Turning adversity into adaptation: women entrepreneurs and crisis resilience in a developing economy

Abstract

Purpose This study examines how women entrepreneurs in a developing economy navigate prolonged crisis conditions. Focussing on Nigeria, it investigates how women entrepreneurs interpreted and responded to disruptions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, and how their responses reflect resilience through the enactment of dynamic capabilities. Using a gender-sensitive lens, the study explores how women sensed emerging threats, seized crisis-related opportunities and reconfigured their enterprises amid resource constraints, institutional gaps and socio-cultural pressures. Design/methodology/approach Guided by an interpretivist–constructivist approach, the study draws on 34 semi-structured interviews with women entrepreneurs operating in agriculture and manufacturing across South-West Nigeria. Data were analysed using a six-phase thematic analysis, supported by Gioia-informed analytic transparency. Findings The findings show that women entrepreneurs enact sensing, seizing and reconfiguring capabilities through relational networks, improvisational strategies, digital adaptation and continuous learning. Resilience emerges not as an individual trait but as a socially embedded and gendered process shaped by institutional fragility, informal support systems and competing household demands. Originality/value The study extends dynamic capabilities theory by demonstrating how entrepreneurial resilience is enacted in resource-constrained and gendered contexts. It contributes novel insights into women's crisis responses in developing economies and offers implications for entrepreneurship policy and enterprise support to strengthen resilience amid prolonged uncertainty.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 2026 · DOI ↗