The Dual Mediation of Temporal Psychological Capital and Employee Innovative Behavior: Exploring the Link between Managerial Resilience and SME Performance in Times of Crisis

In times of crisis, organizational resilience is not merely a leadership trait but a systemic capability that drives performance across levels. Drawing on a multi-wave survey of 450 employees and managers in Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this study examines how Managerial Resilience shapes Employee Performance through the dual mediating pathways of Temporal Psychological Capital and Employee Innovative Behavior . Employing a multi-method design that integrates Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling, Support Vector Machine boundary classification, and Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA), the study offers both a robust explanation of sufficiency and a fine-grained understanding of necessity in resilience-performance mechanisms. The results reveal that MR significantly enhances all dimensions of TPC (temporal control, temporal fit, and time pressure resilience) and EIB (idea generation, idea promotion, and idea realization), which in turn positively influence EP. However, idea promotion alone does not translate into performance gains without effective execution mechanisms. Notably, NCA identifies time pressure resilience, idea generation, and idea realization as non-compensatory bottlenecks—essential thresholds that must be surpassed to attain high performance levels. These findings illuminate the critical, often overlooked role of time-based cognitive and affective resources in sustaining organizational adaptability and innovation under uncertainty.