Startup adaptability and resilience as drivers of entrepreneurial orientation: A quantitative analysis of Greek startups

Academic resilience and emotional intelligence are considered important personal resources for furthering students’ academic performance. However, many educational organizations seem to trivialize the performance implications of these constructs in teachings and curriculum. Consequently, it can decrease not just their academic performance but also their employability, as they lack the generic competencies to adapt and survive in a stressful context. Even so, empirical evidence on integrating academic resilience, emotional intelligence, and academic performance remains unexplored in the Nigerian university context. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate the linkages between academic resilience, emotional intelligence, and academic performance in Nigeria. The partial least square (PLS) modeling method was utilized for testing the stated hypotheses with data collected from 179 final year undergraduate students in the regular B.Sc. Business Administration and B.Sc. Marketing program at Delta State University, Nigeria. From the PLS results, the study reported that academic resilience was positively related to emotional intelligence (β = 0.125, p = 0.007), academic resilience (β = 0.231, p = 0.000) and emotional intelligence (β = 0.260, p = 0.000) were positively related to academic performance, and emotional resilience mediated the positive relationship between academic resilience and academic performance (β = 0.057, p = 0.005). While academic resilience predicted academic performance, it also predicted emotional intelligence, which affected academic performance significantly and positively.

The resilience concept has attracted interest across many fields in the recent years. The interdisciplinary nature of the concept has led to the existence of numerous definitions, interpretations and measurement approaches. For this reason, there is no acceptable universal understanding of resilience across disciplines. Even though the concept is conceptualized differently in the small retail business field, scholars seem to commonly relate resilience to the ability of business to adapt to disruptions that threaten existence. However, resilience measuring has been a highly contested aspect in the sector. As such, neither key resilience attributes nor universally applicable criteria for resilience measuring exist in the small retail sector. At the same time, small retail businesses are increasingly exposed to direct and indirect threats that jeopardize their resilience prowess. Therefore, it is vital to develop approaches for assessing resilience levels and monitor changes over time. This paper critically examines current approaches to developing resilience measurement tools. Thereafter, it proposes the most applicable approach for developing performance measures of resilience for use in the small retail business sector. A review of key frameworks for resilience measuring within climate, community, livelihoods, organizational and business sectors was conducted. Frameworks and approaches for resilience measuring that has been in use in the past decade and half were selected. The main focus was on exploring methodological aspects, resilience attributes and variations in the interpretation of the resilience concept within different frameworks. It was revealed that the generic application of frameworks for resilience measuring in the small retail business sector is not appropriate. Thus, there is a need for developing contextualized frameworks to guide resilience measurement in the small retail sector.

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has profoundly disrupted the higher education landscape, compelling numerous institutions to adapt to unprecedented challenges. This study investigates the resilience and adaptive strategies of relocated higher education institutions under martial law, focusing on Berdyansk State Pedagogical University. The analysis emphasizes the critical role of digital transformation in sustaining academic operations amidst displacement. Methodologically, the study integrates qualitative interviews and quantitative analysis, exploring how cloud technologies, learning management systems, and AI-driven chatbots contributed to continuity in education. The results reveal that digital platforms ensured accessibility to educational resources, increased student engagement, and enhanced institutional resilience. Over 85% of surveyed participants identified learning management systems’ platforms as pivotal in maintaining educational quality, while AI chatbots were instrumental during crises, offering real-time communication and support even during power outages. Additionally, cloud-based solutions enabled the preservation of critical data and ensured uninterrupted access to academic resources, facilitating smooth transitions for both faculty and students. The findings underline that digital transformation not only mitigates immediate disruptions but also fosters long-term innovation in higher education institutions operating in war zones. This study offers valuable insights into how relocated institutions can leverage digital tools to build resilience, sustain educational quality, and adapt to evolving challenges in war-affected regions.

Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the Armed Forces of Ukraine for allowing us to engage in scientific research. This work was supported by the project “Supporting the cooperation of the University of Opole with Ukrainian universities within the FORTHEM Alliance 2024.”