Relational and Networking Character: Threat or Savior for the Sustainability of European Erasmus+ Projects in the Times of COVID-19 Pandemic?

Abstract

Turbulent and unstable times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic constitute specific training grounds as well as a stress test to verify in practice the validity of assumptions underlying the modern paradigms in management on the one hand, and to assess which factors contribute, or pose challenges and threats, to the resilience and sustainability of modern organizations on the other hand. Research was conducted among 990 Erasmus+ project leaders to assess to what extent the factors connected with the relational and networking characteristics of Erasmus+ projects, functioning as temporary organizations, facilitate the sustainability of European transnational cooperation projects in the times of the COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion concentrates on the digital and social dimensions of transnational cooperation and places these dimensions in the broader context of relational view and network paradigm in the modern science of management as well as in the context of strategic management. Bibliometric analysis shows that no such research has been conducted so far. Researchers tend to analyze the impact of Erasmus+ projects on regional, national, and European communities but do not touch upon the aspects connected with the management of the projects themselves, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, this research fills a research gap in this respect.