The rampant, unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19 has significantly intimidated small and medium enterprises (SMEs) all over the globe, putting them under tremendous pressure in sustaining their businesses. It is undeniable that the pandemic has successfully demonstrated how many small enterprises are financially fragile. Growing evidence has shown that most non-essential businesses were forced to temporarily shut down to avoid the outbreak, precipitating critical logistics problems, scarcity of manpower, and low sales performance. Due to such a crisis, immediate assistance, such as government aids and policy development and strategies to help SMEs, are critical in combating potential shutdown among businesses. Substantially, the durability of the SMEs is evidently dependent upon the administration of the policymakers' efforts. In essence, this paper analyses the impacts of the pandemic on the number of active SMEs from different countries. In particular, the impacts were classified into several themes. According to the findings, countries concentrate on policies that benefit SMEs by making loan and credit applications more available, offering direct monetary stimulus, and deferring taxation. This research includes valuable perspectives that allow policymakers and managers recognise the effects of a pandemic and implement successful risk management plans that can contribute to better policy strategies.
Al-Fadly, A. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on SMEs and employment. Entrepreneurship and
Sustainability Issues, 8(2), 629-648.
Alyahya, K. I. (2021). The impact of Saudi lockdown to counter COVID-19. International
Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 8(3), 78-87.
Amankwah-Amoah, J., Khan, Z., & Wood, G. (2021). COVID-19 and business failures: The
paradoxes of experience, scale, and scope for theory and practice. European Management Journal, 39(2), 179–184.
Amankwah-Amoah, J., Khan, Z., & Wood, G. (2021). COVID-19 and business failures: The
paradoxes of experience, scale, and scope for theory and practice. European Management Journal, 39(2), 179–184.
Asfoura, E., Abdel-Haq, M. S., & Kassam, G. (2021). Investigating the upgrade of IT
infrastructure to meet the requirements in case of COVID-19 pandemic by Saudi Universities (Case study: Dar Al Uloom University). International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 8(5), 67-72.
Asgary, A., Azimi, N., & Anjum, M. I. (2013). Measuring small businesses disaster resiliency:
case of small businesses impacted by the 2010 flood in Pakistan. International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management, 4(2), 170–187.
Baldwin, R., & Mauro, B. W. (2020). Economics in the Time of COVID-19. London: Centre
for Economic Policy Research Press.
Baum, T., & Hai, N. T. T. (2020). Hospitality, tourism, human rights and the impact of COVID-
19. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32(7), 2397–2407.
Butucaru, R., & Nistor, H. (2020). Business continuity and resilience measures through
COVID-19. Retrieved on June 5, from https://www.mazars.ro/Home/News/Latest-News/Business-Continuity-Measures-COVID-19.
Caballero-Morales, S. O. (2021). Innovation as recovery strategy for SMEs in emerging
economies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research in International Business and Finance, 57, 101396.
Castro, M. P., & Zermeno, M. G. G. (2020). Being an entrepreneur post-COVID-19 – resilience
in times of crisis: a systematic literature review. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 1-24.
Chin, T. A., Hamid, A. B. A., Rasli, A., & Baharun, R. (2012). Adoption of Supply Chain Management in SMEs. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 65, 614–619.
Chowdhury, S. R. (2011). Impact of global crisis on small and medium enterprises. Global
Business Review, 12(3), 377–399.
Dai, R., Feng, H., Hu, J., Jin, Q., Li, H., Wang, R., Wang, R., Xu, L., & Zhang, X. (2021). The
impact of COVID-19 on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): Evidence from two-wave phone surveys in China. China Economic Review, 67, 1–20.
Delgado-Rodriguez, M., & Sillero-Arenas, M. (2018). Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Medicina Intensiva, 42(7), 444–453.
Doern, R., Williams, N., & Vorley, T. (2016). Entrepreneurship and crises: business as usual?
Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 28(5–6), 471–475.
Doyle, R., & Conboy, K. (2020). The role of IS in the covid-19 pandemic: A liquid-modern
perspective. International Journal of Information Management, 55, 102184.
Eggers, F. (2020). Masters of disasters? Challenges and opportunities for SMEs in times of
crisis. Journal of Business Research, 116, 199–208.
Gouda, H. (2020). The impact of the sense of security in young employees on job satisfaction
during COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 7(11), 51-57.
Igwe, P. A., Amaugo, A. N., Ogundana, O. M., Egere, O. M., & Anigbo, J. A. (2018). Factors
Affecting the Investment Climate, SMEs Productivity and Entrepreneurship in Nigeria. European Journal of Sustainable Development, 7(1), 182–200.
Krubally, M., Singh, H., Balder, N., Ullah, H., & Maaodhah, A. (2019). Exploring SMEs
growth in the greater Banjul area of The Gambia. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 6(8), 82-89.
Kumar, A., Paul, J., & Unnithan, A. (2020). ‘Masstige’ marketing: A review, synthesis and
research agenda. Journal of Business Research, 113(May), 384–398.
Lu, Y., Wu, J., Peng, J., & Lu, L. (2020). The perceived impact of the Covid-19 epidemic:
Evidence from a sample of 4807 SMEs in Sichuan Province, China. Environmental Hazards, 19(4), 323-340.
Mbuyisa, B., & Leonard, A. (2016). The Role of ICT Use in SMEs Towards Poverty
Reduction: A Systematic Literature Review. Journal of International Development, 29(2), 159–197.
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., & Altman, D. G. (2009). Preferred Reporting Items for
Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement. PLoS Medicine, 6(7), 1–6.
OECD. (2020a). Coronavirus (COVID-19): SME policy responses. Retrieved on June 12, from
https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/view/?ref=119_119680-di6h3qgi4x&title=Co%20vid-19_SME_Policy_Responses
OECD. (2020b). The Digital Transformation of SMEs. Retrieved on June 5, from
https://www.oecd.org/industry/smes/PH-SME-Digitalisation-final.pdf
Ozili, P., & Arun, T. (2020). Spillover of COVID-19: impact on the Global Economy.
Retrieved on June 11, from https://ssrn.com/abstract=3562570
Papadopoulos, T., Baltas, K. N., & Balta, M. E. (2020). The use of digital technologies by
small and medium enterprises during COVID-19: Implications for theory and practice. International Journal of Information Management, 55, 1–4.
Paul, J., & Criado, A. R. (2020). The art of writing literature review: What do we know and
what do we need to know? International Business Review, 29(4).
Paul, J., Merchant, A., Dwivedi, Y. K., & Rose, G. (2021). Writing an impactful review article:
What do we know and what do we need to know? Journal of Business Research, 133, 337–340.
Pedauga, L., Sáez, F., & Delgado-Márquez, B. L. (2021). Macroeconomic lockdown and
SMEs: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. Small Business Economics, 1–24.
Perreault, W. D., & Leigh, L. E. (1989). Reliability of Nominal Data Based on Qualitative
Judgments. Journal of Marketing Research, 26(2).
Ratten, V. (2020). Coronavirus (covid-19) and entrepreneurship: changing life and work
landscape. Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, 32(5), 503–516.
Razumovskaia, E., Yuzvovich, L., Kniazeva, E., Klimenko, M., & Shelyakin, V. (2020). The
Effectiveness of Russian Government Policy to Support SMEs in the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 6(4), 160.
Sharma M.K., & Bhagwat, R. (2006). Practice of information systems: Evidence from select
Indian SMEs. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management 17(2), 199–223.
Sheresheva, M. Y. (2020). Coronavirus and tourism. Population and Economics, 4(2), 72–76.
Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines.
Journal of Business Research, 104, 333–339.
Tsilika, T., Kakouris, A., Apostolopoulos, N. & Dermatis, Z. (2020). Entrepreneurial bricolage
in the aftermath of a shock. Insights from Greek SMEs. Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 1, 1-18.
Vig, S., & Agarwal, R. N. (2021). Repercussions ofCOVID?19 on small restaurant entrepreneurs: The Indian context. Strategic Change, 30(2), 145–152.
https://doi.org/10.1002/jsc.2398
World Health Organization (WHO). (2020). WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the
Member State briefing on COVID-19 - 11 June 2020. Retrieved on June 1, from www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarksat-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19—11-march-2020
Xu, Q., & Abbasov, S. (2021). Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Azerbaijan. Open Journal of Business and Management, 09(06), 2759–2771. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojbm.2021.96153
Zhu, N., Zhang, D., Wang, W., Li, X., Yang, B., Song, J., Zhao, X., Huang, B., Shi, W., Lu,
R., Niu, P., Zhan, F., Ma, X., Wang, D., Xu, W., Wu, G., Gao, G. F., Tan, W., & China Novel Coronavirus Investigating and Research Team. (2020). A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019. The New England Journal of Medicine, 382(8), 727–733.
In-Text Citation: (Muhamad et al., 2022)
To Cite this Article: Muhamad, M. Q. B., Nor, N. M., & Mohamad, S. J. A. N. S. (2022). A Comparison on The Impacts of Covid-19 on SMEs from Cross-Regional Countries: A Systematic Literature Review. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. 12(7), 592– 608.
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
