Title: Discovering dynamic capabilities for survival and success during prolonged massive crises: insights from a systematic literature review

Authors: Amir Asadiara; Mohsen Farhadloo; Suchit Ahuja; Anne Beaudry

Addresses: John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada ' John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada ' John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada ' John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract: Dynamic capabilities (DCs) are pivotal to a firm's success especially in a business landscape that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. The COVID-19 pandemic has displayed unique characteristics and has affected almost every aspect of business and society, creating challenges for their survival. Although three types of dynamic capabilities (sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring) have been studied in the strategy literature, it is still not clear what types of actions and strategies constitute each of the three dynamic capabilities. In this study, we utilise a systematic literature review to: 1) identify strategies and actions employed by businesses in different sectors to survive and succeed in the changing competitive landscape during the COVID-19 outbreak; 2) discover specific actions and strategies that capture each of the sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring capabilities, and compare identified strategies and actions during COVID-19 with those that were suggested in the business strategy and competitive literature before COVID-19. Our findings identified ten strategies and actions and by mapping them onto DC framework we contributed to DC literature. Our analysis reveals various changes in the focus of strategies and actions compared to before COVID-19 with respect to internal capabilities, market power, or the type of industry.

Keywords: dynamic capabilities framework; competition strategies; COVID-19 crisis; systematic literature review; SLR; firm performance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIR.2026.155657

International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 2026 Vol.40 No.4, pp.514 - 554

Received: 15 Dec 2022
Accepted: 11 Mar 2023
Published online: 10 Aug 2026 *

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