Antecedents of Social Performance in Tourism and Hospitality Firms: The Role of Employee Resilience, Transactive Memory Systems, and Dynamic Capabilities

Abstract

Tourism and hospitality firms generally recover from crises but the resources and capabilities they leverage to maintain social performance remain elusive. Embedded in the resource-based view of the firm, we argue that psychological resources, such as employee resilience, and knowledge embedded in teams, through a transactive memory system, as well as dynamic capabilities can sustain social performance during crises. We test this proposition on a sample of 350 UK tourism and hospitality firms that survived the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from partial-least square structural equation modeling and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis identify different combinations of employee resilience, transactive memory systems, and dynamic capabilities that can boost social performance. Theoretically, micro and meso-level organizational resources and capabilities are intertwined in shaping social performance during crises. Managerially, recommendations on how to improve employee resilience in a way that boosts team knowledge, dynamic capabilities and ultimately social performance are offered.