Adaptation, Learning, and Survival During an Unprecedented Shock: The Pandemic and Entrepreneurship
Saturday July 30th
9:00AM-11:30AM EDT
Panelists
Rajshree Agarwal (University of Maryland)
Vibha Gaba (INSEAD)
Constance Helfat (Dartmouth College)
Peter Klein (Baylor University)
Hayagreeva Rao (Stanford University)
Kathleen Sutcliffe (Johns Hopkins University)
Charlie Williams (Bocconi University)
Organizers
Andrea Contigiani (Ohio State University)
Sunasir Dutta (University of Minnesota)
The world has been affected by an unprecedented shock during this past year. Beyond affecting the health of people, the global emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has threatened firms in developed and developing countries. While the strategic management literature has studied adaptation to technological change, natural disasters, and other unexpected events, this environmental shock was qualitatively different. In the context of this turbulence, entrepreneurial firms are likely to be an especially vulnerable category. The purpose of this PDW is to reflect on what we know and what we have yet to learn about how nascent firms can adapt to a global shock of this magnitude. We designed a multidisciplinary event, combining speakers with expertise in strategic management and related areas of management research, to explore the several facets of this complex phenomenon. The PDW is designed to generate interaction, debate, and brainstorming. To do so, the program includes four phases: 1) a series of scholarly presentations by the speakers, 2) a Q&A session moderated by the organizers, 3) a series of breakout-room conversations led by the speakers to brainstorm research questions within their areas, and 4) a concluding discussion where each breakout-room shares their insights with the broader audience.