Survive or Succumb: Exploring the Dynamic Capabilities That Influence Business Success and Failure in the Post COVID-19 Pandemic Era

Businesses serve as the engine that drives a nation's economy; however, with the unprecedented crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, its cycle has been severely disrupted. To cope with the sudden environmental shift, several scholars highlighted the role of building dynamic capabilities as a response to times of crisis. Additionally, while existing studies mainly examine the state of business and the role of dynamic capabilities during the post-pandemic era, scant research explores how these competencies were built and honed during the post-pandemic era. On the other hand, with Teece et al.'s (1997) dynamic capability theory as the study's foreshadowing theory, along with the three core dynamics of this theory, namely, processes, positions, and paths, the study assessed the role of a shifting environment and the employment of strategic management in business operations during the said crisis. This essential qualitative study employed a semi-structured interview with ten business owners whose firms are located in the National Capital Region (NCR), Region IV-A (Calabarzon), and Region VI (Western Visayas). The data were then analyzed through thematic analysis and coded through the Tracy Coding Matrix. Findings revealed the dynamic capabilities that emerged from the data. This accounts for five themes that emerged: growth mindset, nomad skills, navigational skills, networking skills, and normalization skills. In line with this, the study explored the firm-level competencies that contribute to business composure, therefore assessing one's capability to sense opportunities or threats, seize opportunities, and reconfigure these for the firm's advantage. The study's findings may assist businesses in ensuring firm survival.