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Hence, the application of the relevant method, the form of layout, and technique guarantees that the modeling of detailed data and allowed to formulate precise conclusions.
In the grounded theory it is recommended to offer multiple sources of evidence and allow designs to emerge during the study (Suter, 2012). The mentioned to evaluate, present and summarize upon the agglomerated opinions and facts. Next, transcription and interpretation follow. Consequently, the data is aggregated and structural-semantic analysis of the entrepreneurs' answers takes place. Sorting data into categories helped to define properties and make sense of them by discovering the relationships among categories. (Suter, 2012). I will follow this sequence of steps to review the research results building upon firstly, coded transcripts, secondly, detailed notes, thirdly, company documents, and lastly, follow-up sessions.
Respondent validation further works as an important means of increasing the credibility of the information. In the analysis phase, a close examination of the research design, method, and process guarantee the reliability and validity of the research findings. Amidst evolving theories and concepts, I decided to concentrate on principal questions and associate the pivotal issues with the scientific literature. (Young, 2018)
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Further, it was explained by the key lesson from the previous crises: to hedge the operations with several suppliers, to ensure reliability. The particular crisis management plan was not mentioned, but from the shared information, we may conclude that the company was moving within the
"persevering" strategy. Obviously, there were at least two cost-cutting measures-cancelation of bonuses ("we have agreed on the abandonment of 13 salary practice") and additional sales for long-term clients ("just a small drop in prices -5-7% "). The respondent opened up about the thoughts to fire some staff members, but due to the comparatively small collective, this idea was abandoned. A peculiar point about the organization is that the core staff members are in their sixties and their health risks were much higher. Thus, cross-age mentoring to enhance digital literacy and facilitate remote work was needed. The latter fully reflects the Insight-Driven Actions suggested by Harvard Business School, & Kniffin, M. (2020, June), however, as the entrepreneur stated this process was not organized in the best manner due to the his overall business and lack of young employees (to act as a mentor or tutor/mentor). Indeed, among the mentioned changes the modernization of document management system was mentioned (to ensure access for work- from-home employees and maintains of security). To sum up, the most common comment was
"we have done our best to keep our position" which goes in line with the persevering strategy. The clarifying questions at the additional session have proved the commitment to the overmentioned attitude as the owner of SME looking back at his experience believes that such corporate policy contributes to the sustainability of the company in the medium run "as crises in Russia are so often, that the main goal is to have a financial airbag to ensure the business lasts”.
The first firm owner has also shared his opinion on governmental measures during the pandemic outbreak. As every other businessperson who was involved in the interview and moreover, as every their acquaintances, the first SME owner said that the most required help was financial. Again, unlike the information actively shared in the news, the businessman has stated that there is a certain information overload and thus it was hard to find to what State support program you are eligible for and what particular documents you should provide to obtain it.
Overall, the satisfaction with the interaction is below average as no financial or any other kind of help was obtained as well as no clarity from all the institutions that communicate with SME was present, but "luckily, no additional checks by the State either".
Firm 2 small tools, tool carriers and test meters retailer
The second company is operating in the equipment trade with a total history of 22 years.
At the beginning of 2020, the company had 38 employees, at the end of the year -37. The annual enterprise profit at the end of the pandemic year was more than 15 mln. The owner has extensive
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crisis experience before the COVID-19 outbreak and thus suggested that he has a "certain structured plan of actions that can be organically fit in any economic circumstances". The businessman has admitted that the company had experienced a 10% drop in revenue for 2 lockdown months, partly due to the discontinuation of cooperation with certain counteragents (due to their inability to pay the bills in time).
The most notable force that has affected the revenue drop was the necessity to rice prices due to the exchange rate volatility (it should be noted that this was done "by all players in our market segment"). This remark fully illustrates the recent finding of Magram Market Research.
The later within survey among 1,609 small and medium-sized Russian companies has revealed that “44% of enterprises to a considerable degree depend on the volatility of the ruble” (РБК, 2020) and what is more relevant to the study “ 1 out of 4 enterprises completely shifts the cost of currency fluctuations on the final consumer” (РБК, 2020).
The SME owner indicated that the company has dived into digitalization to ensure smooth operations and fit the new market conditions. In particular, it was mentioned that the firm has invested in IT (Doc.Office, CRM MANGO OFFICE), equipment as well as strengthened its presence on the online platforms. Moreover, it was stated that the innovating approach in the majority of functional spheres (except of salary reduction and working hours reduction for 2 months) has helped to increase revenue up to 20% by the end of the year. Additionally, the enterprise has been actively searching for new marketing channels and has tested several (A Unified Register of SME was advised as a trustworthy and effective source). Considering the priorities-reaching out to new audiences rather than reducing costs, was the prominent one. Within the follow-up session, the businessman asserted that exclusively these measures and no other has spurred the recovery that came in March. The questions upon the State support were answered as well. The summary of this block is "allegedly very low quality of all other support except financial, but financial was late and insufficient". The respondent nevertheless has mentioned a reduction in visits and checks by the authorities that mitigated the stress overload and helped to concentrate on the operational tasks.
Firm 3 retail trade sector and collateral service
SME 3 is working on the retail trade sector and collateral service. The company has been operating for over 25 years and its yearly profit above 20 million. The owner doesn't have any business-related education and acts according to "personal experience and common sense". There are 4 employees and none of them was fired during the crisis. Apparently, the enterprise has an
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impressive crisis experience. When the virus outbreak happened, the business recorded a sudden decrease in orders that was estimated at around 10%. Though, the circumstance changed drastically when the government implemented the quarantine policy: "People were stack at home and started to reorganize space they live in, invest in new furniture and interior items, this is one of the major parts of our portfolio, thus we managed to use the situation for our best". The preliminary consideration of the economic outcome of the business during this period is an increase of profit by 30% (after the 10% drop mentioned earlier).
The owner has described his actions as mostly client-oriented and innovative: new products were provided, new counteragents were found (the old ones were utilized as well, no reduction of their list), special offers (5% sale) were introduced for both new and constant consumers.
Talking about the HR aspect of the enterprise, it was mentioned that except for a short period of the decrease of the working day hours ( for 2 weeks) nothing else was implemented as digital literacy of all staff members was on a high level and no special training was needed (still, he noted that the utilization of Google doc to enhance collaborative document editing has increased). Further dialog about the digitalization revealed that like Firm 2, Firm 3 integrated new technologies for data storage and communication several years before the COVID-19 outbreak, thus just small alterations were needed to comply with the governmental restrictions. Other measures that were taken to ensure smooth operations included acting closely with business partners: suppliers and wholesalers retailers (the businessman stated that to keep good relations and expand the base of counteragents the period of collecting the accounts receivable was extended). As for the government support the businessman has suggested that he has used other sources of financial resources (has lent money from friends) to cover shortages of liquidity and to invest in new marketing companies. The main explanation for such an approach is general mistrust towards the State and fear of follow-up inspections. Still, the owner has highly valued the sanitary measures that were implemented and suggested that they were fully justified.
In terms of the State policy, the owner argued that there was an “enormous flow of information-controversial at times”. Indeed, several of the respondents have also stressed the attention on the list of the official information sources that contain anti-pandemic measures for business and were quite hard to navigate in. The owner of the 3d company has tried to obtain an interest-free salary loan, but was not able to feel the form and collect all the documents on time.
After several weeks when the necessary procedures were completed the urgent need for money has passed. As a conclusion, the businessman has a skeptical attitude to governmental support policy as has not experienced it in practice.
62 Firm 4 production of ladders
The founder of the 4th company is an engineer and his enterprise produces ladders for everyday and professional use. Officially the company was set up 11 years ago but the first business experience in this field the entrepreneur got more than 20 years ago. The owner is a top manager as well, despite him, the company is run by a board of directors and investors. The firm has over 100 employees the majority of which are foreign workers (during the 2020 year the amount of workers has increased by 15%). The company's annual profit is more than 20 million rubles (within the pandemic year the decline was about 10%: harsh drop for 40% in April and from June the constant growth). The founder explained that he has more than 20 years of managing a company in the realities of the Russian economy and thus has knowledge of crisis management.
This explains the crisis action plan that was developed as soon as the first signs of turbulence appeared. As for the production side, the COVID-19 outbreak has triggered the reorientation of the demand towards the cheaper models, thus the business has altered its portfolio as well. The company has invested resources (internal and governmental) to purchase new equipment and not to lay out personal. In terms of staff policy, the businessmen state that the policy was dictated by the goal of preserving collective and by sanitary measures: shortening of working hours, salary cut down for 1/3 for 3 months, and holidays with pay. Looking back at the HR policy entrepreneur suggested that "it was totally correct not to fire people as the busy season that came after a couple of months of decline and stagnation made us work beyond full capacity (there was no chance to bring migrant workersdue to closed borders) ". The company had no intention to invest additional resources in training personal as several years prior to the crisis the digitalization process has been launched and as a result, by the end of 2019 all the necessary knowledge was acquired by the employees. Still, he spoke of the need to increased data security measures as due to the massive transition of the companies to digital sphere the number of cyber-attacks increased: “ I personally purchased Data Fort for protection against unauthorized access as my colleagues recommended this particular service. Prior 2020 we have used simpler IT solutions because there was not that many spam and viruses”. The owner admits that there was no need to alter price policy (sales, bundles, etc) as "with the utilization of new product strategy and booming demand the business has restored quite well". The discussion also had addressed the cash flow during the COVID-19 crisis. The entrepreneur has explained that the majority of counterparties have asked for the extension of terms of return of the debts simultaneously, his company for its part has utilized this measure as well to ensure smoother operations. This is a noteworthy reference because several studies across different countries have pointed out the same tendency: ”building trust during the pandemic was of mutual interests and social cohesion. Many individuals, businesses, and
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organizations worked together to build trust, exchange obligations and cooperation” (Igwe, 2020).
The opinion about the government help was exclusively positive: the owner has stated that he acquired all the help that he was asked for and even has become a member of the special programs for exporting SMEs. He said that the government has supported the development a lot, but the main decision considering the reorganization in accordance with the sanitary measures was developed by his own team and there was no assistance in this field. An active cooperation with The National Priority Projects of the Russian Federation and The Industrial Development Fund was described by the businessman as a pivotal point in his crisis management story. According to the entrepreneur, the governmental actions were effective and all the decisionmakers from the State side were “exceptionally reciprocal”. Nevertheless, he admitted that the government did not proceed expeditiously, thus “10% of the planned budget was lost”.
Firm 5 car rental enterprise
Car rental enterprise 5 is actively operating on the market since 2007 and the owner despite nonbusiness education has a vast experience and entrepreneurial mindset (current business is not his firstendeavour). The company has hired 5 staff members, but the pandemic has made the owner cut down the list of subordinates. The office has not been closed even for a day. However, they have changed the working schedule significantly: on usual days, the specialists have 3/3 timetable, but to ensure non-proliferation of the virus they have switched to 7/7. As for other measures with regard to HR the owner has stated that due to the overall nervousness and uncertainty the productivity of his employees has declined and the lack of bonuses (that were usually paid from profit) and regular face to face meetings (that used to maintain "order and personal bonds") have significantly deteriorated the situation. This point is ultimately common and quantitative do show the same results. For instance, a recent study of Visa Inc. (an American multinational financial services corporation) among Russian entrepreneurs has demonstrated that every fifth businessman experienced a negative impact of work from home on the productivity of employees during quarantine (Visa, 2020).
The businessman has suggested that the total loss was about 7% with a maximum decline of 25% in April. The additional burden was business credit, lease payments, and the personal mortgage of the entrepreneur. The company's pre-crisis development plan has included a full renovation of cars however, all plans were canceled, and the last new car was bought in March 2020. Still, considering this particular sphere of business the owner has a positive attitude and full determination to fulfill that goal in summer 2021. When it comes to customer, approach the
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company has added additional services namely it provided each client with masks and gloves as well as sanitizers. Additionally, the entrepreneur stated that they offered 1 free day and complimentary pick-up. Further, to improve drivers experience the owner has started using surveys to collect feedbacks. At the time of interview, he utilized SurveyMonkey and was generally satisfied with the technology. As it can be concluded, and the owner totally agreed, the overmentioned measures were focused mostly on the long-term clients that have proofed to be reliable and payable. Another implemented measure is a price drop of 15% to match the new market norm, but it was quite necessary rather than a well-planned measure. In terms of marketing expenses, to preserve all the vital spheres this one was sufficiently decreased: from 100000 rub.
per month down to 50000 rub. per month (Google, Yandex, Avito), no other fields for promotion were considered as "based on my (the owner's) experience they have insignificant conversion rate and can hardly compare with Google and Yandex" (here again, the same results were gained by VISA: 68% of SME business owners if they cut costs firstly decrease advertising spending (Visa, 2020)). With the references to the financial part of the business the entrepreneur despite the reduction of labor costs and marketing costs still the situation was “exceptionally serious”.
However, no mitigation measures from banks (Sberbank, Uralsib Bank) have not followed. Still, the company "was saved by the extension of lease payments by the long term leasing partner company and also by fellow businessmen who provided interest-free loans"
Firm 6 retailer and professional service deliverer
Hardware, and other details retailer and professional service deliverer company 6 has a well-established market position and a long list of l regular customers. The company used to have 11 employees prior to the crises and the pandemic has resulted in the extension of collective.
Within the period of strict restrictions the company has not closed even for a day, however, the distance between the employees has been ensured by the slight changes in the timetable. No interference from the government side was mentioned by the businessman, instead, he stated that was very happy that no attention and additional checks were applied to him. The interviewee suggested that because of the "obvious boom in apartment and country house renovations the demand has increased significantly and there was no need to alter neither marketing policy nor product range". Moreover, in the continuation of the interview, he explained that would probably continue the expansion of the activities if the impact of the pandemic on his market sector remains.
No investments in office renovation or in digitalization were done according to the owner's words.
The comparatively new office and all of the technical equipment explained the latter, therefore the system has fully fulfilled the requirements of the turbulent time. A milder approach towards some
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counteragents (namely big stores that were closed due to sanitary measures) was adopted, but other consumers' demand has covered most of the expenses. Interestingly, as the businessman admitted that he tends to borrow money from private individuals (partners, fellow entrepreneurs, friends), and during the short-term liquidity shortages that were inevitable in 2020 he has utilized this measure several times without any interaction with banks. The reason for the cautious attitude towards the banking system is rooted in the opinion that the precise and multidimensional information from the form that was required for the obtaining of governmental support loan may be further used by tax and supervisory authorities “that are always hard to deal with”.
Co-workers, owner, and counteragents mostly utilized free online services for communication (Whatsapp, Zoom or TG), hence, as it was mentioned earlier, no special platforms were integrated into the operation "as there was no need to increase operational complexity and educate personnel".
Firm 7 administration of real estate on a fee or contract basis
Realtor’s company 6 is a real estate property bureau that was established 12 years ago by a former lawyer. The interviewer was a CEO, trustee of the founder of the company. The company used to have 5 staff members in 2020 (in 2021 they hired 1 new permanent employee) all of them are locals, no foreign workers are a part of the collective. However, prior to the crisis, the company has hired support staff from countries near abroad (this practice was abandoned shortly after the first restrictions from the government). According to the provided information, the annual profit of the firm is over 15 million. The owner and manager both have practice-based knowledge of operations amid economic crises. The spread of the virus has resulted in a sharp decline of customers and loss of clients’ attention. From the shared information it can be concluded that the enterprise in a short time has prepared a crisis management plan and "stick to it for the whole period of acute turbulence" (the details were not disclosed, but the respondent said that it was mainly dedicated to the digitalization as a tool for competitive analysis-Email-Competitors, and remote collaboration-Trello, were mentioned). As for the service side, the company has not stopped the work with any of the segments and has prolonged to fully complete all the tasks identified in the contracts. To ensure compliance with all the sanitary measures some of the employees worked from home others-from the office and the inter-organizational communication was organized via the free platforms: ZOOM, Whatsup, TG and the overmentioned Trello.
Considering the customers, the manager has suggested that the corporate goal was to preserve as many as possible thus "for long term clients 30% sale up to 6 months was provided".
Moreover, for existing clients, the firm has shortened the reporting period to make the preparation