Journal article 61 views
Retail micro-SME resilience during crisis: failing, surviving and thriving as outcomes of bricolage
Dafydd Cotterell,
Robert Bowen 
,
Louisa Huxtable-Thomas
,
Louisa Huxtable-Thomas
International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Volume: ahead of print, Issue: ahead of print, Pages: 1 - 20
Swansea University Authors:
Dafydd Cotterell, Louisa Huxtable-Thomas
Full text not available from this repository: check for access using links below.
DOI (Published version): 10.1108/ijebr-10-2025-1543
Abstract
PurposeThe global business environment faces ongoing disruption from numerous unprecedented crises. These crises – including the aftermath of COVID-19, Mpox, Brexit, climate change, American trade tariffs and war in Europe and the Middle East – have created complex challenges for business, where the...
| Published in: | International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1355-2554 1758-6534 |
| Published: |
Emerald
2026
|
| Online Access: |
Check full text
|
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71970 |
| first_indexed |
2026-05-21T11:56:37Z |
|---|---|
| last_indexed |
2026-06-09T08:55:03Z |
| id |
cronfa71970 |
| recordtype |
SURis |
| fullrecord |
<?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2026-06-08T15:12:27.0369757</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>71970</id><entry>2026-05-21</entry><title>Retail micro-SME resilience during crisis: failing, surviving and thriving as outcomes of bricolage</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>b832071c979b9d070715233950ccdcea</sid><ORCID/><firstname>Dafydd</firstname><surname>Cotterell</surname><name>Dafydd Cotterell</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author><author><sid>35e6a4c9432210aad639b70129baebab</sid><ORCID>0000-0002-3642-4521</ORCID><firstname>Louisa</firstname><surname>Huxtable-Thomas</surname><name>Louisa Huxtable-Thomas</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2026-05-21</date><deptcode>CBAE</deptcode><abstract>PurposeThe global business environment faces ongoing disruption from numerous unprecedented crises. These crises – including the aftermath of COVID-19, Mpox, Brexit, climate change, American trade tariffs and war in Europe and the Middle East – have created complex challenges for business, where the development of resilience has become essential. Existing research identifies bricolage as a key behaviour for supporting business resilience; however, enablers of bricolage are poorly understood. Thus, the purpose of this research is to evaluate the enablers of bricolage behaviour as a form of resilience to unprecedented crises.Design/methodology/approachThis research deploys a qualitative methodology where semi-structured interviews form the research instrument. Maximum variation sampling achieved a response rate of 20 interviews from retail micro small and medium-sized enterprise (micro-SME) owner-managers. The data collected were analysed using Braun and Clarke's (2006, 2021) reflexive thematic analysis method, where a thematic map was subsequently developed.FindingsThis research identified three outcomes of bricolage across the retail micro-SMEs that participated in this study. These outcomes are presented as businesses that failed, survived or thrived as a result of the crisis. It was identified that the most resilient were able to enable bricolage by leveraging business support, business experience and business age.Originality/valueThis study contributes to existing bricolage research by extending understandings of how bricolage can be successfully deployed in practice. While previous research has simply identified resource bricolage behaviour as a form of resilience, this research presents three bricolage enablers which support its deployment under crisis conditions.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior &amp; Research</journal><volume>ahead of print</volume><journalNumber>ahead of print</journalNumber><paginationStart>1</paginationStart><paginationEnd>20</paginationEnd><publisher>Emerald</publisher><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint>1355-2554</issnPrint><issnElectronic>1758-6534</issnElectronic><keywords>Bricolage, Resilience, SMEs, Crisis</keywords><publishedDay>22</publishedDay><publishedMonth>5</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2026</publishedYear><publishedDate>2026-05-22</publishedDate><doi>10.1108/ijebr-10-2025-1543</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Management School</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>CBAE</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>Not Required</apcterm><funders/><projectreference/><lastEdited>2026-06-08T15:12:27.0369757</lastEdited><Created>2026-05-21T12:51:18.0092893</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences</level><level id="2">School of Management - Business Management</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Dafydd</firstname><surname>Cotterell</surname><orcid/><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>Robert</firstname><surname>Bowen</surname><orcid>0000-0002-8492-2701</orcid><order>2</order></author><author><firstname>Louisa</firstname><surname>Huxtable-Thomas</surname><orcid>0000-0002-3642-4521</orcid><order>3</order></author></authors><documents/><OutputDurs/></rfc1807> |
| spelling |
2026-06-08T15:12:27.0369757 v2 71970 2026-05-21 Retail micro-SME resilience during crisis: failing, surviving and thriving as outcomes of bricolage b832071c979b9d070715233950ccdcea Dafydd Cotterell Dafydd Cotterell true false 35e6a4c9432210aad639b70129baebab 0000-0002-3642-4521 Louisa Huxtable-Thomas Louisa Huxtable-Thomas true false 2026-05-21 CBAE PurposeThe global business environment faces ongoing disruption from numerous unprecedented crises. These crises – including the aftermath of COVID-19, Mpox, Brexit, climate change, American trade tariffs and war in Europe and the Middle East – have created complex challenges for business, where the development of resilience has become essential. Existing research identifies bricolage as a key behaviour for supporting business resilience; however, enablers of bricolage are poorly understood. Thus, the purpose of this research is to evaluate the enablers of bricolage behaviour as a form of resilience to unprecedented crises.Design/methodology/approachThis research deploys a qualitative methodology where semi-structured interviews form the research instrument. Maximum variation sampling achieved a response rate of 20 interviews from retail micro small and medium-sized enterprise (micro-SME) owner-managers. The data collected were analysed using Braun and Clarke's (2006, 2021) reflexive thematic analysis method, where a thematic map was subsequently developed.FindingsThis research identified three outcomes of bricolage across the retail micro-SMEs that participated in this study. These outcomes are presented as businesses that failed, survived or thrived as a result of the crisis. It was identified that the most resilient were able to enable bricolage by leveraging business support, business experience and business age.Originality/valueThis study contributes to existing bricolage research by extending understandings of how bricolage can be successfully deployed in practice. While previous research has simply identified resource bricolage behaviour as a form of resilience, this research presents three bricolage enablers which support its deployment under crisis conditions. Journal Article International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research ahead of print ahead of print 1 20 Emerald 1355-2554 1758-6534 Bricolage, Resilience, SMEs, Crisis 22 5 2026 2026-05-22 10.1108/ijebr-10-2025-1543 COLLEGE NANME Management School COLLEGE CODE CBAE Swansea University Not Required 2026-06-08T15:12:27.0369757 2026-05-21T12:51:18.0092893 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Management - Business Management Dafydd Cotterell 1 Robert Bowen 0000-0002-8492-2701 2 Louisa Huxtable-Thomas 0000-0002-3642-4521 3 |
| title |
Retail micro-SME resilience during crisis: failing, surviving and thriving as outcomes of bricolage |
| spellingShingle |
Retail micro-SME resilience during crisis: failing, surviving and thriving as outcomes of bricolage Dafydd Cotterell Louisa Huxtable-Thomas |
| title_short |
Retail micro-SME resilience during crisis: failing, surviving and thriving as outcomes of bricolage |
| title_full |
Retail micro-SME resilience during crisis: failing, surviving and thriving as outcomes of bricolage |
| title_fullStr |
Retail micro-SME resilience during crisis: failing, surviving and thriving as outcomes of bricolage |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Retail micro-SME resilience during crisis: failing, surviving and thriving as outcomes of bricolage |
| title_sort |
Retail micro-SME resilience during crisis: failing, surviving and thriving as outcomes of bricolage |
| author_id_str_mv |
b832071c979b9d070715233950ccdcea 35e6a4c9432210aad639b70129baebab |
| author_id_fullname_str_mv |
b832071c979b9d070715233950ccdcea_***_Dafydd Cotterell 35e6a4c9432210aad639b70129baebab_***_Louisa Huxtable-Thomas |
| author |
Dafydd Cotterell Louisa Huxtable-Thomas |
| author2 |
Dafydd Cotterell Robert Bowen Louisa Huxtable-Thomas |
| format |
Journal article |
| container_title |
International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research |
| container_volume |
ahead of print |
| container_issue |
ahead of print |
| container_start_page |
1 |
| publishDate |
2026 |
| institution |
Swansea University |
| issn |
1355-2554 1758-6534 |
| doi_str_mv |
10.1108/ijebr-10-2025-1543 |
| publisher |
Emerald |
| college_str |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| hierarchytype |
|
| hierarchy_top_id |
facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences |
| hierarchy_top_title |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| hierarchy_parent_id |
facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences |
| hierarchy_parent_title |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| department_str |
School of Management - Business Management{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Management - Business Management |
| document_store_str |
0 |
| active_str |
0 |
| description |
PurposeThe global business environment faces ongoing disruption from numerous unprecedented crises. These crises – including the aftermath of COVID-19, Mpox, Brexit, climate change, American trade tariffs and war in Europe and the Middle East – have created complex challenges for business, where the development of resilience has become essential. Existing research identifies bricolage as a key behaviour for supporting business resilience; however, enablers of bricolage are poorly understood. Thus, the purpose of this research is to evaluate the enablers of bricolage behaviour as a form of resilience to unprecedented crises.Design/methodology/approachThis research deploys a qualitative methodology where semi-structured interviews form the research instrument. Maximum variation sampling achieved a response rate of 20 interviews from retail micro small and medium-sized enterprise (micro-SME) owner-managers. The data collected were analysed using Braun and Clarke's (2006, 2021) reflexive thematic analysis method, where a thematic map was subsequently developed.FindingsThis research identified three outcomes of bricolage across the retail micro-SMEs that participated in this study. These outcomes are presented as businesses that failed, survived or thrived as a result of the crisis. It was identified that the most resilient were able to enable bricolage by leveraging business support, business experience and business age.Originality/valueThis study contributes to existing bricolage research by extending understandings of how bricolage can be successfully deployed in practice. While previous research has simply identified resource bricolage behaviour as a form of resilience, this research presents three bricolage enablers which support its deployment under crisis conditions. |
| published_date |
2026-05-22T05:48:39Z |
| _version_ |
1868308801724088320 |
| score |
11.109851 |