Dynamic capabilities, resulting from activities that allow conscious and skillful modification of a firm’s strategic potential, are seen as one of the key drivers of a firm’s value creation, competitive advantage and above-average performance in changing environments. However, little is known about how dynamic capabilities can shape business survival and performance during crises. The research objective of this paper is twofold. First, through a literature review, we seek to identify which first-order dynamic capabilities–managerial decisions under uncertainty—are vital for rapid response to a crisis. Second, we present the results of research carried out among 151 small and medium-sized companies in Poland immediately after the beginning of the economic lockdown (April 2020). The survey that we developed identifies which dynamic capabilities were essential for businesses to survive during this unexpected black swan event. We also present dependence and regression analyses showing the links between the identified dynamic capabilities and value creation, understood as retaining employees and production levels, as well as value capture, understood as maintaining cash flow and current revenues.

The energy sector is undergoing significant transformation induced by environmental changes and increasing pressure from stakeholder groups. In order to quickly seize opportunities in the unpredictable contemporary business environment, leaders increasingly face the challenge of ensuring an appropriate level of organisational agility, achieved through workforce agility. In striving to achieve workforce agility, responsible leaders should consider the intrinsic motivation oriented towards work, how it affects a team's performance, and the level of its involvement. Based on studies that combine leadership, empowerment, and agility, we analyse whether and how responsible leadership and psychological empowerment support workforce agility in the energy sector firms. Using structural equation modelling, we analyse data gathered from a group of 187 managers and experts. The results support a hypothesised relationship between leadership focused on responsible management, psychological empowerment, and workforce agility. The survey reveals that a combination of responsible leadership and psychological empowerment affects workforce agility.

Innovation is an essential driver of companies’ growth and is important in securing and sustaining their competitive advantage and in the implementation of their entire strategies. In this process, a special role is played by companies’ capabilities, especially those related to innovation capability (IC). Despite many years of research into identifying the factors that influence IC, there are still many research gaps. One such concerns the IC of micro-enterprises. Only a few studies indicate certain factors that may affect micro-enterprise ICs. Thus, this article aims to analyse the determinants of micro-enterprises’ ICs from the perspective of implementing new-to-the-market product and process innovations. The theoretical framework adopted distinguishes between three groups of factors affecting micro-enterprise IC: personal, organizational and external environmental characteristics. The data examined come from an empirical study of a randomly selected representative sample of 1105 Polish micro-enterprises. To analyse these data, a logistic regression model was used. The results indicate that seven factors are common and significant determinants that explain the new-to-the-market product and process dimensions of micro-enterprise IC. Among them, the following have the greatest influence: engagement in initiatives for solving social problems, intensive cooperation with research centers, experience/skills and financial support.

Purpose: The paper aims to explain how agility capabilities (competence, flexibility, responsiveness and speed) influence the chance of improving a small and medium-sized enterprise's (SME's) competitive position, measured by market share and profit.Design/methodology/approach: Combining organisational agility with competitiveness, the authors analysed how an SME's activities in the field of agility capabilities – competence, flexibility, responsiveness and speed – influence the chance of improving their competitive position. Data were collected from 1,286 SMEs from Poland using the computer-assisted personal interviews method (CAPI). To analyse the data, the authors used logistic regression and odds ratios.Findings: The study provides empirical evidence of the relationship between agility capabilities and an SME's competitive position. First, the results suggest that all the studied agility capabilities positively impact SMEs' competitive position. Second, the study shows that seeking to increase market share requires particular attention to flexibility, the impact of which is slightly higher than that of the other variables. Third, the findings suggest that the drive to increase profitability requires an appreciation of responsiveness and competence.Originality/value: The literature contains much discussion about the relationship between agility capabilities and a company's competitive position. However, these studies refer to large companies, whilst the question of the relationship between agility capabilities and competitive position amongst SMEs remains mainly unanswered, which given SMEs' contribution to the creation of economic growth, seems difficult to understand. Although small companies are by nature highly flexible, due to the size of the companies' operations and flattened and decentralised structure, companies' competitive potential is limited as a result of the limited resources that can be devoted to developing procedures for change.

Taking into account the impact of the COVID-19 and adopting the assessment optics of students from Generation Z currently entering the labor market, we have made the aim of this article to provide better insight into the relationship between Industry 4.0 and corporate social responsibility. The survey was conducted in the form of an online survey in two leading universities in Poland in the field of economic education. 646 students took part in the survey. The data were analyzed using logit regression models. The results of the study suggest that the increase in the use of management solutions supporting Industry 4.0 in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis will increase the importance of the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of corporate social responsibility. Pointing to the forecasted increase importance of corporate social responsibility, we suggest linking management solutions supporting Industry 4.0 with corporate social responsibility. However, we also draw attention to the impact of individual management solutions supporting Industry 4.0 on specific Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) dimensions.