Micro and small-medium enterprises represent the backbone of the Slovenian economy and are therefore more exposed to the occurrence of exogenous shocks, such as the covid-19 pandemic, which was completely different in comparison to other past crises based on its scale and unpredictable effects. The aforementioned companies could have perceived the crisis as an opportunity, in terms of their flexibility, or, conversely, the pandemic could have posed a threat to their survival due to limited internal resources that bigger companies may have at their disposal. Additionally, the success of coping with uncertain situations depends on the behaviour and personality traits of their leaders, which are directly reflected in the strategic decisions of the company. This master thesis focuses on the responses of Slovenian micro and small business leaders to the covid-19 pandemic in relation to its perceived impact and consequences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in order to provide an in-depth insight into the performance of the companies during this unprecedented time, with particular focus on the response of their leaders to such an exogenous shock. The results revealed that the pandemic actually caused minimal impact and consequence for the micro and small business leaders, mainly due to the companies’ small size providing a higher resilience and their ability to respond quickly based on intuitive decisions as a result of their past entrepreneurial and practical experiences within the industry they work in.
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