Trans-fur-able Resources? Strategic Responses to a Crisis in the Danish Mink-related Ecosystem

The chapter researches the strategic responses to a crisis in the Danish mink-concerned ecosystem caused by the COVID-19-related decisions. The chapter investigates the interchange among organisational and inter-organisational resilience of an ecosystem exemplified by the Danish mink-related industry. By presenting the process of ecosystem breakdown as an effect of the total shutdown of Danish mink production during COVID-19 pandemic, the resilience of every individual mink-related firm was investigated as firms became decoupled from the joint ecosystem value proposition. Specifically, the research has studied the crisis that hit the Danish mink-related industry ecosystem when the government decided to close all activities in November 2020. By exploring the response of the individual actors in the ecosystem, the study has found that firms engaged in midstream and downstream activities pursued an exit strategy. In contrast, firms involved in upstream activities pursued retrenchment or innovation strategies. The research has uncovered that firms highly dependent on the ecosystem have chosen an exit strategy. Low dependency on the ecosystem has allowed firms to retrench and continue their activities outside the initial ecosystem. Exit is usually not a preferred strategy for firms with low dependence on the ecosystem, as the business will generally be able to continue its activities.