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Purpose: The purpose of this study is to recognise the role of information and communication technology (ICT) tools in different sectors like Education, Health Care, Business, FMCG and Entertainment in the phase of social distancing. This study also attempts to provide a quantitative review of the scholarly literature on this topic. Design/methodology/approach: A comprehensive literature evaluation was undertaken using a database encompassing 150 English-language papers with publication dates ranging from 2019 to 2021. The research profile and thematic analysis are presented through a comprehensive content analysis, resulting in four themes. The study reviews various research articles and reports related to social distancing and opens a discussion on the growing importance of ICT tools during this COVID-19 era. Findings: ICT acts as a surviving tool for the economy by creating a virtual environment and helping people to stay socially connected during this pandemic. There is a lack of empirical evidence to support the facts so further research is required. Research limitations/implications: There are two drawbacks to the current study. Firstly, this study established a rigorous review methodology in which the researchers opted to exclude any grey literature, non-peer-reviewed articles, books, notes and book chapters from consideration. These sources could have had pertinent literature. Secondly, even after protocol's rigour and numerous rounds of checks by a team of academicians and researchers, an anomaly may have sneaked into the evaluation. Originality/value: The current study contributes to the growing literature on ICT tools particularly in this phase of social distancing. This paper highlights the need for future research in this area supported by different statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to investigate whether the corporate social responsibility (CSR) and innovation activity of Certified B Corps® is comparable to listed companies in the Italian fashion industry. Design/methodology/approach: The study includes a systematic literature review performed on Scopus® and combining keywords related to CSR and the fashion industry. Moreover, the literature review involves empirical analyses performed using a mixed-methods approach. First, a text-based content analysis was carried out on the companies' sustainability reports using the keyword scoring approach. The innovation index was then calculated, and multiple ordinary least squares (OLS) linear regressions were performed. Findings: Based on the data available, it has emerged that Certified B Corps® who pursue a more significant number of SDGs are more likely to implement circular economy principles. Moreover, Certified B Corps® that have higher transparency standards and assume social responsibility practices also have higher innovation activity; in contrast, companies who used CSR only as a marketing tool have lower activity. Research limitations/implications: The analyses were influenced by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, revealing weaker relationships between the variables, as the analyses involved 2020 data. Furthermore, although the analysis considers the entire population of Certified B Corps® and listed companies in the Italian fashion industry, the size of the sample analyzed influenced the results and insights. Therefore, the analysis does not allow for generalizability. Finally, the study was conducted on a single country whose economic and social contexts have influenced some variables. Practical implications: The paper highlights some managerial implications. Managers should consider CSR to be an investment and an opportunity to survive the post-COVID-19 pandemic by applying the triple bottom line (TBL) approach in formulating strategies and increasing investments to develop sustainable innovations. Originality/value: The article explores B Corps, which has received minimal attention in the literature, to propose a deeper understanding of the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The fear of COVID-19, being an emerging research variable and a parcel of the ongoing pandemic, has not yet been fully studied with respect to leadership and employee family life. Based on the conservation of resources theory, the current study aims to investigate the relationship between despotic leadership and work-family conflict under the context of fear prevailing due to COVID-19. The paper also highlights the mediating role of emotional exhaustion between the two variables. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected in two waves by using a time-lagged design from 225 nurses from hospitals in the Central Punjab region in Pakistan. Analysis was done through process macro in SPSS. Findings: Results showed that despotic leadership is positively related to work-family conflict directly and through emotional exhaustion indirectly. Furthermore, the moderation of fear of COVID-19 has also been noted such that its increase strengthened the direct as well as the indirect relationship between despotic leadership and work-family conflict. Originality/value: During the days of COVID-19, the pandemic posed a strong threat to employees' family lives, especially in the presence of despotic leaders at the workplace. Amidst the widespread fear and harmful effects of COVID-19 on economies and organizations, this study provides novel implications for policymakers, researchers and practitioners for mitigating the impact of despotic leadership on employees' family lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This is mainly because the restrictive condition of intuitionistic hesitant fuzzy number (IHFN) is relaxed by the membership functions of Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy number (PyPHFN), so the range of domain value of PyPHFN is greatly expanded. The paper aims to develop a novel decision-making technique based on aggregation operators under PyPHFNs. For this, the authors propose Algebraic operational laws using algebraic norm for PyPHFNs. Furthermore, a list of aggregation operators, namely Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy weighted average (PyPHFWA) operator, Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy weighted geometric (PyPHFWG) operator, Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy ordered weighted average (PyPHFOWA) operator, Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy ordered weighted geometric (PyPHFOWG) operator, Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy hybrid weighted average (PyPHFHWA) operator and Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy hybrid weighted geometric (PyPHFHWG) operator, are proposed based on the defined algebraic operational laws. Also, interesting properties of these aggregation operators are discussed in detail. Design/methodology/approach: PyPHFN is not only a generalization of the traditional IHFN, but also a more effective tool to deal with uncertain multi-attribute decision-making problems. Findings: In addition, the authors design the algorithm to handle the uncertainty in emergency decision-making issues. At last, a numerical case study of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as an emergency decision-making is introduced to show the implementation and validity of the established technique. Besides, the comparison of the existing and the proposed technique is established to show the effectiveness and validity of the established technique. Originality/value: Paper is original and not submitted elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Community governance plays an important role in the prevention and control of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in China. Community workers, the main executors in community governance, experience a huge amount of stress, which affects their physical and mental health. Thus, it is crucial to pay more attention to the stressors and stress responses of community workers and propose strategies to alleviate such responses. This paper aims to analyze the work stress of community workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a questionnaire survey of 602 community workers during COVID-19 in China, the four main stressors and 14 stress factors of community workers were identified and six factors at three levels of stress responses were defined. A stress analysis model is proposed that tests the mediating role of psychological capital and the moderating role of organizational climate. Findings: The results show that stressors influence stress responses through the moderating role of psychological capital, organizational climate plays a negative mediator role between stressors and psychological capital and the main stressors for community workers are work, safety and performance stress. Originality/value: This paper contributes to existing research because it offers suggestions for reducing the impact of stress on the community workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, it can promote the control and prevention of the COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to present reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic impacts in the search for the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8) disseminated by the United Nations. These reflections are made considering the Brazilian scenario. Design/methodology/approach: As this paper is a viewpoint, several information presented here are based on authors' opinion. However, to enhance the information basis and present examples, a bibliographic research was also conducted. Findings: Analyzing the targets of SDG 8 and the probable crisis in the Brazilian economy as a consequence of the pandemic, the authors believe that this crisis will impact the achievement of these targets. Practical implications: The reflections presented here can contribute with the debates about the search for decent work in Brazil. It is worth to remember that the development of actions aligned with SDG 8 targets generates more than only economic gains, as these contribute for building a more just, egalitarian and inclusive society. Originality/value: This viewpoint calls attention to issues that demand urgent public policies; otherwise, these issues can generate losses to an entire generation of Brazilians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the impact of skills and knowledge of employees, economic situations of the company, current IT infrastructure, payment fashion, cloud availability, and cloud privacy and security on the productivity of the human resources in the COVID-19 era. Design/methodology/approach: Over the past few years, the advent of cloud-assisted technologies has dramatically advanced the Information Technology (IT)-based industries by providing everything as a service. Cloud computing is recognized as a growing technology among companies around the world. One of the most critical cloud applications is deploying systems and organizational resources, especially systems whose deployment costs are high. Manpower is one of the basic and vital resources of the organization, and organizations need an efficient workforce to achieve their goals. But, in the COVID-19 era, human resources' productivity can be reduced due to stress, high labor force, reduced organizational performance and profits, unfavorable organizational conditions, inability to manage and lack of training. Therefore, this study tries to investigate the productivity of human resources in the COVID-19 era. Data were collected from the medium-sized companies through a questionnaire. Distributed questionnaires were conducted on the Likert scale. The model is assessed using the structural equation modeling technique to examine its reliability and validity. The study is a library method and literature review. A case study was conducted through a questionnaire and statistical analysis by SPSS 25 and SMART-PLS. Findings: Based on the findings, the skills and knowledge of employees, the economic situations of the company, payment fashion, cloud availability and the current IT infrastructures of the company have a positive impact on human resource efficiency in the COVID-19 era. But cloud privacy and security have a negative effect on the productivity of human resources. The findings can be the basis for companies and organizations in the COVID-19 era. Research limitations/implications: This study has some restrictions that need to be considered in evaluating the obtained results. First, due to the prevalence of Coronavirus, access to information from the companies under study was limited. Second, this research may have overlooked other variables that affect human resource productivity in the COVID-19 era. Prospective researchers can examine the impact of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Supply Chain Management (SCM) on the human resource's productivity in the COVID-19 era. Practical implications: The results of this research are applicable for all companies, their departments and human resources in the COVID-19 era. Originality/value: In this paper, human resources' productivity in the COVID-19 era is pointed out. The presented new model provides a complete framework for investigating cloud-based enterprise resource planning systems affect the productivity of human resources in the COVID-19 era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper combines the systems theoretical perspective on the evolution of societal differentiation and the emergence of codes in communication. By combining the approach by Niklas Luhmann with a historical theology on the development of Christian morality split between God and Devil, it recreates a sociological point of observation on contemporary moral forms by a temporary occupation of the retired Christian Devil. Design/methodology/approach: The article combines a Luhmannian systems theoretical perspective on the evolution of societal differentiation with a concept of emerging codes in communication. The latter is based on on the development of a Christian view of morality being split between God and Devil. It establishes a sociological point of observation on contemporary moral forms through the temporary invocation of the retired figure of the Christian Devil. Findings: The proposed perspective develops a healthy perspective on the exuberant distribution of a health(y) morality across the globe during the pandemic crisis of 2020–21. The temporary invocation of the retired Christian Devil as point of departure in this sociological analysis allows for a disturbing view on the unlimited growth of the morality of health and its inherent dangers of dedifferentiating the highly specialised forms of societal differentiation and organisation. Originality/value: By applying the diabolical perspective, the analytical framework creates a unique opportunity to observe the moral encodings of semantic forms in detail, while keeping the freedom of scientific enquiry to choose amongst available distinctions in the creation of sound empirical knowledge. This article adopts a neutral stance, for the good of sociological analysis. The applications of the term "evil" to observations of communication are indifferent to anything but itself and its qualities as scientific enquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss how COVID-19 pandemic forced several companies to reflect on their activities. Many organizational changes have been conducted and others will still be necessary. Some reflections are presented, as some aspects are well consolidated in academic literature while they are neglected by many leaders of companies. The authors believe that this viewpoint can support leaders to enhance organizational development. Design/methodology/approach: Part of the information presented here is characterized by the authors' points of view, as it is a viewpoint. However, the authors carried out searches on scientific bases and published press reports aiming to support the reflections presented in this text. Findings: The reflections presented in this viewpoint focus on the following aspects: periodic critical analysis of companies business models, business continuity management systems, risk management, resilience principles in supply chain management, necessary changes in production systems, occupational health and safety systems and new ways of working. For the authors, the correct conduction of these aspects can guarantee companies survival; however, many leaders worldwide still neglect them. Originality/value: The reflections presented here can be useful for leaders interested in conducting a critical analysis in their business, considering necessary organizational changes to face the COVID-19 pandemic consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this viewpoint is to present some reflections about the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic impacts on the transition to Industry 4.0 in the Brazilian manufacturing sector context. Design/methodology/approach: Initially, a bibliographic research study was carried out to establish a theoretical background and contextualization. After analysing different kinds of documents, the authors of this viewpoint discussed potential COVID-19 impacts on the transition to Industry 4.0 in the Brazilian manufacturing sector. A multidisciplinary discursive approach was used in the debates. Findings: The COVID-19 pandemic will negatively influence the transition of Brazilian manufacturing sector to Industry 4.0. Despite the fact that some "World Class Companies" based in Brazil still continue the transition process towards the "Digital Revolution", most of Brazilian manufacturing companies are postponing important initiatives related to Industry 4.0 due to uncertainties. In addition, policies promoting innovation are increasingly necessary. Practical implications: This viewpoint presents interesting implications for researchers and society. Researchers can use these reflections to structure surveys or case studies to better understand the aforementioned impacts on companies due to the pandemic. These reflections can also be used by society for public policy debates. For companies, the information presented highlights the relevance of Industry 4.0 as an important phenomenon to manufacturing sector and companies' competitiveness. Originality/value: This viewpoint presents reflections which may be used to encourage debates about how to manage digital transformation in the manufacturing sector during an unstable environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to identify the most relevant causal factors and the feedback loops of the dynamics between Tuta absoluta incidence in tomato crops and farmers' reactions to the problem. The authors seek to develop a conceptual model based on farmers' know-how to address crop damage by T. absoluta at a local and regional levels in order to determine how to confront this problem in the tomato-growing region of Sáchica, Colombia. Design/methodology/approach: Community-Based System Dynamics (CBSD) is a participatory research methodology in which a group of stakeholders identifies relevant variables and the cause-effect relations among them which are then arranged into a causal loop diagram. The authors implemented this methodology in a workshop, focused on the farmers' insights related to the pest situation at the local and regional level, to achieve a causal loop diagram that explained pest dynamics and their potential management. Findings: The relevant factors for the presence of T. absoluta, seen in the causal loop diagram, vary regionally and locally. At the local level, the pest impacts tomato production, farmers' well-being and their cash flow, while at the regional level, it affects market dynamics and environment and promotes regional coordination among farmers. Farmers propose product innocuity as a key regional objective. They also proposed establishing a planting calendar and census of greenhouses to control the pest throughout the region and the tomato supply. Research limitations/implications: First, the synthesized model could not be validated with the farmers due to the COVID 19 epidemic. However, the authors held sessions with experts to analyze each result. Second, decision-makers from the local government did not participate in the workshop. Nevertheless, the approach of the workshop was aimed at understanding the mental models of the farmers since they are the ones who decide how pests are managed. Finally, even though farmers showed interest in projects aimed at proposing area-wide, long-term and wide pest control strategies, there is a risk that they will not adopt the proposed changes, due to risk aversion. Originality/value: CBSD has not been applied to agricultural systems to analyze impacts from pests at the local and regional levels. The results of this study contribute to designing future interventions for pest control in the region, along with the factors which may turn out to be "side effects" or unwanted results. To design pest control interventions at a regional level, a sound understanding of the variables or factors that control the system dynamics at various levels is required. This study represents the first step towards that end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to create a system dynamics simulation model to forecast the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) if some decision-making is executed to reduce the negative of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In particular, this study will focus on SMEs that belong to the furniture industry because the furniture industry is one of the leading industries in Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach: The study develops a system dynamics-based model by using three subsystems, i.e. the "production subsystem," "demand and revenue subsystem" and "raw material (or wood supply) subsystem." Findings: The best scenario is the third scenario which increases the capacity to the normal situation and government subsidy during and after the pandemic. This scenario gives the best performance for industry revenue and gross domestic product (GDP). However, for the government, the most significant expenditure occurs in the third scenario. This seems a trade-off for the government whether to save the wooden-based furniture industry by encouraging the industry to continue operating during the pandemic accompanied by high subsidies or limiting the activities of the wooden-based furniture industry to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by providing low subsidies. Research limitations/implications: First, this study does not try to combine the system dynamics (SD) methodology with the other method or use a multi-methodology since SD has several limitations and the other method may have several advantages compared to SD. Second, the models used in this study do not consider the decline in forest area and quality. Third, the demand for wooden-based furniture is obtained from historical data on domestic and foreign sales and fourth, the model does not include the government budget as a constraint to make any subsidy to help the SMEs. Practical implications: This study provides essential insights into implementing the policies in the world pandemic situation when SMEs face lockdown policy. Social implications: The study revealed that relevant policy scenarios could be built after simulating and analyzing each scenario's effect on SMEs' performance during the pandemic. Originality/value: This study will enrich the previous study on the impact of the pandemic on SMEs and the dynamic system modeling on SMEs. The previous study discussed the pandemic's impact on SME performance and the impact's analysis in isolation from the dynamic nature of SME owners' decisions or government policy. In this study, the impact generated from the pandemic situation could be different depending on the decision and policies taken by managers from SMEs and the government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: COVID-19 is moving the world towards a significant number of structural changes, and this pandemic is influencing each individual, society and industry at large. The present empirical research intends to identify the constructs (latent variables) caused mainly due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and analyze their influence on the education system's performance. Design/methodology/approach: A pilot study was carried out with 105 responses to gain deeper insights into the factor structure and validate the scale. Then, the exploratory factor analysis was applied to explore five factors. Later on, the confirmatory factor analysis was employed to check the model's unidimensionality, validity and reliability. Finally, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to explore the factors influencing educational performance. Findings: Four hypotheses were tested, out of which two were supported, i.e. "compatibility with online mode" and "new opportunities" were found to influence educational performance significantly. Practical implications: This investigation aims to provide vital information to the ministry of human resource development and educationists/academicians to understand the influence of the higher education system's factors. Also, it offers some strategies and plans to improve the higher educational systems performance in similar situations. Originality/value: The previous studies did not identify and analyze the factors that influence the educational system's performance; especially, amid COVID-19 using the exploratory, confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modeling approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]