The Effect of Change Strategies Adopted during the Covid-19 Pandemic on Service Delivery and Financial Performance of Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Zimbabwe: A Survey of SMEs in Bindura Town

This study examined the effects of change strategies adopted by SMEs on their performance particularly on service delivery and financial performance. A survey of 105 firms was carried out in Bindura town (Zimbabwe). The study adopted the pragmatism research philosophy and a mixed research paradigm was used to provide adequate information and make reliable conclusions. The target population constituted of 143 SMEs and a sample of 105 SMES was selected using the stratified random sampling method. Data was collected using a survey questionnaire and a semi-structured interviews and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics using the SPSS version 20. The findings of the study indicated that the educative strategy was the most popular strategy employed by SMEs in implementing Covid-19 changes and that the change strategies employed positively influenced service delivery and financial performance of the SMEs studied. The study recommended that, the Ministry responsible for Small and Medium Enterprises Development and other interested stakeholders should offer change management training to SME owners/managers to enable them to effectively coordinate employees during the change processes.