Game Strategy for Clustering Business Structures in the COVID-19 Pandemic and Crisis

Abstract

The chapter aims to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and crisis on the implementation of the game market strategy of clustering business structures. The chapter contributes to the literature by clarifying the concept of economic clustering from the perspectives of game theory and stakeholder theory in the COVID-19 pandemic and crisis. The scientific novelty and originality of the research results are that they revealed differences in the effectiveness of the game strategy of clustering business structures, first, between developed and developing countries and, second, between conditions of stability and conditions of crisis. The theoretical significance of the results and conclusions is that they opened a new perspective on the clustering of business structures – from the perspective of game theory (as a game strategy in its alternativity with the strategy of individual business presence in the market) and from the perspective of stakeholder theory (as a market strategy, the effectiveness of which is evaluated for all stakeholders). The practical significance of the research lies in the fact that it allows rationalising the decision-making on the implementation of the game strategy of clustering business structures in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and crisis, considering the peculiarities of developed and developing countries. The authors provide their recommendations for each category of country.

Citation

Popkova, E.G. and Sergi, B.S. (2023), "Game Strategy for Clustering Business Structures in the COVID-19 Pandemic and Crisis", Popkova, E.G. (Ed.) Game Strategies for Business Integration in the Digital Economy (Advances in Business Marketing and Purchasing, Vol. 27), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 69-77. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1069-096420230000027008