Riding the Roller-Coaster: A Pivot Process During Covid-19

Research output: Journal contributionsConference abstract in journalResearch

Authors

This article investigates how a new venture responded to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic by performing a pivot. A pivot is a process of radically transforming the current business model of a young venture in case of a (potential) failure. So far, researchers have paid scant attention to the consequences of pivots, neglecting the “after pivot” phase of the pivot process. We propose that a pivot alters a new venture's business model, reallocates or restructures resources and capabilities, which, in turn, leads to a lasting impact on the organization and its identity. Drawing on an inductive, longitudinal case study of the fast-growing new venture “Gazelle”, this paper identifies three effects. First, it shows how a pivot is interrelated with “entrepreneurial vibrancy”, i.e. the unconditional maintenance of the entrepreneurial spirit and action despite hostile circumstances. Second, our case exemplifies how the Covid-19 pandemic created an existential crisis and triggered a unique recovery trajectory of the new venture, which we characterize as the “Phoenix effect”. Third, the “sedimentation effect” depicts how changes along the pivot process imprinted into the new venture’s identity.
Original languageEnglish
Article number17286
JournalAcademy of Management Proceedings
Volume2022
Issue number1
Number of pages1
ISSN0065-0668
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.08.2022
Event82nd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management - AOM 2022: Creating a Better World Together - hybrid, Seattle, United States
Duration: 05.08.202209.08.2022
Conference number: 82
https://2022.aom.org/
https://aom.org/events/event-detail/2022/08/05/higher-logic-calendar/the-82nd-annual-meeting-of-the-academy-of-management