Research summary

The pandemic spread of the coronavirus COVID‐19 is rightly focusing policy‐makers’ attention on saving people's lives. At the same time, the pandemic crisis is threatening the survival of firms at a global scale, with potentially devastating societal and economic outcomes. In this Virtual Special Issue, we gather and discuss key papers published in the journals of the Strategic Management Society that provide insights into firms' potential strategic responses to crisis. Based on our overview, we identify four types of responses: retrenchment, persevering, innovating, and exit. Awareness of these responses has implications for managers and strategy scholars alike.
Managerial summary

How can firms respond to crises such as the current pandemic spread of the coronavirus COVID‐19? This Virtual Special Issue begins to provide answers to this question. Based on a select overview of papers published in the journals of the Strategic Management Society, we advance four types of strategic responses to crisis: retrenchment, persevering, innovating, and exit. Awareness of these responses has implications for managers and strategy scholars alike.