Building Sustainable Resilience: Essential Capabilities for SMEs.

Abstract

Abstract

This article investigates the resilience of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through a triadic analytical lens: absorptive capacity, renewal capacity, and appropriation capacity. Anchored in a qualitative conceptual approach, this study is based on an extensive review of academic literature that elucidates the dynamic interplay between these capabilities in the context of turbulence and uncertainty. The epistemological positioning is constructivist, favoring an interpretative logic to capture the complexity of SME behavior in evolving environments. The principal finding highlights that the integration of these three capacities significantly enhances the strategic agility and sustainable competitiveness of SMEs. In particular, firms that cultivate mechanisms for knowledge absorption, continuous innovation, and the protection and valorization of their intellectual outputs are more capable of transforming exogenous shocks into vectors of growth. This article offers a synthetic framework for understanding the multidimensional nature of organizational resilience in SMEs and provides theoretical and practical insights for researchers and practitioners.

Keywords: Resilience, SMEs, absorptive capacity, adaptive capacity, renewal capacity, innovation, appropriation, organizational learning, strategic agility.