Emergent approach to business resilience: a study of Ukrainian enterprises

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3846/btp.2025.22798

Abstract

This study aims to profile the emergent behavioral responses of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ukraine to radical market changes and identify the cause-effect relationships that ensure their resilience through an emergent approach to strategic management. The article analyzes the results of a survey of 500 enterprises within the project “Advisory Support to SMEs in Ukraine Amid the Military Crisis”, implemented by CMC-Ukraine with support from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Data were analyzed using MS Excel and RStudio. The study found that strategic decision-making profiles varied by sector. Grouping responses by functional areas (marketing, operations, finance, HR, digitalization) helped identify emergent strategy frameworks for different company clusters. These best practices were applied in the project “Access to Finance and Support for the Resilience of SMEs in Ukraine”, funded by Deutsche Sparkassenstiftung für Internationale Kooperation, which ran from February to August 2023.

Keywords:

business, consulting, development, economy, emergent strategy, resilience

How to Cite

Hrebeshkova, O., Kyzenko, O., & Verba, V. (2025). Emergent approach to business resilience: a study of Ukrainian enterprises. Business: Theory and Practice, 26(1), 212–222. https://doi.org/10.3846/btp.2025.22798

Share

Published in Issue
May 28, 2025
Abstract Views
64

References

Balzano, M., & Bortoluzzi, G. (2024). Strategic agility: A new paradigm for strategy? In Strategic agility in dynamic business environments: Unveiling foundations, current perspectives, and future directions (pp. 99–108). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-58657-6_5

Barney, J. B. (1996). The resource-based theory of the firm. Organization Science, 7(5), 469–469. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.7.5.469

Bezzubko, B., & Tkachenko, M. (2022). The features of strategies formation of Ukrainian enterprises during the war. Galician Economic Journal, 78–79(5–6), 96–102. https://doi.org/10.33108/galicianvisnyk_tntu2022.05_06.096

Cherevatskyi, D. Yu. (2023). Resilience of the economy and the economics of resilience. Economy of Industry, 1(101), 31–39. https://doi.org/10.15407/econindustry2023.01.031

Chernii, V., Yanovska V, Kravchenko, O., & Tvoronovych, V. (2022). The impact of modern macroeconomic factors on the development of the economic strategies of companies. Forum Scientiae Oeconomia, 10(1), 49–66. https://doi.org/10.23762/FSO_VOL10_NO1_3

Cory, K. (2024). Revisiting “What is strategy?” and why it matters. Strategy & Leadership, 52(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1108/SL-07-2023-0077

Danylenko, A., & Venger, V. (2022). Development of real sector of Ukrainian economy in the framework of the post-war recovery. Finances of Ukraine, 2022(6), 7–32. https://doi.org/10.33763/finukr2022.06.007

Deineko, L., Kushnirenko, O., Tsyplitska, O., & Gakhovych, N. (2022). Ukrainian economy during the military aggression of the Russian Federation and in the period of post-war recovery. Economy of Ukraine, 65(5), 3–25.

European Commission. (2021). Industry 5.0: A transformative vision for Europe (ESIR Policy Brief No. 3). Publications Office of the European Union. https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/38a2fa08-728e-11ec-9136-01aa75ed71a1/language-en

Gajdzik, B., Grabowska, S., & Saniuk, S. (2021). Key socio-economic megatrends and trends in the context of the Industry 4.0 framework. Forum Scientiae Oeconomia, 9(3), 6–21. https://ojs.wsb.edu.pl/index.php/fso/article/view/407/301

Heiets, V. M., Burlai, T. V., & Bliznyuk, V. V. (2023). Social resilience of the national economy through the prism of the experience of the European Union and Ukraine. Economic Theory, 3, 5–43. https://doi.org/10.15407/etet2023.03.005

Ireta-Sanchez, J. M. (2024). From establishment to scaling up of an SME in the IT sector: Deliberate and emergent strategies as critical essentials for the sustainable business model. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 16(6), 1737–1797. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEEE-02-2023-0048

Jarzabkowski, P., Lê, J., Seidl, D., & Vaara, E. (2024). Two decades of revolutionizing strategy research: How strategy-as-practice illuminates the complex, dynamic and consequential ways of doing strategy. Academy of Management Collections, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.5465/amc.2023.0005

Kuzyakiv, O., Angel, Y., Hulik, A., & Fedets, I. (2022). New monthly survey of enterprises (Vol. 8). The Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting. http://www.ier.com.ua/ua/institute/news?pid=7084

Ligonenko, L. O., & Andriichuk, V. A. (2023). Resilience in the economic aspect: Analysis of global trends and prospects for research. Strategy of Economic Development of Ukraine, 52, 16–37. https://doi.org/10.33111/sedu.2023.52.016.037

Mintzberg, H. (1987). The strategy concept I: Five Ps for strategy. California Management Review, 30(1), 11–24. https://doi.org/10.2307/41165263

Mintzberg, H., & Waters, J. A. (1985). Of strategies, deliberate and emergent. Strategic Management Journal, 6, 257–272. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250060306

Mintzberg, H., & Quinn, J. B. (1996). The strategy process: Concepts, contexts, cases. Prentice Hall.

Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B. W., & Lampel, J. (2005). Strategy bites back: It is a lot more, and less, than you ever imagined. Pearson Education.

Mirabeau, L., & Maguire, S. (2014). From autonomous strategic behavior to emergent strategy. Strategic Management Journal, 35(8), 1202–1229. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2149

Ohmae, K. (1982). The mind of the strategist: The art of Japanese business. McGraw Hill.

Prahalad, C. K., & Hamel, G. (1990). The core competence of the corporation. Harvard Business Review, 68(3), 79–91.

Samoiliuk, M. (2024). Ukraine war economy tracker. https://ces.org.ua/tracker-economy-during-the-war/

Seidl, D., Ma, S., & Splitter, V. (2024). What makes activities strategic: Toward a new framework for strategy-as-practice research. Strategic Management Journal, 45(12), 2395–2419. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3668

Shu, E. E. (2017). Emergent strategy in an entrepreneurial firm: the case of Lenovo in its formative years. International Journal of Emerging Markets, 12(3), 625–636. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJoEM-01-2016-0016

Stahurska, S. A. (2023, 18–19 April). Emergent strategies as a timely response of organizations to unforeseen changes. Proceedings from the XIX International scientific and practical conference Problems of enterprise management in modern conditions. Kyiv, Ukraine. https://dspace.nuft.edu.ua/server/api/core/bitstreams/5b108d7f-1f03-4021-a9b4-532499a124cc/content

Stretton, A. (2021). Deliberate and emergent strategies, and a classification of strategic drivers: Revisiting organizational strategic management (3). PM World Journal, X(I). https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/pmwj101-Jan2021-Stretton-Deliberate-and-emergent-strategies-and-classification-of-strategic-drivers.pdf

Tan, H. (2023). Declining industries in emerging economies and firms’ strategies. Critical Perspectives on International Business, 19(2), 234–252. https://doi.org/10.1108/cpoib-01-2021-0015

Teece, D. J. (2007). Explicating dynamic capabilities: The nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. Strategic Management Journal, 28(13), 1319–1350. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.640

Ukrinform. (2022). The Ministry of Economy preliminarily estimates the drop in Ukraine’s GDP for 2022 at the level of 30.4% (±2%). https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-economy/3646860-ekonomika-ukraini-torik-skorotilasa-na-304-minekonomiki.html

Verba, V., Kyzenko, O., & Hrebeshkova, O. (2023, 16 May). Change in development vectors of Ukrainian enterprises in war conditions. In Z. Nedelko & K. Romana (ed.), Proceedings from the 7th FEB International Scientific Conference Strengthening Resilience by Sustainable Economy and Business – Towards the SDGs. Maribor, Slovenia. https://doi.org/10.18690/um.epf.3.2023.36

Verba, V. A., & Grebeshkova, O. M. (2010). Analytical evaluation of managerial technologies for Ukrainian enterprises. Actual Problems of Economics, 5, 52–59.

Winter, S. G. (2003). Understanding dynamic capabilities. Strategic Management Journal, 24(10), 991–995. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.318

World Bank. (2020). Resilient industries: Competitiveness in the face of disasters. World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34764

Zhao, J., Wang, M., & Zhu, L. (2017). How emergent strategy influences institution: A qualitative study of a private firm in China. Chinese Management Studies, 11(2), 303–321. https://doi.org/10.1108/CMS-11-2016-0227

View article in other formats

CrossMark check

CrossMark logo

Published

2025-05-28

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Hrebeshkova, O., Kyzenko, O., & Verba, V. (2025). Emergent approach to business resilience: a study of Ukrainian enterprises. Business: Theory and Practice, 26(1), 212–222. https://doi.org/10.3846/btp.2025.22798

Share