“ Recover together, recover stronger ” : an exploratory literature review on the recovery challenges of creative SMEs following the COVID-19 pandemic and proposed future recommendations

Purpose – The rise of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has enabled researchers and industry professionals to reinvent their strategies for basic economic understanding. Two years after the outbreak of the pandemic, businesses are now trying to adapt to the impact it has brought, hoping to receive support as it did in the past. However, before this feat can be accomplished, it is imperative to understand the recovery hurdles created by the pandemic. This research aims to fill the literature gaps by examining the challengesduring recoverywithinthe creativesmall andmedium-sizedenterprise (SME)industry,as there are few relevant studies that focus on this field. Design/methodology/approach – Through a methodical bibliometric literature review and network analysis, the paper intends to critically explore relevant recovery challenges within the field while providing answerstotheappropriateresearchquestions.Atotalof43articleswereselectedforanin-depthreview.Using the analysis from the selected articles as a guide, a framework was developed to address the recovery challenges alongside the recommended propositions. Findings – The findings from this paper suggest that a lack of synergy among four major categories (governmental, supply chain, organizational and stakeholders) contributes to recovery challenges within the field of research. Originality/value – The review also offers clarification in understanding the current and upcoming trends withinthecreativeindustry,SMEsandCOVID-19.Thispapercanthushelpresearchers,industrypractitionersandmanagersdiscoverandanalyzetherecoverychallengesbroughtaboutbytheCOVID-19pandemic.


Introduction
Recovery and sustenance are critical factors in ensuring business long-term viability.Understanding and analyzing the risks involved is subject to the event and may result in either short-term or long-term consequences for businesses depending on the severity, but these consequences are only achieved by critically identifying and scrutinizing potential key recovery challenges post-event (Cheng and Zhang, 2020).Over time, having faced numerous disasters, society may be able to create several resilience indices based on overcoming varied forms of disasters by learning and understanding the recovery challenges involved postdisaster (Rose and Krausmann, 2013).However, this only applied if similar adversities reoccur, which is why a high-impact disaster, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which exceeded modern expectations, was able to easily create adverse effects on a global scale (Paul et al., 2021).
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented numerous challenges across various industries, and the creative industry has not been exempted from its impact.According to UNESCO (2021), approximately 1 in 8 museums have been unable to reopen, while artists and other professionals within the industry have faced significant financial struggles, often lacking access to social safety nets.The widespread shift towards digital media, prompted by the pandemic, has brought about its own set of consequences.The sudden transition has compelled numerous businesses to migrate to the digital space, resulting in an influx of new users and a notable surge in the growth of the digital sphere (DataReportal, 2020).Social media became too important for both established and new businesses to communicate with customers compared to other platforms (Syaifullah et al., 2021;Susanto et al., 2021).Some industries, such as digital artists, were already very much in the digital world and were not impacted much.However, this was not the case for industries that depend on live crowds for their income, such as event planners and the performing arts.Different things have happened in reaction to the drop in income, such as people switching careers and more people looking for independent and casual work (Genero, 2021).In 2020, the creative industry and the culture industry lost a total of approximately 70 billion US dollars (USD) in gross value added (GVA).Because of this loss, 10 million jobs were lost in the same year (Richard et al., 2021).
In the past few years, the creative industry has been known to be important in many different areas.In 2019, the UK Creative Industries had a GVA of £115.9 billion, which is a large amount of money when measured in today's money.Using prices from 2020 as a guide, this amounts to an enormous gift of approximately £13.2 million per hour, even when inflation is taken into account.The creative industry's GVA has grown by more than 43% since 2010, which is faster than the UK's gross domestic product (GDP), which grew at less than half that rate (Infographics, 2020).Since then, many experts in both the business and Internet worlds have written more about this idea for industry growth.According to Hartley (2011), the artistic business is a very important part of the economy.It stresses how important small and medium-sized businesses are to many areas, including e-commerce, music and cartoons.In contrast to large, tightly linked industries, these small and medium-sized businesses make it easier for cross-disciplinary groups, open and adjustable teams and creative businesses to form.In the creative industry, this method pushes people to work together, come up with new ideas and be flexible.
While numerous academic authors have made efforts to explore the challenges and potential solutions arising from the impact of the pandemic, there is a limited amount of indepth analysis specifically addressing the recovery challenges faced by the creative industry as a result of the pandemic (Oyewale et al., 2020;Omar et al., 2020;Sungkawati, 2021;Adam and Alarifi, 2021).Through an extensive literature review, only a small number of studies were found that critically examined the intersection of the creative industry, SMEs and the recovery challenges they encountered due to the pandemic.Rother (2007) described SLR as a subset of scientific literature that "uses rigorous methodology to prevent shortcuts and bias in conducting a review."The method employed in this research can be characterized as a scientific approach that integrates available data to systematically address a specific research question in a transparent and replicable manner.It aims to incorporate all relevant published data pertaining to the subject under investigation while also assessing the quality and reliability of the collected data.This rigorous approach ensures that the research findings are based on a comprehensive and robust analysis of the literature (Lame, 2019).Nasir et al. (2021) made use of this methodology when discussing the effect of COVID-19 and the operations of global supply chains.Within their research, Herrero-Luna et al. (2022) aimed to uncover evidence of innovation concerning the circular economy (CE) with the use of SLR.For this research, the SLR methodology used can be found in Figure 1.

Selection of databases
To begin the SLR, the selection of articles from trusted databases can be considered the initial step.This research varied in database by using SCOPUS.The reason for using the Scopus database is to gather as much information as possible and "also provide a useful breadth of the topic" (Guides.library.ucla.edu, 2022).For this research, articles were selected within the time frame of 2018-2022 for the following reasons: 1) to understand scholarly perspectives on Recovery challenges of creative SMEs creative SMEs immediately before and during the pandemic and 2) to provide evidence of the gaps in the literature.

Selection of keywords
The selection of keywords is a critical concern regarding the identification of relevant research articles.As highlighted by Xiao and Watson (2019), the research question(s) should be used to generate the search keyword(s), which can be broken down into concept domains.Using exact keywords can increase search accuracy but may leave out records.For this research, the keywords used for obtaining the applicable articles within the area of the creative SMEs industry are as follows: String 1: "Implications" OR "Recovery" OR "Strategic measures" OR "Tactics" OR "COVID-19" AND String 2: "Creative industry" OR "Supply chain" AND String 3: "SMEs" OR "small medium business".

Defining inclusion and exclusion criteria
The inclusion criteria for the databases involved book chapters, refereed conferences and peer-reviewed journals.For this research, only articles published in the English language First stage of review • Selected databases-Scopus.
• Selected keywords-"Implications" OR "Recovery" OR "Strategic measures" OR "Tactics" AND "Creative Industry" OR "Supply chain" AND "SMEs" OR "small medium business" • Defining inclusion and exclusion criteria-Inclusion criteria: Book chapters, refereed conferences and peer-reviewed journals, English language and Exclusion criteria:

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were taken into consideration.The exclusion criteria included magazines, nonreferred journals, etc.The reason for using specific criteria, as mentioned by Rother (2007), is to determine the validity of the selected studies.This method simplifies the decision-making process for deciding which articles to include in the review.

Identifying, screening and selecting relevant studies
In keeping with the inclusion and exclusion criteria, articles were identified, screened and selected based on relevance.According to Durach et al. (2017), the inclusion/exclusion criteria are used in conjunction to summarize the sample of primary studies into a smaller group known as the "synthesis sample."This sample includes all relevant studies while excluding unrelated studies.First, with the use of several databases, the search for articles by using selected keywords within the specified timeframe generated a total of 196 articles.Second, all articles were downloaded; for SCOPUS, article data were downloaded in an Excel format and within Excel, all individual articles were then further downloaded.After article downloading, they were further scrutinized against the appropriate keywords and inclusion of the research topic: creative SMEs industry.
3. Bibliometric analysis of selected articles for this in-depth literature review Donthu et al. (2021) described bibliometric analysis as a tool that can be used to rigorously interpret vast quantities of unstructured data.As a result, well-conducted bibliometric studies can lay the groundwork for progressing a field with innovative and significant methods.As stated previously, a total of 43 articles were eligible for bibliometric analysis and further review.With this, the next step would be to conduct a breakdown of the selected articles, which is why this research made use of the R package for its bibliometric analysis and the VOSviewer for its network analysis.Focusing on the selected articles, Figure 2 depicts the articles published within the time frame of 2018-2022.

Document type
Table 1 provides a summary of the bibliometric analysis.
The data shown provide more insights into the selected articles from 2018 to 2023 within the field of the creative SMEs industry.From Table 1, it can be noted that out of the 43 documents, 41 sources were published with respect to the selected field, including journals and book chapters.The total number of authors' keywords used amounted to 112.The number of unique authors was 152.Of the 43 articles, only 4 were singled authored, with the rest written by various authors.The top 10 publishing sources of the selected articles can be found in Table 2.It can be noted from the table that the top 3 journals are "International Journal of Supply Chain Management", "International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management" and "Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management".

Country-wise statistics
The country-wise statistics were analyzed with respect to the selected articles.Table 3 shows the top countries from the selected articles.From this table, Indonesia and China had the highest frequency of published articles, with 6 and 3, respectively.
Table 4 depicts the citations of each country's publication within the selected time frame.From Table 4, it can be seen that authors from Finland have the highest number of citations, 39, with the same number of average citations per article.This is followed by Indonesia and the Netherlands, with 20 and 16 citations, respectively.

Network analysis
The network analysis conducted within this research was achieved with the use of R package software, while graphical visualization was attained with VOS viewer."Network analysis offers us the tools to interpret the structure of the network, that is, the patterns of ties between the nodes" (Diani, 2002).The essence of network analysis is to predominantly analyze the networks and collaborations among authors.For this research, the network analysis included the study of collaborations among authors' keywords analysis as well as cocitation analysis.

Keyword analysis
Van Eck and Waltman (2011) defined VOSviewer as "a computer program for creating, visualizing, and exploring bibliometric maps of science".For this research, the VOS Viewer was used to produce word visualization.The most popular terms in the articles chosen in the field of the creative SMEs industry are shown in Figure 4.

Cluster analysis
Any bibliometric study can be said to include cluster analysis as a crucial component.This approach assists in classifying, identifying and isolating similar units from dissimilar units (Bynen, 2012).For instance, within this research study, the network between authors, publications and cocitations is examined.From the selected articles, the top 4 research clusters were created.Table 6 depicts the top articles of each cluster alongside their total link strength (TLS).The TLS represents the overall link strength of cocitation linkages between an article and other articles.

4.3
Emerging research themes 4.3.1 Cluster 1: creative SMEs and circular supply chain.The use of circular practices within the supply chain can be highly beneficial, as this involves the reuse of products.However, to achieve this, the implementation of digital technologies is advised.Articles involving the use of digital technologies and SMEs' supply chains were reviewed.
In cluster 1, the top article was authored by Ali (2022), with a TLS of 492.The article discussed how the use of technological development can aid the overall business performance of SMEs with the acceptance of green supply chain practices (GSCPs).The concept behind this is aimed at cost reduction, especially during the manufacturing process.By recruiting 407 textile SME executives, the author was able to validate the proposed model of green supply chain practices; with this, SME executives can improve their business processes.The second article is Huynh (2021), with a TLS of 272.This article proposes the use of digital innovation and several circular business models (CBMs) within the fashion subsector to achieve a more suitable CE.
Concerning the selected articles, the following propositions have been highlighted for future research: Proposition 1. Identification and evaluation of circular supply chain strategies that the creative SMEs industry can use to advance sustainability.

Recovery challenges of creative SMEs
Proposition 2. To adopt the use of digital innovation within creative SMEs' supply chain practices.
Proposition 3. To establish the use of a framework for the practical implementation of environmentally friendly practices in the creative SMEs industry.
4.3.2Cluster 2: business models and creative SME performance.Several factors are involved in achieving positive SME performance, i.e., product innovation and digital transformation.
In cluster 2, Mukhsin and Suryanto (2022) acquired a total TLS of 231.By using the pottery subsector as a case study, the authors were able to deduce how competitive advantage, as well as sustainable supply chain management, can influence SME performance.The authors revealed that by increasing market share, average selling price in comparison to rivals, overall competitive position and overall customer service levels, one company can outperform another, thereby improving performance.Lassnig et al. (2021) have a total TLS of 207 and their study expatiated on the need for SMEs to adopt digital transformation in all aspects for better company performance.
Concerning the selected articles, the following propositions have been highlighted for future research: Proposition 4. To restructure the concept of competitive advantage gained prior to the pandemic to create a proper model for recovery methods.
Proposition 5. Analyzing the relationships between creative SMEs and their consumers for the enhancement of their performance can be a future research approach.
Proposition 6.To monitor SME performance using a smart support system consisting of data sharing and Internet of Things (IoT) integration.

4.3.3
Cluster 3: sustainable marketing strategies and creative SMEs.For any organization, whether small or large, it is highly beneficial to implement the proper marketing strategy for long-term financial benefits.
In cluster 3, Nasir et al. (2021), with a TLS of 544, expatiated on the need for decisionmakers to restructure their existing strategies due to the COVID-19 impact.Their study consisted of data collection from 40 experts in Bangladesh, with one of the predominant conclusions being the use of 'crowdfunding' to aid the revival of businesses affected by the pandemic.Sugandini et al. (2020) obtained a TLS of 468.Their study involved data collected from Indonesia from the perspective of green marketing strategy and proved that green purchasing has a decent effect on green marketing strategy.
Concerning the selected articles, the following propositions have been highlighted for future research: Proposition 7. To develop safety nets for the continuity/survival of creative SMEs.
Proposition 8. To re-evaluate the risks and challenges regarding sustainability practices for the improvement of creative SMEs' capabilities.
Proposition 9. To develop new marketing strategy frameworks that can be of use to dispute the effects of the pandemic.

4.3.4
Cluster 4: the significance of organizational synergy in creative SMEs.In cluster 4, Ikram et al. (2018), with a TLS of 138, discussed China's cost advantage being visible throughout the entire value chain because of the synergistic advantages of vertical and horizontal integration of supply clusters.Additionally, it was shown that specialized markets and foreign merchants play a vital role in the creation of sustainable clusters by describing how specialized markets and international players permit concentrated supply.According to IJIEOM the study, the entities that belong to different nations play a crucial role in building worldwide links; as a result, it ratifies the 3.0 Theorem of Globalization.
With respect to the selected articles, the following propositions are highlighted for future research: Proposition 10.To develop a study consisting of the integration of other industries alongside the creative SMEs industry to develop a knowledge-based model for sustenance practices.
Proposition 11.Utilizing dataset analyses to create a prediction model to help organizational leaders comprehend the opinions and suggestions of the creative SMEs industry.
Proposition 12.To create organizational competence by encompassing the use of several artificial intelligence (AI) methods to encourage information sharing for new market conditions.
A theoretical model (Figure 5) that represents all propositions within each cluster has been presented in consideration of the review.

Discussion of findings
This literature review portrayed a summary of the 43 selected articles regarding the field of the creative SMEs industry.With this, SLR and bibliometric analyses of the field mentioned were conducted.For the SLR, book chapters, articles and conference proceedings were analyzed.The systematic review of the shortlisted articles considered different criteria (clusters), such as creative SMEs and circular supply chains, business models and creative SME performance, sustainable marketing strategies and creative SMEs and the significance of organizational synergy in creative SMEs.Moreover, a bibliometric analysis was conducted as a means of obtaining relevant information for this research.

Recovery challenges of creative SMEs
of Supply Chain Management", "International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management" and "Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management" published articles regarding the field of the creative SMEs industry (Table 2).The top countries from the selected articles were Indonesia and China (Table 3).Cluster analysis was performed to provide insights into the research networks of the authors.
The findings of the comprehensive literature review revealed the existence of recovery obstacles in several aspects of the creative SMEs industry, including managerial/ organizational, governmental, stakeholder and supplier chains.The study framework, shown in Figure 6, presents a conceptual framework that aims to enhance clarity regarding recovery issues and prospective propositions in the future.The promotion of future research opportunities is advocated, as the proposed framework has the potential to facilitate the expeditious and efficient response of scholars and industry experts in tackling the issues of pandemic-induced recovery.Presently, with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications within the scope of this research, there exists a dearth of substantial empirical evidence to adequately elucidate the multifarious obstacles associated with recovery.
During the initial phase of the pandemic, creative SMEs encountered significant challenges due to a lack of both managerial support and external assistance.The absence of such assistance further intensified the difficulties faced by these SMEs during that period (Adam and Alarifi, 2021), all contributing to the recovery challenges presented.Therefore, with the help of a literature review, the list of recovery challenges in the field of the creative SMEs industry is presented in Table 7.
5.1 Implications of this study 5.1.1Theoretical implications.Several significant theoretical implications for economics and pandemic recovery may be drawn from this study.First, the unusual nature of the COVID-19 epidemic highlights the necessity for flexible economic policies.By examining the unique difficulties faced by innovative SMEs during times of recovery, this study strengthens the theoretical basis for economic resilience in targeted fields of endeavor.For future studies in economics, the use of a systematic bibliometric literature review and network analysis as a research approach underscores the significance of adopting cutting-edge tools for comprehending complex, linked topics.The results, which show that governments, supply     7.

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Moreover, the creative sector, SMEs and COVID-19 are all areas where new and developing patterns may be identified and clarified, enriching the theoretical landscape and paving the way for the creation of more complete models and frameworks for crisis management and economic adaptation.Consequently, this study adds to the theoretical foundation of economic resilience and recovery techniques, especially as they pertain to innovative SMEs with novel difficulties.
5.1.2Practical implications.Relationships in the SME supply chain, government, managerial/organizational and stakeholder spheres were uncovered via research in the literature.Prospective and current managers may benefit from analyzing the clusters to create new strategies.Managers will need buy-in from all quarters in the wake of the epidemic if they are to foster the healthy expansion of the sector.In addition, as was previously indicated, calls for government support for the revival of the creative industry are warranted.Managers and high-level decision-makers should weigh the potential costs against the benefits of various options for increasing company efficiency.With this in mind, this review seeks to help decision-makers become more familiar with the challenges faced by the creative SME sector as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic and the literary viewpoints on the subject.The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (2020) describes the COVID-19 epidemic as a "culture shock" to the creative sector.According to Kolb (2016), the introduction of social media and the Internet called for a radical revamping of marketing tactics and methods.Many businesses in the cultural sector, including museums and convention centers, depend largely on direct customer contact.Because of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, these groups have had to spend heavily on new systems and technology and learn new skills to keep up with the times.The audience may or may not return in large numbers despite these changes (Guilbert and Hyde, 2021).In addition, economies of scope have been harmed due to the growing acceptance of online weddings and 3D museum tours.The number of clients who pay for their services when they are provided in person is decreasing.

Conclusion
This study highlights the critical necessity of understanding the nuanced difficulties encountered by innovative SMEs throughout the post-COVID-19 recovery period.The research adds to the expanding body of literature on economic adaptation in the aftermath of a global crisis by calling attention to the paucity of studies on this subject.The paper successfully reveals a notable lack of synergy among critical categoriesgovernment, supply chain, organizational and stakeholdersthat significantly impacts recovery within the creative SME industry by employing a rigorous methodological approach, including bibliometric literature review and network analysis.The creative sector and SMEs have been significantly impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic and the identification of new patterns provides vital insights into the industry's and the sector's changing environment.To help businesses adapt to the new realities posed by the pandemic, this study provides a comprehensive framework for researchers, industry practitioners and managers to analyze and understand the problems at hand.The research has several flaws, however and that has to be stated.While helpful, the study's reliance on a bibliometric literature evaluation and network analysis means it may miss some of the creative SME industry's nuanced recovery issues.Although effort was made in selecting these 43 papers, it is possible that they do not represent the full breadth of available research.Furthermore, given the dynamic nature of both the COVID-19 pandemic and the creative sector, the results of this research should be seen as a snapshot taken at a particular period.To better understand the difficulties that creative SMEs encounter during their return, future studies might use mixed-method techniques to go beyond the aforementioned confines.Studies using a longer time frame Recovery challenges of creative SMEs would allow researchers to see how these problems change over time and how successful various solutions are.The results' applicability might also be improved with the use of comparison analysis across sectors and locations.There is room for beneficial inquiry into the unique roles of digital transformation, innovation and government policies in addressing recovery issues in the creative sector.This study provides a springboard for a myriad of future studies that might elucidate the dynamics of economic recovery after a pandemic.
the underlying recovery challenges faced during the pandemic by conducting data analysis on published literature in the field of the Creative SMEs Industry • To highlight how these challenges can hinder creative SMEs' recovery • To provide future recommendations and research framework towards practical strategies for managing recovery challenges post-COVID-19 Figure 1.The SLR methodology framework ): Authors' own work

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Year-wise articles based on the creative SMEs industry

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Word cloud of the top 50 keywords based on the category of the selected article in the field of the creative SMEs industry

Figure 4 .
Figure 4. Visual representation of top keywords used within selected articles in the field of the creative SMEs industry IJIEOM Five major groups were considered for the bibliometric analysis: document type, author statistics, country-wise statistics and citation and keyword statistics.Top journals, countries, authors and noteworthy research trends were recognized.Top journals such as "International Journal ): Authors' own work

Table 1 .
work Synopsis Keyword statistics aid in analyzing the most frequently used keywords according to the categories of author keywords, article titles and article abstracts.From a list of 1,283 keywords, the top 20 keywords in the category of article are presented in Table5.From this table, the two main terms involving this research topic are ranked at both highest and lowest, with SMEs being 18 and creative industry at 7. The word cloud in Figure3is based on the top 50 keywords within the field of selected article abstracts.
, organizations and stakeholders are not working together, provide theoretical insights into the systemic and structural barriers that might slow recovery after a pandemic. chains