Redirecting Slack Resources to Social and Environmental Issues: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Tourism Firms Post-Crisis

Abstract

Drawing on the cognitive micro-foundations of institutional theory, attention-based view, stakeholder salience framework, and threat-rigidity hypothesis, this study fills key gaps in our understanding of how tourism firms allocate their slack resources to social and environmental issues during crises. Our model was tested using survey data collected from the managers of tourism firms in Egypt and the UK after the last wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Structural equation modeling-based results indicated that normative pressures, threats, and issue urgency are significant determinants of socially responsible slack allocation. Urgency mediated all institutional pressures with slack allocation. Multigroup analyses revealed variations in institutional receptivity, issue interpretation, and slack allocation among Egyptian and British managers. This study contributes to micro-foundational and cross-cultural research on corporate social responsiveness and resource management. Our findings guide tourism firms in making optimal socially responsible investments and help policymakers set sustainable tourism strategies aligned with crises and businesses’ capabilities.