BUS025 Entrepreneurship – 2022/23
Module Organizer: Dr Xue Zhou
Essay (50%)
Word count: 3025
Student Identification N°: 200947909
Date: May 27th, 2023
,Question 1
Covid-19 has had an enormous effect on global society. Please discuss the impact
of COVID-19 on entrepreneurship development.
Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly reshaped the global landscape, introducing
unique challenges and uncovering numerous opportunities (World Health
Organization, 2020). This essay examines the transformative impact of the pandemic
on entrepreneurship and economic development (GEM, 2020). It first addresses
three key challenges: economic uncertainty (International Monetary Fund, 2020),
market volatility (McKinsey & Company, 2020), and regulatory changes (World Trade
Organization, 2020). The essay explores how these challenges influenced
entrepreneurial activities and outcomes. Next, it sheds light on opportunities
emerging from the crisis, such as digital transformation (McKinsey & Company,
2021), remote services delivery (Deloitte, 2020), and resilience, employing the
Discovery, Ideation, Feasibility, and Ability (DIFA) model as a reference framework
(Bagheri and Lassen, 2010). Subsequently, it analyses how organizations and
governments have leveraged these opportunities to sustain operations and improve
performance amidst crisis. In the exploration, the essay illustrates the complexities of
entrepreneurship during global crises, and shows how the interplay of challenges
and opportunities drives innovation and resilience, ultimately transforming the course
of entrepreneurial development.
, Challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurship
The COVID-19 pandemic introduced numerous challenges for entrepreneurial
development, including economic uncertainty, market volatility, and regulatory
changes. However, it also presented opportunities for innovation (World Health
Organization, 2020). The pandemic-induced global recession and unemployment
surge created a difficult landscape for start-ups, many of which struggled to secure
venture capital due to investors' uncertainty (Business Insider, 2020; International
Monetary Fund, 2020). This aligns with Knight's theory of uncertainty, which
suggests unpredictable environments tend to discourage risk-taking behaviours
(Knight, 1921). Market volatility induced by the pandemic significantly impacted
consumer behaviour and business models, particularly affecting traditional brick-and-
mortar operations like retail and hospitality (McKinsey & Company, 2020).
Schumpeter's theory of 'creative destruction' explains how market disruption can
cause the decline of some industries and the emergence of new ones (Schumpeter,
1942). Moreover, changes in regulations to mitigate the virus spread complicated the
entrepreneurial landscape, as seen in the heavily disrupted global travel industry
(UNWTO, 2020). Institutional theory proposes that such regulatory shifts can both
hinder and facilitate entrepreneurial activities (North, 1990). Despite these
challenges, COVID-19 has spurred opportunities for entrepreneurial innovation.
Digital transformation has driven new business activities, as seen in the e-commerce
boom (World Economic Forum, 2020). The pandemic also caused a surge in
demand for remote services and delivery, encouraging entrepreneurship in digital
health, online education, and logistics sectors (CNBC, 2020). These changes
required resilience and adaptability, key entrepreneurial traits. The Discovery,
