WEATHERING THE STORM WITH ENTREPRENEURIAL RESILIENCE: A BIBLIOMETRIC LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

This study seeks to advance academic insight into Entrepreneurial Coping Strategies (ECS) by integrating prior scholarship, highlighting emerging thematic patterns, and identifying research gaps that warrant future exploration within this domain. In alignment with PRISMA guidelines for article selection, this research utilises bibliometric techniques through VOSviewer and Bibliometrix R. A systematic literature review (SLR) was subsequently undertaken to examine the ECS landscape. The data set comprises 88 peer-reviewed articles published between 1992 and 2024, sourced from the Web of Science database and spanning 20 leading journals in entrepreneurship and management. Employing both performance metrics and science mapping, the study reveals prevailing trajectories in ECS research. Based on these findings, it proposes future avenues for inquiry and identifies areas where significant advancements may be achieved. The results indicate that ECS has transitioned from being a subsidiary element within entrepreneurial studies to forming a distinct and substantive field, underpinned by its own theoretical constructs, conceptual models, and methodological approaches. Notably, the prominence of Entrepreneurial Resilience (ER) has intensified in recent literature. The analysis categorises entrepreneurial challenges into regional and organisational contexts, proposing a dual-phase coping mechanism: an initial emotional response followed by a behavioural adjustment. Each phase encompasses strategies aligned with one of three overarching coping typologies. While the specific strategies and patterns vary, all entrepreneurs demonstrated ER across three hierarchical levels, suggesting that coping strategies and behavioural patterns represent observable outcomes, whereas ER constitutes a core internal capability essential for navigating adversity. By combining bibliometric analysis with SLR, this review captures the development of ECS over the past thirty years, tracing its progression from psychological adaptations to tangible behavioural practices. The bibliometric component underscores an increased scholarly focus on ER in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, offering empirical insights grounded in data. Concurrently, the SLR provides the theoretical scaffolding for a conceptual model of entrepreneurial coping with adversity. This dual approach enables a comprehensive mapping of the field’s evolution while also identifying three key research gaps and associated underexplored dimensions pertaining to ER.