“More Davids than Goliaths?” A case for the power of small firms to be stronger innovators compared to larger firms during a global pandemic

Abstract

The biblical story of David and Goliath depicts how an ordinary man was confronted with a tremendous challenge and had to respond in an immediate and effective manner in order to be victorious. This same sentiment embodied in the story of David and Goliath holds true in the context of business innovation and reimagination among small firms, especially right now during the Coronavirus Global Pandemic. This conceptual paper discusses how large firms, or Goliaths, have proven track records and tremendous amounts of muscle and resources to support innovation, R&D, and even unexpected emergencies. Yet, small firms, or Davids, often suffer from the liability of newness, sudden change in the business environment, and do not have the same resources to consistently finance on-going innovation or even operations. Nevertheless, we present a case that small firms, like David, can be victorious by being empowered as well as by leveraging their own creativity, resourcefulness, ingenuity, strategic innovation, and reimagination of their businesses during the current Global Pandemic.