Exploring managers’ perceptions of personal resilience and coping strategies in a South African retail company

Abstract

This mini-dissertation examines how managers in a South African retail company perceive and sustain personal resilience under volatile, interruption-heavy conditions. The study follows an interpretivist, qualitative, descriptive design. I conducted ten semi-structured interviews and analysed the data reflexively using Braun and Clarke's (2006) thematic approach. ATLAS.ti version 25 supported coding and theme development. An audit trail and field notes strengthened credibility. The primary objective was to identify managers' perceptions of personal resilience and their coping strategies. Secondary objectives focused on willingness and ability to persist, on support structures inside and outside work, and on effort-recovery during and after work. The analysis produced six linked themes. Micro-recovery provides the practical base. Planning and prioritising organise attention through loops of anticipating, priming, sequencing, and reflecting. Support ties offer fast guidance and effective recharge. Emotional intelligence in motion keeps interactions constructive. Organisational conditions either create drag or act as growth levers. A winning mindset, anchored in duty, self-talk, discipline, and meaning, holds the system together. These practices convert volatility into workable subsequent actions when schedules and clarity create feasible recovery windows. The study contributes a layered, practice-based account of managerial resilience in retail. It offers targeted implications at individual, line-manager, and organisational levels. Limitations include a single-company scope, possible recall and social desirability bias, and the absence of direct behavioural measures. Saturation, transparent procedures, and a clear audit trail support credibility. Transferability is argued by reasoned analogy to similar South African retail environments.