Psychological capital, social capital and organizational resilience: A Herringbone Model perspective

The resilience of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can emerge from entrepreneurial and organizational factors. Yet, the joint role of psychological capital (PsyCap), social capital (SC), and organizational resilience (OR) in facilitating tourism SMEs recovery remains uncovered. Organizational resilience models are either conceptual and/or mainly derived from studies on large organizations focusing on their strategic and operational capabilities, with the resource and capabilities constraints faced by SMEs largely ignored. This study applies the Herringbone model of organizational resilience to evaluate the internal and external factors that enable SMEs to (re)build resilience during COVID-19. In-depth interviews with owner-managers of tourism organizations in Christchurch, New Zealand reveal several themes and sub-themes that reflect not only a close influence of the owner/manager PsyCap on organizational resilience, but also the role of internal (ISC) and external (ESC) social capital in facilitating and hindering organizational resilience. As such, the study highlights the interplay between psychological and social resources in facilitating organizational recovery during COVID-19 using resilience capacities and activities. Implications for both theory and practice are offered.