Does entrepreneurs’ psychology and organizational resilience of SMES: empirical findings from Central Africa

For several years, organizational resilience has been considered as a strategy for navigating challenging circumstances. A significant number of business closures has sparked inquiries into the characteristics and typical profiles of entrepreneurs who can withstand these challenges, as indicated by previous research. This study aims to gain insight into the psychological processes that enable small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) entrepreneur-managers to navigate critical or chaotic situations and facilitate company prosperity. Consequently, the study examines the role of psychological factors in the organizational resilience of SMEs. The study of psychological factors and organizational resilience is relatively underdeveloped in the African context. It is therefore imperative to undertake this exploration to gain insight into the profile that enables SMEs to survive and thrive in the face of significant challenges. A qualitative approach was employed with eight entrepreneur-managers to identify the new psychological factors that enable them to maintain their businesses and continue to develop in challenging circumstances.