Critical Success Enablers of Southeast Asian Entrepreneurs in Times of Major Crises

This research intended to address a gap in the literature about Southeast Asian entrepreneurs who surmounted global crises in 1997-1999 and 2007-2009. It looked at the crucial success enablers (CSEs) of six entrepreneurs, two from each of three Southeast Asian countries, namely: Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. These business owners or managers were described as owning or managing small or medium-sized businesses. In times of major crises, the CSEs contain qualities, strategies, and characteristics of entrepreneurs and are organized into two key dimensions: strategic-leadership and managerial-tactical, whose framework was inductively generated by reviewing diverse literature. The multiple case study method was used. The data was acquired through semi-structured interviews, a five-point Likert scale survey, personal observations of the respondents’ workplaces, and a review of corporate papers and artifacts. Thematic analysis, study of informants’ personal ratings, and inter-subjective assessments were used to examine qualitative data using an interpretive method. The interpretive analysis was then subjected to a comprehensive set of criteria in order to substantiate the findings’ truth claims and knowledge (Sandberg, 2005). Among the many revelations in this study, the most critical success enablers of the subjects particularly under the strategic-leadership enabler category, “crisis use to exercise leadership” had the highest deployment among the respondents. This was followed by environment scan tracking; purposeful strategic planning; brilliant mind; trustworthiness and sincerity; as well as rich global picture perspective. For future studies, entrepreneurs will navigate through similar major crises.