M., Chang, B. P. I., Hristov, H., Pravst, I., Profeta, A., & Millard, J. (2021). Changes in Food Consumption During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of Consumer Survey Data From the First Lockdown Period in Denmark, Germany, and Slovenia. Frontiers in Nutri- tion, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2021.635859

Kalemli-Ozcan, S., Gourinchas, P.-O., Penciakova, V., & Sander, N. (2020). COVID-19 and SME Failures. IMF Working Papers, 2020(207), 1. https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513557748.001

Kottika, E., Özsomer, A., Rydén, P., Theodorakis, I. G., Kaminakis, K., Kottikas, K. G., & Stathakopoulos, V. (2020). We survived this! What managers could learn from SMEs who successfully navigated the Greek economic crisis. Industrial Marketing Management, 88, 352-365.

Kuckertz, A., Brändle, L., Gaudig, A., Hinderer, S., Morales Reyes, C. A., Prochotta, A., Stein- brink, K. M., & Berger, E. S. C. (2020). Startups in times of crisis – A rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 13, e00169. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.jbvi.2020.e00169

Liguori, E. W., & Pittz, T. G. (2020). Strategies for small business: Surviving and thriving in the era of COVID-19. Journal of the International Council for Small Business, 1(2), 106-110. https://doi.org/10.1080/26437015.2020.1779538

McKinsey & Company. (2020). COVID-19: Global health and crisis response, available at https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/business%20functions/risk/our%20in- sights/covid%2019%20implications%20for%20business/covid%2019%20may%2013/cov- id-19-facts-and-insights-may-6.ashx

Obrenovic, B., Du, J., Godinic, D., Tsoy, D., Khan, M. A. S., & Jakhongirov, I. (2020). Sus- taining Enterprise Operations and Productivity during the COVID-19 Pandemic: “En- terprise Effectiveness and Sustainability Model”. Sustainability, 12(15), 5981. https://doi. org/10.3390/su12155981

Ofosu-Ampong, K. (2021). Determinants, Barriers and Strategies of Digital Transformation Adoption in a Developing Country COVID-19 era. Journal of Digital Science, 3(2), 67-83. https://doi.org/10.33847/2686-8296.3.2_5

Ranf, D. E., Mănescu, G., & Badea, D. (2021). Specific Business Continuity Management Prac- tices During the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis. Land Forces Academy Review, 26(1), 62-68.

Research Population. (2009). Explorable.com: https://explorable.com/research-population  Sibik,  B.  (2020).  Preparing  for  a  Pandemic:  Review  Business  Continuity  Plans  Amid Coronavirus      Outbreak.      Retrieved     from  http://www.riskmanagementmonitor.com/ preparing-for-a-pandemic-review-business-continuity-plans-amid-coronavirus-outbreak/

Simon, S., Sawandi, N., Kumar, S., & El-Bannany, M. (2021). Economic downturns and work- ing capital management practices: a qualitative enquiry. Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, 13(4), 529-547. https://doi.org/10.1108/qrfm-09-2020-0181

Thorgren, S., & Williams, T. A. (2020). Staying alive during an unfolding crisis: How SMEs ward off impending disaster. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 14, e00187. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.jbvi.2020.e00187

Verbeke, A., & Yuan, W. (2020). A Few Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Inter- national Business Strategy Research. Journal of Management Studies, 57(8), 1751-1758. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12665

World Bank. (2020). Small and Medium Enterprises (SMES) Finance.