COVID-19 and Rapid Response in Healthcare: Enacting Bricolage to Overcome Resource Constraints

In resource-poor emerging economies, the COVID-19 pandemic has inspired governments and various organisations to develop innovative solutions to help combat the pandemic. We conducted a qualitative evidence synthesis of 19 cases drawn from a sample of emerging countries to understand how varied actors rapidly forged healthcare solutions. We uncover the entrepreneurial agency of bricolage as an intrinsic, unconscious and cooperative process of entrepreneurial action in crisis management. Our study contributes to the theory of bricolage as we propose the concept of ‘crisis-driven bricolage’ in healthcare. By highlighting the capacity of multiple actors to collaborate and create effective healthcare solutions within a very short timeframe, our study holds strong practical implications for regional responses. It encourages bricolage as a viable solution when resources are tight and responses need to be rapid. Our study proposes greater consideration of bricolage as a way to provide low-cost and efficacious solutions, and as a complement to society’s innovation repertoire.