Alone or in company? Cultural orientation, strategic response and COVID-19 outcomes

The respiratory disease, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), which began in December 2019, and became a pandemic in early 2020, has posed critical challenges not only for nations and businesses but also individuals. As a result, management scholars are examining organizational and management antecedents and effects of COVID-19. Leveraging crisis management as the overarching theory we report on three studies that examine cultural orientation and strategic response as antecedents, leader obligation as a moderator, and dual economy effects of COVID-19. Data from archival sources (Afrobarometer, Worldodometer, and the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center) of countries in Africa (n = 18) show main and interactive effects of leader obligation in Study 1. In Study 2 strategic responses of countries relate to COVID-19 outcomes. In Study 3, we find some effects of COVID-19 on small and medium firms. We discuss the findings, contributions as well as implications for research and policy development, and conclude with limitations and future research.