This article examines the impact of a crisis on small firms. Taking a phenomenological research approach, qualitative interviews were conducted to capture the experiences of small businesses directly affected by looting, vandalism and/or arson in the London 2011 riots. This study adds to the literature on crisis management by highlighting the different types of losses encountered by small businesses following a crisis and the role individual owner–managers, businesses and the wider community play in enhancing or minimizing losses. A model is developed to capture those factors that influence which small businesses were vulnerable or resilient to the riots.
AbelmannNLieJ (1995) Blue Dreams: Korean Americans and the Los Angeles Riots. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
2.
AguileraDCMessickJM (1974) Crisis Intervention: Theory and Methodology (2nd ed). Saint Louis: C.V. Moody.
3.
AldrichHReissAJJr (1970) The effect of civil disorders on small business in the inner city. Journal of Social Issues26(1): 187–206.
4.
AleschDHollyJMittlerE. (2001) Organizations at risk: What happens when small business and not-for-profits encounter natural disasters?Technical Report, Public Entity Risk Institute, Fairfax, VA, October.
5.
AndersonMB (1995) Vulnerability to disaster and sustainable development: A general framework for assessing vulnerability. In: PielkeRPielkeRSr (eds) Storms, vol. 1. London: Routledge, pp.11–25.
6.
AsgaryAAnjumMIAzimiN (2012) Disaster recovery and business continuity after the 2010 flood in Pakistan: Case of small businesses. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction2: 46–56.
7.
BaadeRABaumannRMathesonV (2007) Estimating the economic impact of natural and social disasters, with an application to Hurricane Katrina. Urban Studies44: 2061–2076.
8.
BartonA (1970) Communities in Disasters. New York: Anchor.
9.
BaumanZ (2012) Fuels, sparks and fires: On taking to the streets. Thesis Eleven109(1): 11–16.
10.
BeanJJ (2000) Burn, baby, burn: Small business in the urban riots of the 1960s. Independent Review5(2): 165–187.
11.
BerglundH (2007) Researching entrepreneurship as lived experience. In: NeergaardHUlhøiJP (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods in Entrepreneurship. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp.75–93.
12.
BerglundHHellströmT (2002) Enacting risk in independent technological innovation. International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management3 (2/3/4): 205–221.
13.
BerkRA (1968) Doing Business in the Ghetto: Retail Merchants. In CampbellASchumanH (eds) Supplemental Studies for the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. Washington: Government Printing Office, pp. 125–131.
14.
BerkRAAldrichHE (1972) Patterns of vandalism during civil disorders as an indicator of selection of targets. American Sociological Review37(5): 533-547.
15.
BigleyGARobertsKH (2001) The incident command system: High-reliability organizing for complex and volatile task environments. Academy of Management Journal44: 1281–1299.
16.
BloombaumM (1968) The conditions underlying race riots as portrayed by multidimensional scalogram analysis: A reanalysis of Lieberson and Silverman’s data. American Sociological Review33: 76–95.
17.
BoettkePChamlee-WrightEGordonP, et al. (2007) Symposium: The political, economic, and social aspects of Katrina. Southern Economic Journal74(2): 363–376.
18.
BonnanoGA (2004) Loss, trauma, and human resilience: Have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events?American Psychologist59(1): 20 –28.
19.
BonannoGAPapaAO’NeillK (2001) Loss and human resilience. Applied and Preventive Psychology10: 193–206.
20.
BridgesL (2012) Four days in August: The UK riots. Race & Class54(1): 1–12.
21.
BryantFB (2003) A scale for measuring beliefs about savouring. Journal of Mental Health12: 175–196.
22.
BuchananDA (2012) Case studies in organizational research. In: SymonGCassellC (eds) The Practice of Qualitative Organizational Research: Core Methods and Current Challenges. London: Sage, pp.373–392.
23.
BuchananDADenyerD (2012) Research tomorrow’s crisis: Methodological innovations and wider implications. International Journal of Management Reviews. Epub ahead of print 13November2012. DOI: 10.1111/ijmr.12002.
24.
CardonMSStevensCEPotterDR (2011) Misfortunes or mistakes? Cultural sensemaking of entrepreneurial failure. Journal of Business Venturing26: 79–92.
25.
CochraneHC (1992) Overview of economic research on earthquake consequences. In: The Committee on Earthquake Engineering, National Research Council (eds) The Economic Consequences of a Catastrophic Earthquake: Proceedings of a Forum. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, pp.100–111.
26.
CoffeyAAtkinsonP (1996) Making Sense of Qualitative Data: Complementary Research Strategies. London: Sage.
27.
CopeJ (2011) Entrepreneurial learning from failure: An interpretive phenomenological analysis. Journal of Business Venturing26(6): 604–623.
28.
CoreyCMDeitchEA (2011) Factors affecting business recovery immediately after Hurricane Katrina. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management19(3): 169–181.
29.
CrabtreeBFMillerWL (1999) A template organizing style of interpretation. In: CrabtreeBFMillerWL (eds) Doing qualitative research (2nd ed.). London: Sage Publications, pp. 163–177.
30.
DahlhamerJTierneyK (1998) Rebounding from disruptive events: Business recovery following the Northridge Earthquake. Sociological Spectrum18: 121–141.
31.
DoernRGossD (2013) From barriers to barring: Why emotion matters to entrepreneurial development. International Small Business Journal31(5): 496–519.
32.
EatoughVSmithJA (2006) I feel like a scrambled egg in my head: An idiographic case study of meaning making and anger using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice79(1): 115–135.
33.
EisenhardtKMGraebnerME (2007) Theory building from cases: Opportunities and challenges. Academy of Management Journal50(1): 25–32.
34.
EllenbergerHF (1958) A clinical introduction to psychiatric phenomenology and existential analysis. In MayRAngelEEllenbergerHF (eds) Existence. New York: Simon & Schuster.
35.
ElliotDSwartzEHerbaneB (2010) Business Continuity Management: A Crisis Management Approach. New York: Routledge.
36.
EmmonsRAMcCulloughME (2003) Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology84(2): 377–389.
37.
FinkS (1986) Crisis Management: Planning for the Inevitable. New York: AMACON.
38.
FlowersPDuncanBKnussenC (2003) Reappraising HIV testing: An exploration of the psychosocial costs and benefits associated with learning one’s HIV status in a purposive sample of Scottish gay men. British Journal of Health Psychology8: 179–194.
39.
FolkmanSMoskowitzJT (2000) Positive affect and the other side of coping. American Psychologist55: 647–654.
40.
GalbraithCSStilesCH (2006) Developmental entrepreneurship: Adversity, risk, and isolation. International Research in Business Disciplines5: 147–166.
41.
GrayDE (2004) Doing Research in the Real World. London: Sage.
42.
GrossJJ (1998) The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology2(5): 271–299.
43.
HarrisTJRPistrangNBarkerC (2006) Couples’ experiences of the support process in depression: A phenomenological analysis. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice79: 1–21.
44.
HaynieJMShepherdDMosakowskiP. (2010) A situated metacognitive model of the entrepreneurial mindset. Journal of Business Venturing25: 217–229.
45.
HerbaneB (2010) Small business research: Time for a crisis-based view. International Small Business Journal28(1): 43–64.
46.
HerbaneB (2013) Exploring crisis management in UK small- and medium-sized enterprises. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management21(2): 82–95.
47.
HobfollSE (1988) The Ecology of Stress. Washington, DC: Hemisphere.
48.
HobfollSE (2001) The influence of culture, community, and the nested-self in the stress process: Advancing conservation of resources theory. Applied Psychology50(3): 337–421.
49.
HobfollSELillyRS (1993) Resource conservation as a strategy for community psychology. Journal of Community Psychology21: 128–148.
50.
HycnerRH (1985) Some guidelines for the phenomenological analysis of interview data. Human Studies8: 279–303.
51.
IrvineWAndersonA (2004) Small tourist firms in rural areas: Agility, vulnerability and survival in the face of crisis. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research10(4): 229–246.
52.
KimRM (2012) Violence and trauma as constitutive elements in Korean American racial identity formation: The 1992 L.A. riots/insurrection/saigu. Ethnic and Racial Studies35(11): 1999–2018.
53.
Kim-GohMSuhCBlakeDD. (1995) Psychological impact of the Los Angeles riots on Korean American victims: Implications for treatment. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry65(1): 138–146.
54.
KingN (2004) Using templates in the thematic analysis of text. In: CassellCSymonG (eds) Essential Guide to Qualitative Methods in Organizational Research. London: Sage, pp.256–270.
55.
KnabbRDRhomeJRBrownDP (2006) Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Katrina, 23–30August2005. National Hurricane Center. Available at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/TCR-AL122005_Katrina.pdf (accessed 1 September 2011).
56.
KouriloffM (2000) Exploring perceptions of a priori barriers to entrepreneurship: A multidisciplinary approach. Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice25(2): 59–79.
57.
LeeNCowlingM (2013) Place, sorting effects and barriers to enterprise in deprived areas: Different problems or different firms?International Small Business Journal31(8): 914–937.
58.
LevineLJ (1997) Reconstructing memory for emotions. Journal of Experimental Psychology126(2): 165–177.
59.
McEntireDAFullerCJohnstonCW. (2002) A comparison of disaster paradigms: The search for a holistic policy. Public Administration Review62(3): 267–281.
60.
MaitlisS (2009) Who am I now? Sensemaking and identity in posttraumatic growth. In: RobertsLMDuttonJE (eds) Exploring Positive Identities and Organizations: Building a Theoretical and Research Foundation. London: Routledge, pp.47–76.
61.
MilburnK (2012) The Augustriots, shock and the prohibition of thought. Capital & Class36(3): 401–409.
62.
MillerAH (2001) The Los Angeles riots: A study in crisis paralysis. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management9(4): 189–199.
63.
MitroffIIPauchantT (1990) We Are So Big and Powerful Nothing Bad Can Happen to Us. New York: Carol Publishing.
MorrellGScottSMcNeishD. (2011) The August Riots in England: Understanding the Involvement of Young People. London: National Centre for Social Research.
OlzakSShanahanS (1996) Deprivation and race riots: An extension of Spilerman’s analysis. Social Forces74(3): 931–961.
70.
PattonM (2002) Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods (3rd edn). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
71.
PauchantTMitroffI (1992) Transforming the Crisis-Prone Organization: Preventing Individual, Organizational and Environmental Tragedies. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
72.
PearsonCMClairJA (1998) Reframing crisis management. Academy of Management Review23: 59–76.
73.
PedoneR (1997) Disaster recovery – Are you prepared for business disruption?Long Island Business News, 3November, pp.23–24.
74.
PrattM (2009) From the editors: The lack of a boilerplate: Tips on writing up (and rewriting) qualitative research. Academy of Management Journal52: 856–862.
75.
QuarantelliEL (1982) What is a disaster? In: JonesBTomazevicM (eds) Social and Economic Aspects of Earthquake. Ithaca, NY: Program in Urban and Regional Studies, Cornell University, pp. 453–478.
76.
QuarantelliEL (1985) Organizational Behavior in Disasters and Its Implications for Disaster Planning. Newark, DE: Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware.
77.
QuarantelliEL (1988) Disaster crisis management: A summary of research findings. Journal of Management Studies25(4): 373–385.
78.
QuarantelliEL (1993) Community crises: An exploratory comparison of the characteristics and consequences of disasters and riots. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management1(2): 67–78.
79.
QuarantelliELDynesRR (1973) Organizations as victims in American mass racial disturbances: A re-examination. Preliminary Paper 7, September. Newark, DE: University of Delaware Disaster Research Center.
80.
QuarantelliELDynesRR (1977) Response to social crisis and disaster. Annual Review of Sociology3: 23–49.
ReicherSStottC (2011) Mad Mobs and Englishmen? Myths and Realities of the 2011 Riots. London: Constable & Robinson.
83.
RobertsAR (2002) Assessment, crisis intervention and trauma treatment: The integrative ACT intervention model. Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention2(1): 1–21.
84.
RodríguezHWachtendorfTRussellC (2004) Disaster research in the social sciences: Lessons learned, challenges, and future trajectories. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters22: 117–132.
RunyanRC (2006) Small business in the face of crisis: Identifying barriers to recovery from a natural disaster. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management14: 12–26.
88.
SchrankHMarshallMIHall-PhillipsA. (2013) Small-business demise and recovery after Katrina: Rate of survival and demise. Natural Hazards65(3): 2353–2374.
89.
ShepherdDA (2003) Learning from business failure: Propositions of grief recovery for the self-employed. Academy of Management Review282: 318–329.
90.
ShrivastavaP (1993) Crisis theory/practice: Towards a sustainable future. Organization & Environment7(1): 23–42.
91.
SimboAK (1993) Catastrophe planning and crisis management. Risk Management40(2): 64–66.
92.
SkoufiasE (2003) Economic crises and natural disasters: Coping strategies and policy implications. World Development31(7): 1087–1102.
93.
SmallboneDNorthDKalantaridisC (1999) Adapting to peripherality: A study of small manufacturing firms in Northern England. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development11(2): 109–128.
94.
SmithD (1990) Beyond contingency planning: Toward a model of crisis management. Industrial Crisis Quarterly4(4): 263–276.
95.
SmithJA (1996) Beyond the divide between cognition and discourse: Using interpretive phenomenological analysis in health psychology. Psychology and Health11: 261–271.
96.
SpillanJHoughM (2003) Crisis planning in small businesses: Importance, impetus and indifference. European Management Journal21(3): 398–407.
TierneyK (1997) Business impacts of the Northridge earthquake. Journal of Contingencies and Crises Management5: 87–97.
100.
TierneyKNiggMDahlhamerJ (1996) The impact of the 1993 Midwest Floods: Business vulnerability and disruption in Des Moines. In: SyivesRWaughW (eds) Disaster Management in the U.S. and Canada (2nd edn). Springfield, MA: Charles C. Thomas, pp.214–233.
101.
WaddingtonPAJ (2012) Explaining the riots: P A J Waddington puts the August 2011 riots into the context of policing public order. Criminal Justice Matters87(1): 10–11.
102.
WalklateS (2011) Reframing criminal victimization: Finding a place for vulnerability and resilience. Theoretical Criminology15(2): 179–194.
103.
WalshF (2007) Traumatic loss and major disasters: Strengthening family and community resilience. Family Process46(2): 207–227.
104.
WasileskiGRodríguezHDíazW (2011) Business closure and relocation: A comparative analysis of the Loma Prieta earthquake and Hurricane Andrew. Disasters35(1): 102–129.
105.
WebbGRTierneyKJDahlhamerJM (2002) Predicting long-term recovery from disasters: A comparison of the Loma Prieta earthquake and Hurricane Andrew. Environmental Hazards4: 45–58.
106.
WeickKE (1988) Enacted sensemaking in crisis situations. Journal of Management Studies25: 305–317.
107.
WeickKE (1993) The collapse of sensemaking in organizations: The Man Gulch disaster. Administrative Science Quarterly38(4): 628–652.
108.
WeickKESutcliffeKM (2007) Managing the Unexpected (2nd edn). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
109.
WilliamsNVorleyT (2014) Economic resilience and entrepreneurship: Lessons from the Sheffield City Region. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development. Epub ahead of print 11March2014. DOI: 10.1080/08985626.2014.894129.
110.
YoungA (1995) The Harmony of Illusions: Inventing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
