Innovation and Business Resilience in the SADC Region: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

This systematic review investigated how businesses in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region leverage innovation to build resilience in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environment. The research answered four precise study questions examining dynamic capability development, innovation types, contextual factors and theoretical implications. The study synthesised 63 studies between 2015 and 2025, employing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology that consisted 28 quantitative, 24 qualitative and 11 mixed-methods studies in all 16 SADC member states. Applying the theoretical framework of Dynamic Capabilities Theory, current research employed the PRISMA approach in literature synthesis ranging from 2015 to 2025. The research outcome shows that companies in the SADC region with resilience possess three fundamental dynamic capabilities: sensing opportunity amidst uncertainty, seizing opportunity despite ambiguity and reconfiguring resources to keep up with complexity and ambiguity. The research made a theoretical contribution in articulating "contextual dynamic capabilities" and "paradoxical capabilities" outside the dynamic capabilities' conventional frameworks. It contributes to understanding how contextual factors unique to the SADC region influence innovation-driven resilience and provides practical implications for policymakers and business leaders navigating VUCA conditions in emerging African economies.