Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic shocked the global economy, with numerous companies suffering losses and shutting down. However, some companies proved to be resilient, being able to
sustain their economic performance despite the pandemic. The study aims to explain the sustainable
economic performance of companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The relationships between
empowering leadership, innovative work behavior, organizational readiness to change, and sustainable economic performance were assessed. The data were collected via an online questionnaire from
January 2021 to March 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia. The respondents
were Russian companies’ employees holding management positions, competent to objectively assess
organizational circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 337 was used in the
analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with maximum likelihood estimation was conducted
using SPSS AMOS. The structural model was tested with standardized parameter estimates, standard
errors, and p-values calculated. The findings of the study suggest that innovative work behavior
and organizational readiness to learn have a direct influence on sustainable economic performance.
The findings also suggest that empowering leadership impacts innovative work behavior but not
sustainable economic performance. The mediation analysis indicates that innovative work behavior
is a mediator between empowering leadership and sustainable economic performance, whereas organizational readiness to learn is not a moderator. The study adds to the leadership and sustainability
body of knowledge and contributes to the research on the COVID-19 pandemic in the organizational
context.
