Search

Purpose: Through addressing female academics in four public universities in Egypt, the author of this paper aims to answer the question: How do female academics cope with the career shock resulting from the spread of COVID-19? Design/methodology/approach: The author used a qualitative research method through semi-structured interviews with 32 female academics from four public universities selected from among 26 public institutions of higher education in Egypt. Thematic analysis was subsequently used to determine the main ideas in the transcripts. Findings: The findings assert that the following three strategies: heroism, cronyism and temporalism are used by female academics in the Egyptian context to cope with the career shocks they feel during the time of COVID-19. The findings assert that female academics try to reassert their professionalism in their academic duties and familial obligations even after the spread of COVID-19. Moreover, they tend to use forms of cronyism behaviour to alleviate the effect of the career shock, mostly via hypocritical phrases. Furthermore, the thought that COVID-19 is a temporary stage helps female academics to actively accept their challenging new work conditions. Originality/value: This paper contributes by filling a gap in human resources management and higher education in which empirical studies on the career shock of female academics have been limited so far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets with an updated Purchasing Portfolio Matrix (PPM) specifically for international sourcing. This data-driven PPM matrix is designed to provide a dynamic and process perspective that can help SMEs survive the disruptions caused by emergency situations such as the global COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: This research reports on qualitative interviews with experienced informants from 15 SMEs in the manufacturing industry. The authors follow process-based research using a combination of retrospective and real-time case study approaches to gradually unveil the dynamics in segmentation and sourcing strategies in the international sourcing context during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings: The findings reveal the dynamics of segmentation and international sourcing strategies during global disruptions and unpack the underlying logic behind the dynamics that is specific to SMEs in emerging economies. Originality/value: Existing literature on PPM predominantly focuses on static and normal sourcing circumstances. This paper addresses this gap by adopting a dynamic approach to study how sourcing strategies of SMEs from emerging economies evolve in a highly volatile environment from an international sourcing perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) and hedging ratios between Dow Jones markets and oil, gold and bitcoin. Using daily data, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine war. We employ the DCC-generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) and asymmetric DCC (ADCC)-GARCH models. Design/methodology/approach: DCC-GARCH and ADCC-GARCH models. Findings: The most of DCCs among market pairs are positive during COVID-19 period, implying the existence of volatility spillovers (Contagion-effects). This implies the lack of additional economic gains of diversification. So, COVID-19 represents a systematic risk that resists diversification. However, during the Russia–Ukraine war the DCCs are negative for most pairs that include Oil and Gold, implying investors may benefit from portfolio-diversification. Our hedging analysis carries significant implications for investors seeking higher returns while hedging their Dow Jones portfolios: keeping their portfolios unhedged is better than hedging them. This is because Islamic stocks have the ability to mitigate risks. Originality/value: Our paper may make a valuable contribution to the existing literature by examining the hedging of financial assets, including both conventional and Islamic assets, during periods of stability and crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to analyse the nature and trends in the knowledge discovery process on COVID-19 and food insecurity using a comprehensive bibliometric analysis based on the indexing literature in the Scopus database. Design/methodology/approach: Data were extracted from Scopus using the keywords COVID-19 and food security to ensure extensive coverage. A total of 840 research papers on COVID-19 and food security were analysed using VOSviewer and RStudio software. Findings: The findings of the bibliometric analysis in terms of mapping of scientific research across countries and co-occurrence of research keywords provide the trends in research focus and future directions for food insecurity research during times of uncertainty. Based on this analysis, the focus of scientific research has been categorised as COVID-19 and food supply resilience, COVID-19 and food security, COVID-19 and public health, COVID-19 and nutrition, COVID-19 and mental health and depression, COVID-19 and migration and COVID-19 and social distancing. A thematic map was created to identify future research on COVID-19 and food security. Practical implications: This analysis identifies potential research areas such as food supply and production, nutrition and health that may help set future research agendas and devise policy supports for better managing food insecurity during uncertainty. Originality/value: This analysis provides epistemological underpinnings for knowledge generation and acquisition on COVID-19 and food insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In the light of high reliance on digital technology to mitigate the consequences of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its containment measures, this study investigates the factors influencing firms' decision to adopt digital technologies during COVID-19 in four Middle East and Northern African (MENA) countries, namely, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. Design/methodology/approach: The study used the International Labour Organization (ILO)/Economic Research Forum (ERF) COVID-19 - MENA Monitor Enterprise Survey (CMMENT), comprising 5,480 firms, surveyed during 2020–2021. The empirical model is estimated using the linear probability model (LPM) to address the problem of unobserved heterogeneity between firms, countries, and time. Findings: The results revealed that firm characteristics, such as firm size and foreign ownership, encourage digital transformation in the business sector. Moreover, firms that face challenges during the pandemic, comply with the containment measures, and receive government assistance are more likely to adopt digital solutions. Furthermore, the results indicated that firms operating in services sector have a higher likelihood to adopt digital technology. Disaggregating the total sample into several sub-samples, the results are robust across countries and technology types, supporting the initial hypothesis that COVID-19 encourages digital transformation in the MENA region. Originality/value: The study has numerous contributions. First, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the sole study that uses micro data collected during the COVID-19 to examine the factors influencing firms' decision to adopt and invest in digital solutions in the MENA countries. Second, the paper employs the LPM estimator to address the issue of unobserved heterogeneity between firms, countries and time. Finally, the paper offers some practical recommendations for accelerating digital transformation in MENA region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: COVID-19 disrupted the lives of consumers across the globe, and the retail sector has been one of the hardest hits. The impact of COVID-19 on consumers' retail choice behaviour and retailers' responses has been studied in detail through multiple lenses. Now that the effect of COVID-19 is abating, there is a need to consolidate the learnings during the lifecycle of COVID-19 and set the agenda for research post-COVID-19. Design/methodology/approach: Scopus database was searched to cull out academic papers published between March 2020 and June 6, 2022, using keywords; shopping behaviour, retailing, consumer behaviour, and retail channel choice along with COVID-19 (171 journals, 357 articles). Bibliometric analysis followed by selective content analysis was conducted. Findings: COVID-19 was a black swan event that impacted consumers' psychology, leading to reversible and irreversible changes in retail consumer behaviour worldwide. Research on changes in consumer behaviour and consumption patterns has been mapped to the different stages of the COVID-19 lifecycle. Relevant research questions and potential theoretical lenses have been proposed for further studies. Originality/value: This paper collates, classifies and organizes the extant research in retail from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It identifies three retail consumption themes: short-term, long-term reversible and long-term irreversible changes. Research agenda related to the retailer and consumer behaviour is identified; for each of the three categories, facilitating the extraction of pertinent research questions for post-COVID-19 studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: During the COVID-19 pandemic, many working mothers in India adopted involuntary telecommuting work option for the first time. However, no research explored their adjustments and experiences in the new work setting. This paper aims to gain an in-depth understanding of Indian working mothers' lived experience of involuntary telecommuting. Design/methodology/approach: A phenomenological research design was adopted. The authors conducted 14 in-depth, semi-structured telephonic and online interviews. Data were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis framework. Findings: The data analysis yielded two interconnected superordinate themes in this research: (1) characteristics of involuntary telecommuting and (2) the impact of involuntary telecommuting. Under the first theme, four sub-themes emerged: long working hours, increased family demands, reduced interaction with coworkers and technology-enabled communication with supervisors. The second theme comprised five sub-themes: time-based work interference with family, time-based family interference with work, strain-based family interference with work, absence of emotional and professional support and performance management concerns. Involuntary telecommuting mothers faced challenges due to lack of control over their daily work schedule and demands, along with an increased burden of unpaid household work, leading to difficulties in managing their work schedule and negotiating their professional role identity within the family. These findings emphasize that working mothers who participated in involuntary telecommuting encountered bidirectional time-based conflicts and unidirectional strain-based conflict. Research limitations/implications: The study examines a particular subset of women telecommuters who were working mothers with young children. These potential limitations are to be addressed in future research. Practical implications: The findings suggest that managers should develop HR policies and telecommuting ecosystems in order to enhance effectiveness of telecommuting. Specifically, organizations offering telecommuting work options should create opportunities for informal interaction among peers and formal one-to-one interaction with managers. Moreover, HR managers should develop and implement employee-friendly telecommuting policies. Social implications: The research contributes to HRM and gender literature. Originality/value: The paper contributes to the discourses of work-life balance, workplace relationships and work policies within telecommuting literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper is to review COVID-19 and Accounting research published during the pandemic up to July 2020. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted bibliometric anlaysis and used the Scopus database to collect the data during the COVID-19 pandemic research published in the area of COVID-19 and accounting research. Findings: This paper has acknowledged the most relevant and scientific contributors in terms documents, institutions, sources and countries. Originality/value: To the best of the author's knowledge, this study is the first study to review COVID-19 and Accounting research agenda during the pandemic. Research limitations: This study used only articles published in journals indexed in Scopus database. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how supply chain actors in an Italian cashmere supply chain reacted to dependence and power use during the Covid-19 crisis and how this affected their perceptions of justice. Design/methodology/approach: The research took a case study approach exploring issues of dependence, power and justice in a multi-tier luxury cashmere supply chain. Findings: The authors found two types of dependence: Craftmanship-induced buyer dependence and Market-position-induced supplier dependence. The authors also identified four key archetypes emerging from the dynamics of dependence, power and justice during Covid-19. In the repressive archetype, buying firms perceive their suppliers as dependent and use mediated power through coercive tactics, leading the suppliers to perceive interactional, procedural and distributive injustice and use reciprocal coercive tactics against the buying firms in the form of coopetition. In the restrictive archetype, buying firms that are aware of their dependence on their suppliers use mediated power through contracts, with suppliers perceiving distributive injustice and developing ways to circumvent the brands. In the relational archetype, the awareness of craftmanship-induced buyer dependence leads buying firms to use non-mediated power through collaboration, but suppliers still do not perceive distributive justice, as there is no business security or future orders. In the resilient archetype, buying firms are aware of their own craftmanship-induced dependence and combine mediated and non-mediated power by giving the suppliers sustainable orders, which leads suppliers to perceive each justice type positively. Originality/value: This paper shows how the actors in a specific supply chain react to and cope with one of the worst health crises in living memory, thereby providing advice for supply chain management in future crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The authors aim to analyze the inequality in accessing distance learning during COVID-19 school closures. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use the Household Pulse Survey, which is an effort by the United States (US) government to measure the well-being of American families during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors employ a regression analysis to estimate the inequality in accessing distance learning by race and household income. Findings: Disadvantaged children from nonwhite and low-income families have much less access to distance learning, including less access to online classes, digital devices and the Internet. Schools are critical providers of the Internet and digital devices to children from disadvantaged households. Schools and parents devote more attention to these nonwhite children by spending extra time on their learning activities. Originality/value: This paper estimates the inequality in accessing distance learning during the COVID-19 crisis. Also, the authors analyze the responses of schools and parents toward this inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the issues related to job insecurity became even more prominent than before. This paper sets out to identify the determinants of job insecurity in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic among Romanian workers, a topic than was scarcely addressed in previous studies. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a representative sample at the national level (N = 744), the authors performed a multilinear regression analysis that pinpoints the factors predicting job insecurity. Findings: This study findings indicate that high-skilled workers employed on permanent arrangements, having higher workloads, who had received organizational support, and managed to harmonize work demands with family responsibilities experience the lowest levels of job insecurity. In this study, teleworking does not influence the level of job insecurity. Gender (being male), working in the public sector and approving the political management of the COVID-19 pandemic also count in securing the feelings employees have about their job. Originality/value: Besides filling a geographical gap in the literature, another innovative contribution of the paper is the emphasis on the importance for the employees of how public authorities manage the public health crisis. Also, this study explores the workload as a factor of job insecurity which was unaddressed previously. Implications for research and practice are emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper introduces the second part of a AAAJ special issue on accounting, accountability and management during the COVID-19 emergency. The authors analyse the themes that emerge from the second part of the special issue, which allows us to identify the diverse accounting and accountability practices across different geographical and organisational contexts. The authors also provide an overall picture of the contributions of the special issue, with insights into avenues of future research. Design/methodology/approach: Building on the first part of the AAAJ special issue, the paper draws together and identifies additional emerging themes related to research into the COVID-19 pandemic and how it impacts accounting, accountability and management practices. The authors reflect on the contributions of the special issue to the interdisciplinary accounting research project. Findings: The authors identify two macro-themes and outline their contributions to the accounting literature. The first deals with the changes and dangers of accounting and accountability practices during the pandemic. The second considers accountability practices in a broader sense, including reporting, disclosure and rhetorical practices in the management of COVID-19. Practical implications: The paper shows the pervasive role of accounting and accountability in the unprecedented and indiscriminate health crisis of COVID-19. It highlights the important role of special issues in producing timely research that responds to unfolding events. Originality/value: This paper contributes to current debates on the roles of accounting and accountability during COVID-19 by drawing together the themes of the special issue and identifying future interdisciplinary accounting research on the pandemic's aftermath. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the role of performance measurement systems as technologies of government for the assessment and management of the effects of COVID-19 in the context of six cities involved in a large European project. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the field study of a large European project, this paper relies on a comparative case study research approach (Yin, 2003). This research design allows insights into the role of central and local key performance indicators (KPIs) in managing the ongoing pandemic. Findings: This paper explores the role of accounting in the assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its findings illustrate how the "adjudicating" and "territorialising" roles (Miller and Power, 2013) of local and central accounting technologies rendered the COVID-19 pandemic calculable. Originality/value: This paper connects central and local performance management systems in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It relies on a governmentality approach to discuss how different programmes and the relative KPIs were impacted by the ongoing global crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study uncovers how government interventions, in terms of stringency and support, shape coronavirus disease 2019's (COVID-19) detrimental impact on organizations' performance. Specifically, this paper studies whether stringency and support play complementary or substitutive roles in lowering COVID-19's impact on organizations' performance. Design/methodology/approach: The authors gathered primary data from USA manufacturing companies and combined this with secondary data from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) to test the proposed model with structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings: The results show that the stringency approach increases the detrimental impact on both operational and financial performance, while economic support (to households) and fiscal spending (to organizations) work differently on lowering the impacts of COVID-19. Further, these combinative effects only influence the firm's operational performance, albeit in opposite directions. Originality/value: This study advances the knowledge of government interventions by examining stringency and support's direct and interaction effects on firm performance as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings contribute to the literature by uncovering the unique roles of both supportive policies, thus differentiating economic support (to individuals/households) from fiscal spending (to organizations) and providing important academic, managerial and policy insights into how government should best initiate and blend stringency and support policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to identify the causal effect of the COVID-19 induced crisis on students' decisions about their educational plans. The authors hypothesise that students adjusted their decisions by delaying graduation, dropping out or change the field of education because of increased uncertainty about future employment and monetary returns. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical approach is based on a survey done during the first wave of COVID-19 in Slovenia. The probability of dropping out, prolonging or stop-out is designed by applying probit and probit with insturmental variables empirical model. Findings: Primary orientation towards work increases the probability of dropping out and financial constraints increase the probability of prolonging studies. The same holds after accounting for endogeneity. However, the authors do not find that poor job expectations due to COVID-19 affect students' decisions to prolong, drop-out or stop-out. The authors also find that the primary orientation toward work or study explains the differences in the probability of each outcome that is not influenced by enrolment in a particular field of study. Research limitations/implications: The results cannot be read as an objective prediction of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on college failures. However, the study provides insight into how students' expectations change their intentions to prolong, drop-out, or stop-out during periods of high uncertainty. The extent, to which measured intentions are realised, however, is uncertain. Practical implications: Understanding the response diversity and motives behind students' study decisions represents extremely valuable insights for economic policy. Mapped apprehensions, augmented by heterogeneity in personal and financial characteristics, are relevant for policymakers. In terms of future research, it would be interesting to analyse what changes occurred over a five-year period, specifically which field of study was most affected by students' adjusted plans due to the pandemic. Social implications: Students have always been a special group in the labour market. After the initial shock of closing activities, studying online and the drastic decrease in student work due to COVID-19, the decision was made in spring 2020 to continue on the chosen path or not. This paper provides insight into the changing decision students made about their educational plans. Originality/value: This paper is one of the first to highlight the implications of COVID-19 for the adaptation of student plans in the transition from school-to work in Europe. It departs from the classical literature of college failures, as specific macroeconomic conditions influence students to reconsider their educational decisions. Moreover, the paper also contributes to the rapidly growing literature on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on household-level labour market outcomes, particularly with respect to job search and labour supply decisions in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to ease the methodological application of critical realist multilevel research in business marketing. Although there has been plenty of theoretical contributions in this field, it is not always clear how critical realism can be best applied in business marketing settings. Accordingly, this paper addresses this gap in literature. Also, this paper addresses the calls for a multilevel conceptualization for resilience, based on the critical realist laminated systems. Design/methodology/approach: This is a conceptual paper, which uses pre-existing literature to develop a critical realist methodological approach for the purposes of multilevel business marketing research. The contribution is based on literature by combining pre-existing ideas in a new way in the context of business marketing. Findings: This paper makes a methodological contribution by introducing the critical realist "laminated systems" to business marketing as a multilevel research approach. Furthermore, the authors conceptualize a specific laminated model, the Laminated Interactional Model (LIM), that is designed for the purpose of business marketing research. The LIM is a methodological tool that conceptualizes business marketing based on six levels of analysis, easing the methodological application of critical realism in business marketing settings. In addition, to provide an example, the authors apply the LIM to the literature on resilience, providing a multilevel conceptualization. This is a timely contribution, as resilience has emerged as a central concept addressing interorganizational survival during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originality/value: This paper makes three main contributions to business marketing. First, this paper provides a methodological contribution by introducing the critical realist notion of "laminated systems" to business marketing. Second, this paper conceptualizes a specific laminated model for business marketing, namely, the LIM. Third, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper will apply critical realism and the LIM to the notion of resilience, addressing the calls for multilevel conceptualizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper investigates the influence of three different sentiment indicators on the time-varying stock–bond correlation of 15 countries during the global crisis period of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: The author uses the time-varying correlation estimated using the autoregressive moving average -dynamic conditional correlation - generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARMA-DCC-GARCH) model to achieve this aim. The impact of investor sentiment on the stock–bond correlation was analysed using the Markov regime-switching regression. Findings: The study results show that the sentiment indicators of fear, uncertainty and distress have a pronounced negative impact on the stock–bond correlation. They further provide evidence of a strong regime effect on the stock–bond correlation with sentiment indicators. Practical implications: The paper has a relevant impact on policymakers and fund managers. First, the policymakers now have more insightful evidence of how the stock and bond markets react during crises. Second, the fund managers need to focus on behavioural variables as they may be driving factors in crisis periods that may impair portfolio management. Originality/value: To the best of my knowledge, the paper is the first to throw light on the behaviour of the stock–bond correlation for 15 countries during the COVID-19 period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the themes emerging from the first studies exploring accounting, accountability and management practices during the COVID-19 pandemic and coming from a diversity of experiences, across countries, organizations and individuals. In so doing, the paper gives an overview of the most recent findings about the role of accounting and accountability in times of crisis that are hosted in this special issue of Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (AAAJ). Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws together and identifies emerging themes related to the current COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on accounting, accountability and management practices and considers how the studies in this issue extend one's knowledge of accounting and contribute to accounting research. Findings: Three emerging themes are drawn and their contribution to accounting scholarship is discussed. The first theme deals with the role of accounting and numbers in supporting governmental responses to COVID-19. The second theme considers accounting practices used to make exceptional decisions at the organizational level in times of crisis. The third theme addresses a relevant frontier of research into accounting and inequalities. Practical implications: In considering the diverse contributions of this special issue, the paper points out how uncertainty and change can impact the design, use and understanding of accounting, management and accountability practices and can be accepted by scholars and practitioners as part of such practices. Originality/value: This paper provides a timely and comprehensive picture of the first reflections and research findings on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on one's interpretation of accounting, accountability and management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This article identifies the contextual demands impacting the work from home (WFH) experience during the COVID-19 pandemic and considers their respective impact on employees' personal and work-related outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on a qualitative methodology, the authors thematically analyzed written narratives from 41 employees who had been required to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings: Data analysis identified four layers of contextual demands (omnibus, task, social and personal) that had resulted in participants being required to work from home. Drawing on this finding, the authors develop a conceptual process model to extend current theory and explain how the respective demands impact individual affective reactions and work-related experiences, health and wellbeing. The authors' findings offer new insights into contexts where WFH becomes mandatory, indicating that it is characterized by a range of challenges and opportunities. Practical implications: This paper signals the need to provide employees with a realistic preview of working from home demands, including interventions to better prepare them to navigate the daily stressors of working from home; and provision of virtual employee assistance programs in the form of online counseling. Originality/value: This paper explores a unique phenomenon – the mandatory requirement to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on employees' personal and work-related experiences and outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how business-to-business (B2B) companies operating in durable goods use digital communications after the COVID-19 outbreak. In particular, this paper focuses on the objectives of these digital communication tools for the marketing strategies of B2B white goods firms. Design/methodology/approach: As the research objective is explorative, the authors conducted a qualitative analysis by collecting 13 semi-structured interviews with B2B marketing professionals working for white goods firms in Italy. Primary data was triangulated with secondary data about the white goods industry, such as sector reports. Findings: The findings of this paper show an acceleration in the adoption of digital communication tools among B2B firms after COVID-19. The authors also discuss the effects in the use of such tools both in the short and long term. Originality/value: This paper attempts to contribute to the B2B marketing literature by providing an original analysis of the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak focusing on the use of digital communication tools among white goods firms. It also provides managerial implications for firms operating in B2B. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the implementation of sustainable business models contributes to improving a firm's performance during a global crisis, such as the one caused by COVID-19. Based on the triple bottom line theory, the paper explores the relation between the creation of value through solid corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies, United Nations (UN) Global Compact's (GC) business model proposals and Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) reporting scheme. Design/methodology/approach: The present paper studies companies within the European Union, focusing specifically on the long-term impact of using the world's most widely used standards for sustainability reporting – the GRI's standards and/or the UNGC management models, as well as on the firm's performance based on the financial results during COVID-19 crisis. To achieve this goal, the study analyses the share price of firms publicly listed in the FTSEMIB (benchmark index of Italy's largest trading platform) out of those companies that are implementing the UN and GRI's tools. Findings: Findings show how a commitment to sustainable business models and long-term CSR strategies can contribute to firm's ability to overcome periods of economic crisis. Furthermore, implementing GRI standards and UNGC guidelines within the business model seems to have a positive impact in overcoming a hard context such as COVID-19. In addition, it contributes to a better understanding of stakeholders' needs, consumer profiling and value creation. Originality/value: This study evaluates firms' business models, considering the effects of decisions made in the context of COVID-19. The role of UNGC and GRI is evaluated in terms of their contribution to firms' financial performance and corporate reputation during a context of hardship. Consequently, this study contributes to academia and practice, adding value in areas related to strategic planning and business model design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the themes that emerged from retail supply chain (RSC) literature during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that inform future mitigation and recovery strategies. Design/methodology/approach: This study analyses contributions in the RSC literature using four databases: Emerald, Elsevier (Science Direct), Wiley and Taylor & Francis. The systematic review approach resulted in identifying 74 articles covering 2020 to 2022. Findings: Four themes emerged from the RSC literature on COVID-19. The first theme highlighted the factors that exacerbated the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the RSC. The second theme focussed on the types of disruptions that occurred in the RSC during the pandemic. The third theme demonstrated the recovery strategies used to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on the RSC. The fourth theme identified proposed mitigation strategies for the RSC post-COVID-19 outbreak. Practical implications: The study provides a deeper understanding of how RSC managers could successfully reduce the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by dealing with interruptions. Based on the reviewed studies and the four themes that evolved from RSC literature on COVID-19 throughout 2020–2022, 11 key RSC strategies and lessons have been recommended to decision-makers in the retail industry. Originality/value: This is the first study to identify the themes that emerged from RSC literature during the COVID-19 pandemic to inform future mitigation and recovery strategies. The resulting themes add to the existing body of knowledge and establish the need for further research into other sectors that might be affected by future pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a tremendous negative effect on the economies around the world by infusing uncertainty into supply chains. In this paper, the authors address two important research questions (RQs): (1) did COVID-19 wage subsidies impact small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to become more flexible towards the SMEs' business customers and (2) can such flexibility be a source for greater resilience to the crisis? As a result, the authors investigate the relationship between governmental wage subsidies and SMEs' flexibility norms towards the SMEs' business customers (study 1). The authors further uncover when and how flexibility towards existing customers contributes to SME resilience (study 2). Design/methodology/approach: The authors frame the inquiry under the resource dependence theory (RDT) and behavioural additionality principle. The authors use survey methodology and test the assumptions in study 1 (n = 225) and study 2 (n = 95) on a sample of SMEs from various business-to-business (B2B) industries in Croatia. Findings: Overall, in study 1, the authors find that SMEs that receive governmental wage subsidies have greater flexibility norms. However, this relationship is significantly conditioned by SMEs' competitive profile. SMEs that strongly rely on innovation are more willing to behave flexibly when receiving subsidies, whereas SMEs driven by branding do not. Study 2 sheds light on when flexibility towards existing customers increases SME resilience. Findings show that flexibility norms are negatively related to resilience, but this relationship is becoming less negative amongst SMEs with lower financial dependence on the largest customer. Originality/value: This study extends RDT in the area of firm–government relationships by showing that wage subsidies became a source of power for the Government and a source of dependency for SMEs. In such cases, the SMEs receiving those subsidies align with the governmental agenda and exhibit higher flexibility towards the SMEs' customers. Drawing arguments from behavioural additionality, the authors show that this effect varies due to SMEs' attention and organisational priorities resulting from different competitive profiles. Ultimately, the authors showcase that higher flexibility norms can contribute to resilience if the SME restructures its dependency by having a less-concentrated customer base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated a shift to remote working for previously office-based employees in South Africa, impacting employee outcomes such as well-being. The remote work trend is expected to continue even post the pandemic, necessitating for organizational understanding of the factors impacting employee well-being. Using the Job Demands–Resources model as the theoretical framework, this study aims to understand the role of job demands and resources as predictors of employee well-being in the pandemic context. Design/methodology/approach: A self-administered online survey questionnaire was used to gather quantitative data about remote workers' (n = 204) perceptions of specifically identified demands, resources and employee well-being. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation and moderated hierarchical regression were used to analyse the data. Findings: This study found that job demands in the form of work–home conflict were associated with reduced employee well-being. Resources, namely, job autonomy, effective communication and social support were associated with increased employee well-being. Job autonomy was positively correlated to remote work frequency, and gender had a significant positive association to work–home conflict. Social support was found to moderate the relationship between work–home conflict and employee well-being. Findings suggest that organizations looking to enhance the well-being of their remote workforce should implement policies and practices that reduce the demands and increase the resources of their employees. The significant association of gender to work–home conflict suggests that greater interventions are required particularly for women. This study advances knowledge on the role of demands and resources as predictors of employee well-being of remote workforces during COVID-19 and beyond. Originality/value: This paper provides insight on employee well-being during COVID-19 remote work. Further, the findings suggest that organizations looking to enhance the well-being of their remote workforce should implement policies and practices that reduce the demands and increase the resources of their employees. The significant association of gender to work–home conflict suggests that greater interventions are required particularly for women. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study carried out to explore the employee well-being during COVID-19 pandemic and will be beneficial to stakeholders for understanding the factors impacting employee well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper investigates the determinants of subjective well-being in Europe using the European Living, Working and COVID-19 (ELWC) Survey carried out by Eurofound (2021). Socio-demographics characteristics, employment status, measures of economic distress, inequality and work life balance are considered. Particular attention is paid to how quality of government support (QGS), that considers the dimensions of good governance such as integrity, fairness, reliability, responsiveness and influences subjective mental well-being (WHO-5) through the mediation of trust in other people and in institutions. Design/methodology/approach: To this end, the authors estimate a moderated mediation model for analysing the indirect role of QGS on WHO-5 through institutional trust and trust in people. Findings: The results support the hypothesis that the reduction in WHO-5 in the European population during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID--19), particularly marked in the 18–34 age group, is related to the perceived inadequacy of government interventions in managing economic and social uncertainty through supportive measures. This outcome is also due to reduced trust in institutions and other people, as both are significant mediators that reinforce the impact of public support on WHO-5. Practical implications: Government should pay greater attention to this relationship amongst good governance, trust and mental health of citizens because a healthy human capital is a significant factor for the long-run economic growth, in a special way when the authors refer to the young workforce with a greater life expectancy. Originality/value: In the literature, the role of trust as a mediator has been analysed in the relationship between individual economic situations and subjective well-being before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. To the best of the authors' knowledge, no studies have examined the role of perceived QGS on subjective mental well-being using the mediating and backing effects of trust in people and institutions. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-08-2022-0549. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Drawing on the structural hole-bridging perspective of network theory, this paper aims to examine the adaptation strategies undertaken by housing industry actors following the recent pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative case study was adopted as the research methodology for this research. Data collected through online interviews involving 20 participants was used as primary data, while document analysis (both online and printed documents) was used as secondary data. The interviews were guided by the visual vignette method. Findings: This study's findings indicate that a health-based crisis like COVID-19 triggers housing developers to act outside their comfort zones. They undertake arbitrage and collaborative brokerage strategies to cope with business uncertainties. This study revealed the contextual embedding of the owner-occupier market (consumer market) and the investor market (business market). This study also revealed that firms that aggressively located structural holes and built new relationships in B2C and B2B markets before the COVID-19 pandemic were well-equipped to face turbulent times. Practical implications: The innovative strategies that housing developers adopt are transferable and applicable to other industries and countries. Therefore, awareness of these strategies is essential for industry practitioners, especially those badly hit by health-based crises. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first empirical study that combines relationship management, structural holes, the housing market and their implications for crisis adaptation. This study examined the grossly understudied phenomenon of demand for housing, which is a durable good, during a turbulent time. The findings of this study provide beneficial guidance for firms, buyers and policymakers facing COVID-19 and/or other similar crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of WeChat public platforms (abbreviated as WPP) on blood donation behavior using data from the platforms' backend and information system. Design/methodology/approach: First, this paper established a time-varying difference-in-difference (DID) model to evaluate the change before and after following the WPP under normal scenarios. The difference-in-difference-in-difference (DDD) method was further used to analyze the heterogeneous effects of gender, age, occupation and education. Second, a logit model was used to examine the impact of WPP on blood donation behavior under emergency scenarios (i.e. COVID-19). Findings: The research shows that following WPP has a positive impact on donation volume. For each donor, the average blood donation volume after following WPP increased by 12.94% compared to before following. The WPP has a greater impact on groups with males, medical staff, middle-aged individuals and those with primary school education. Following WPP also enhanced blood donation behavior in emergency scenarios. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the probability of fans donating blood was 2.6% higher than non-fans, and the average blood donation volume of fans was 7.04% higher than non-fans, which was 5.9% lower than in normal scenarios. Originality/value: For theory, this paper quantified the impact of WPP on blood donation behavior in normal and emergency scenarios and addressed the research gap surrounding the impact exerted by social media on blood donation behavior. For methodology, the time-varying DID model, DDD model and logit model were applied to the field of blood donation, which expanded the application scenarios. For practice, the findings are of great significance for recruiting blood donors and providing evidence for promotion on WPP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The COVID-19 wave spread all over the global market, affecting all industries. This paper aims to develop the understanding of how service systems can enhance their viability when facing rapid systemic changes. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use data from Reddit, and particularly the subreddit r/coronavirus, to identify posts that discuss the impact of coronavirus on business. The authors use an algorithm to scrape the data with business-related search terms and elaborate relevant posts. Findings: The findings show key topics and related sentiments on the impact of COVID-19 on business. Service systems can enhance viability by identifying alternative paths for emerging opportunities (by being creative), seize opportunities offered by the changing environment (by being opportunistic), not compromise conditions for internal balance (by being resilient), focus attention on critical purposes (by being essential) and perform nonharmful actions (by being responsible). Originality/value: This paper proposes a framework depicting five possible key enhancers of viability to face a systemic crisis. In brief, companies need to ensure that they are creative, opportunistic, resilient, essential and responsible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The mining process is essential in cryptocurrency networks. However, it consumes considerable electrical energy, which is undoubtedly harmful to the environment. In response, energy-conserving cryptocurrency projects with reduced energy requirements or based on renewable energies have been developed. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine ignited an unprecedented upheaval in financial products, especially in cryptocurrency and energy markets. Therefore, the paper aims to explore the response of these energy-conserving cryptocurrencies to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine conflict. Design/methodology/approach: This paper investigates the response of these energy-conserving cryptocurrencies to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine conflict. Their competitiveness is compared with conventional ones by analyzing their efficiency through multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis and automatic variance ratio during the COVID-19 and Russian invasion periods. Findings: The empirical results show that all investigated energy-conserving cryptocurrencies negatively responded to the pandemic and positively reacted to the Russian invasion. On the other hand, all conventional cryptocurrencies reacted negatively to the COVID-19 pandemic and the amid-Russian attack. Besides, Bitcoin and SolarCoin were the least inefficient before the outbreak of COVID-19. Nevertheless, the Ethereum market became the most efficient after the pandemic spread. Similarly, the efficiency of Ripple was the most significant during the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The energy crisis caused by Russia benefited the efficiency of the studied energy-conserving cryptocurrencies. Practical implications: This research is of interest to investors seeking opportunities in these energy-conserving cryptocurrencies and policymakers working to implement reforms to improve their market efficiency and promote long-term financial market growth. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, the behavior of cryptocurrencies based on renewable and reduced energy during the recent conflict between Russia and Ukraine has not been explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The authors analyze the effects of political freedom and personal freedom on the spread of COVID-19 in a cross-country study. The authors also investigate how income inequality, urbanization and previous experience with a similar respiratory epidemic/pandemic, such as SARS and MERS, affect the spread of COVID-19. Design/methodology/approach: The authors employ data from 102 countries to examine the relationship of countries' economic and sociopolitical factors, such as political freedom and personal freedom and their COVID-19 infection cases per million population at 120 days, 150 days and 180 days after the reported 10th infection case. The authors also include the log term of real GDP per capita to control for counties' economic development and regional dummies to control for regional-specific effects. Findings: Results of this study show that personal freedom, rather than democracy, has a significant positive effect on countries' COVID-19 infection cases. On the contrary, democracy has a negative impact on the infection rate. The authors also find that socioeconomic factors such as higher income inequality and urbanization rate adversely affect the COVID-19 infection cases. A larger older population is associated with fewer infection cases, holding everything else equal. Previous experiences with the coronavirus crisis affect countries only at the 120 days mark. Real GDP per capita has no significant effect. Originality/value: The main contribution of this paper is to jointly explore personal freedom, which implies a social framework with more emphasis on self-value and self-realization and political freedom, that is, democracy. The authors show that it is personal freedom, rather than democracy, that contributes to higher COVID-19 infection cases. Democracy, on the other hand, reduces the number of infection cases. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-12-2021-0769 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper refers to the framework of ambidexterity to explain the strategic paths of manufacturing SMEs in turbulent times, by investigating SMEs' strategic reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: The authors adopted an inductive approach methodology. Using a qualitative research method, Italian manufacturing SMEs in different industries were interviewed to outline how they have faced the negative effects of the COVID-19 by considering the strategies implemented during the pandemic. Findings: The study identifies three ambidextrous strategies for manufacturing SMEs to positively overcome the COVID-19 crisis: (1) playing different roles within the same market (business-to-business and business-to-consumer) simultaneously, (2) simultaneous entrance and management of multiple markets and (3) exploiting manufacturing knowledge for exploring product and business model innovation (simultaneous learning processes). Research limitations/implications: Results enrich the theoretical discussion on ambidexterity and SMEs, by stressing the strategic dimension of ambidexterity and including a more fine-grained analysis of the different firm' strategic paths in times of crisis. Practical implications: The paper provides practical suggestions for manufacturing SMEs on how they can react during turbulent times and crises by implementing ambidextrous strategies also thanks to the use of digital technologies. Originality/value: This paper contributes to outlining the conditions for SMEs' resilience in the international competitive context by highlighting the perspective of ambidexterity based on the analysis of multiple case studies from manufacturing industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study explored the impact of COVID-19 on the petroleum sector in Egypt, both economically and socially. Of all sectors of the economy, the oil industry has been one of the most negatively impacted by the pandemic, with oil prices plummeting at the start of the pandemic. Use to decrease demand. This paper aimed to analyse the main economic and social effects of the pandemic on the Egypt oil industry through an examination of the macroeconomic data reflected in the Egyptian balance of payments, the country's general budget and the oil industry's performance data. The study also conducted a survey of a set of workers from the Egyptian petroleum sector. The study thus concluded two levels of analysis; a macrolevel and a micro level analysis of the effect of COVID-19 on the Egyptian oil industry. Design/methodology/approach: The paper builds upon the experience gained from evaluating market change caused by COVID-19 (Agosta et al., 2020), to analyse the socioeconomic implications of COVID-19 on the Egyptian oil industry. This study employed a survey analysis of questionnaires filled by on a sample of workers in the petroleum sector in Egypt. Data were analysed using the SPSS software, version 18.0. Descriptive analysis was reported as frequencies and percentages. The macroeconomic impact analysis was done by analysing macro-economic data pertaining the oil industry's levels of production as well as the data pertaining to Egypt's external balance of payment and public finance. Findings: The paper concludes that although the COVID-19 pandemic had negatively impacted the socioeconomics of oil sector workers, reducing their incomes and costing them jobs, these effects appeared to be short term effects that could be minimised with the end of the pandemic and be mitigated through the adequate social and economic policies. No permanent socioeconomic losses were thus deemed to be a serious concern with respect to these workers. The study also concluded that, macroeconomically, lower global oil prices has had a net positive effect on the Egyptian economy as the causing an expected shrinkage of the overall trade deficit. It also has reduced the national budget deficit and has helped mobilise money into the economy, financing both investments and social expenses. Research limitations/implications: The survey was very hard to reach, where lot of workers in the petroleum sector (governmental) refused to answer the questions. Practical implications: Some African countries may not have all the necessary most recent data of economic indicators needed to ascertain with certainty the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. And, at the event that data are completely available, analysts must consider that any worsening of the economy may not stem directly from the pandemic itself. Causality has to be clearly established. The survey therefore focused on the attitudes and perceptions of oil sector workers, irrespective of whether a given indicator had been affected by the pandemic or is seen likely to be affected by it in the future. All those responding have reported the belief that economic indicators, such as GDP growth, inflation and trade had been impacted negatively by the spread of COVID-19. They also believed the effects of the pandemic on transport to have had direct effects on the oil industry. Social implications: The social impact of the pandemic was less apparent, particularly among governmental sector workers compared with those in the private sector. However, freelancers have reported some issues that may be become more apparent through aggregated data. Originality/value: This study has presented some preliminary estimates of the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on petroleum sector in Egypt. The goal was not to be definitive about the virus outbreak, but rather to provide information about a range of possible economic costs of the disease. While, a detailed quantification of the socioeconomic impact of the coronavirus pandemic may not be feasible, it is still useful to identify possible transmission channels through which the pandemic may affect the Egypt economy and society. It is also useful to identify key issues that are likely shape short- and medium-term socioeconomic prospects in Egypt as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Egypt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to describe and analyse the nature of accountability for human rights, as enacted by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), in this time of globalization and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Design/methodology/approach: The authors focus on one case of alleged union-busting and unfair dismissal carried out under the cover of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tracing the action of that case, the authors show how the BHRRC provides a digital platform for dialogues of accountability. The authors use a Latourian theoretical perspective to guide the progress of the study's analysis. Findings: The authors find that the dialogues of accountability enacted on the BHRRC platform cannot be satisfactorily characterized in terms of an old politics of hegemony, counterhegemony and counter accounts. The authors find that the accountability enacted on the platform operates in three modes: in a political mode to support the formation of issues and publics and the embedding of norms; in an organizational mode to support the (re)organizing business corporations around scripts of respect for human rights; in a moral mode to keep scruples concerning means and ends and the pursuit of better outcomes, open. Originality/value: The paper is novel, in that it engages with the part that accounting can play in politics conceived in Latourian terms; in its introduction, a notion of modes of accountability on the foundations of Latour's exploration of modes of existence; in its challenge to the value of critical accounting conceived in terms of hegemony and counterhegemony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Empirically, this paper questions whether accounting can help cope with crisis and preserve some form of feminist ideals. Theoretically, this paper aims to explore how accounting affects the division of emotional work in times of crisis. Design/methodology/approach: The paper relies on a qualitative study that investigates "life under lockdown" during the COVID crisis and focuses on middle-class well-educated couples aspiring for some form of gender equality and who introduced accounting tools (schedules, charts, to-do-lists, etc.) in their daily life to achieve it. Findings: The paper argues that accounting tools are not able to prevent couples from adopting traditional ways of carrying out emotional work. By favoring the masculine way of displaying emotions, they make invisible women's efforts for comforting. They even mask the unequal distribution of emotional work under some form of "neoliberal equality". Also, in a context where middle-class standards are perceived as crucial to meet for both parents to keep their social position, accounting tools, by holding parents accountable for these standards, let no time to find alternative ways of living. Consequently, traditional roles become impossible to reverse. Research limitations/implications: The paper investigates accounting, gender and emotions by showing the importance of making emotional work visible at a household but also at an organizational and societal level. It calls for an "integrative" emotional display that is crucial for resilience in times of crisis and invites to challenge neoliberal middle-class standards that make household life difficult for most women. Theoretically, it invites for further exploring how accounting tools are constructed and negotiated and how unpredictable elements of life other than emotions affect gender when accounting tools are introduced in times of crisis. Originality/value: This article contributes to the literature on gender-in-accounting by introducing the concept of emotional work and showing how accounting tools affect the gendered division of emotional work in praxis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to examine the changed nature of public accountability during a supreme emergency and explore how legal and auditing mechanisms have come to the fore, concluding that misappropriation of public monies is not an inevitable outcome. Design/methodology/approach: The paper explores an illustrative example, the UK government's procurement of personal protective equipment during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. Findings: In circumstances of a supreme emergency where parliamentary scrutiny and competitive contract tendering are suspended, other forms of public accountability come to the fore, with civil society actors becoming more evident. Research limitations/implications: The paper relies on illustrative examples based on the Westminster model of government. The study advanced the notion of deferred accountability and identifies areas for further study, potentially in different jurisdictions. Social implications: The paper highlights the need for a variety of active and engaged civil society actors. Originality/value: The paper contributes an empirical case to how an account of government behaviour is established. The paper also contributes to a deeper understanding of the nature and role of legal and government audit accountability mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how communication strategies and the use of numbers can ensure the buy-in and cooperation of stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on legitimacy theory, this study analysis documents regarding the communication strategies of New Zealand (NZ)'s Prime Minster, Jacinda Ardern, during the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to extract lessons for organizations. The authors contrast Ardern's communications with those of Donald Trump, the President of the United States (US), as evidence that leaders do not necessarily follow these strategies. Findings: The findings show that clear, consistent and credible communications, backed up by open access to the numerical data that underlie the decisions, ensure that these decisions are seen as legitimate, ensure that citizens/stakeholders feel leaders are accountable and believe in the necessity of measures taken and that they conform to the guidelines and rules. By contrast, the strategy of attempting to withhold information, blaming others, refusing to acknowledge that there are problems and refusing to address problems lead to non-conformance by citizens/stakeholders. Business leaders could apply these lessons to the management of crises in their organizations to ensure buy-in from employees and other stakeholders. Leaders and organizations that follow these communication strategies can emerge in a stronger position than before the crisis. Research limitations/implications: This paper develops a theoretical framework of strategies aimed at maintaining and disrupting legitimacy among key audiences, which can be used in future research. Practical implications: This paper highlighting how organizations and organizational leaders can best communicate with stakeholders using accounting, thus coming across as being accountable during crisis times. Social implications: The legitimacy maintenance strategies outlined in this paper ensures that stakeholders feel leaders and the organizations they represent hold themselves accountable. Originality/value: This paper outlines the lessons that an organization can learn from communication strategies adopted by governments during the COVID-19 crisis. The paper extends legitimacy theory by explicitly acknowledging the ability to disrupt the legitimacy of others and including this in the authors' theoretical framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The current study investigates how consumers are reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study aims to explain consumers' stockpiling and impulse buying behaviour during the current crisis. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the scope and focus of this study, our primary data collection tool was an online survey questionnaire that was sent to 1,000+ people and the results were computed from 417 responses received. The study employed Exploratory Factor Analysis to substantiate the construct validity of the constructs. Unidimensionality, validity and reliability of the model were assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. The effect of the COVID crisis on consumer stocking and impulse buying behaviour was investigated using structural equation modelling. Findings: The findings show that the COVID pandemic did have a significant impact on consumer behavioural patterns indicated by the stocking and impulse buying behaviour of consumers. Practical implications: These results have consequences for policymakers and practitioners in terms of adjusting inventory and response policies, especially in terms of efficient supply chain management processes and actively reaching out to customers to reduce their fear and anxiety levels, which contribute to such panic activity. Originality/value: This paper adds value to the literature on consumer behaviour during COVID-19 pandemic in case of Indian consumers. The findings of the paper will help in doing a comparison of the said behaviour of consumers in other parts of the world. The paper also helps in explaining the underlying theories elucidating such behaviour of consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to analyse the effects of flow experience on repurchase intention. In this context, this paper examines the mediating role of e-customer satisfaction during COVID-19 pandemic. This study is based on flow theory using two consequent factors, which have not been investigated together previously. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire consisted of flow experience dimensions and e-customer satisfaction, repurchase intention. An online survey was conducted with 478 consumers who experienced flow in online shopping. Exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used to test research hypotheses. The research study data were collected between 20 March and 31 May 2020, during the spread of COVID-19. Findings: Telepresence, concentration and control dimensions of flow experience have a significant effect on e-customer satisfaction. In addition, it was determined that the change in repurchase intention was caused by concentration and telepresence dimensions of flow experience. Therefore, it was found that e-customer satisfaction has a significant effect on repurchase intention. As a result, it was determined that e-customer satisfaction has a partial mediating role in the effect of flow experience dimensions of telepresence, concentration and control, and a full mediating role in the effect of flow experience dimension of time distortion on repurchase intention. Research limitations/implications: The limitations of the study are that research was conducted on only one retail company and a limited number of participants were reached. In addition, some flow experience dimensions were excluded in the study, constituting another limitation. Originality/value: This paper contributes flow theory literature by modelling flow dimensions as an independent variable that affects e-customer satisfaction and repurchase intention. In addition, different dimensions of flow experience in online retailing have been discussed, and no study has been found that discusses flow experience dimensions (goal clarity, enjoyment, curiosity, control, telepresence, time distortion, concentration) together. This study conducted during COVID-19 pandemic would produce a different perspective on flow experience in e-retailing [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to analyze the dynamics of the Spanish public debt–gross domestic product ratio during the period 1850–2020. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a recent procedure to test for recurrent explosive behavior (Phillips et al., 2011; Phillips et al., 2015a, 2015b) to identify episodes of explosive public debt dynamics and also the episodes of fiscal adjustments over this long period. Findings: The identified episodes of explosive behavior of public debt coincided with fiscal stress events, whereas fiscal adjustments and changes in economic policies stabilized public finances after periods of explosive dynamics of public debt. Originality/value: The longer than usual span of the data should allow the authors to obtain some more robust results than in most of previous analyses of long-run sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Augmented reality (AR) technology currently plays a central role in the retail sector, rapidly changing consumers' behaviours and retailers' strategies. The purpose of this paper is to identify the behavioural changes that have occurred due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the retail sector, and how AR technology can be used as a valid and useful response to these new consumer habits. Design/methodology/approach: Exploratory research was conducted to determine how AR has helped people shop differently than they did before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic by evaluating two retail-sector AR applications (apps). In-depth interviews were conducted and assessed using thematic analysis. Findings: This paper identifies a new paradigm involving COVID-19 and AR by identifying several factors that are related to the rapid spread of COVID-19 and have modified consumers' shopping habits. Additionally, it shows how interactive technologies, such as AR, are useful tools that can be employed to overcome retailing crises driven by external environmental factors, such as COVID-19, and enhance shopping experiences. Originality/value: This research reveals the role of AR technologies in transformed economic and social contexts. By investigating the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated consequences, i.e. isolation, quarantines and lockdowns; the fear of contracting the virus and the new needs of people to shop while social distancing, this study enriches AR research with a fourth characteristic, augmented social distance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: As focal firms in supply networks reflect on their experiences of the pandemic and begin to rethink their operations and supply chains, there is a significant opportunity to leverage digital technological advances to enhance socially responsible operations performance (SROP). This paper develops a novel framework for exploring the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies for improving SROP. It highlights current best-practice examples and presents future research pathways. Design/methodology/approach: This viewpoint paper argues how Industry 4.0 technology adoption can enable effective SROP in the post-COVID-19 era. Academic articles, relevant grey literature, and insights from industry experts are used to support the development of the framework. Findings: Seven technologies are identified that bring transformational capabilities to SROP, i.e. big data analytics, digital twins, augmented reality, blockchain, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things. It is demonstrated how these technologies can help to improve three sub-themes of organisational social performance (employment practices, health and safety, and business practices) and three sub-themes of community social performance (quality of life and social welfare, social governance, and economic welfare and growth). Research limitations/implications: A research agenda is outlined at the intersection of Industry 4.0 and SROP through the six sub-themes of organisational and community social performance. Further, these are connected through three overarching research agendas: "Trust through Technology", "Responsible Relationships" and "Freedom through Flexibility". Practical implications: Organisational agendas for Industry 4.0 and social responsibility can be complementary. The framework provides insights into how Industry 4.0 technologies can help firms achieve long-term post-COVID-19 recovery, with an emphasis on SROP. This can offer firms competitive advantage in the "new normal" by helping them build back better. Social implications: People and communities should be at the heart of decisions about rethinking operations and supply chains. This paper expresses a view on what it entails for organisations to be responsible for the supply chain-wide social wellbeing of employees and the wider community they operate in, and how they can use technology to embed social responsibility in their operations and supply chains. Originality/value: Contributes to the limited understanding of how Industry 4.0 technologies can lead to socially responsible transformations. A novel framework integrating SROP and Industry 4.0 is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Healthcare organizations worldwide were badly hit by the "surprise" of the pandemic. Hospitals in particular are trying hard to manage problems it caused, searching for solutions to protect the health of citizens and reorienting operations. The implementation of resilience solutions in the coping phase and the ability to react promptly and redefine activities is essential. Integrating crisis management and resiliency literature, this paper discusses how health organizations were able to cope with adversity during the crisis. Design/methodology/approach: The research is conducted through a case study of a large Italian hospital, the Gemelli Polyclinic Foundation, which was one of the leading hospitals in the Italian response to the pandemic. Findings: The case reports actions taken in order to continue functioning and to maintain core activities despite severe adversity. The overall response of the Gemelli was the result of the three types of response: behavioral (effective leadership), cognitive (rapid resource reallocation) and the contextual reinforcement (multiagency network response). The authors highlight how an integrative framework of crisis management and resiliency could be applied to healthcare organizations in the coping phase of the pandemic. The experience of the Gemelli can thus be useful for other hospitals and organizations facing external crises and for overall improvement of crisis management and resilience. Responding to crisis brings the opportunity to make innovations introduced during emergencies structural, and embed them moving forward. Research limitations/implications: The paper focuses only on the coping phase of the response to the pandemic, whereas building long-term resilience requires understanding how organizations accumulate knowledge from crises and adapt to the "new normal." Originality/value: The paper responds to the call for empirical studies to advance knowledge of an integrative framework of crisis management and resiliency theories with reference to complex organizations such as healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims at analyzing the determinants of access to relief under social assistance programs among rural households during COVID-19 outbreaks in India. Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on the data of COVID-19-Related Shocks Survey, which covered 5,200 rural households across 6 states of India namely Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. The access to relief has been assessed as relief-in kind (RIK) as a free special package of wheat, rice, and pulses, supplied through the public distribution system; and direct benefit transfer (DBT) in cash under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Yojana and the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). The association between demographic profiles of rural households and access to relief has been analyzed using the chi-square test. Further, marginal effects have been estimated to assess the determinants of rural households' access to relief. Findings: The results show a significant association between types of relief vis-à-vis demographic profiles of the rural households. A significant difference in access to relief among rural households is also evident across the states. Further, the analysis of the marginal effects indicates that female-headed households belonging to lower social class, depending on non-agricultural occupation with lower income, belonging to below poverty line families and seeking wage employment, are more likely to access relief as food grains; whereas male respondents with lower age, belonging to lower-income quartile with memberships in Self Help Groups are more likely to access the cash benefit transfers. Practical implications: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the food security and livelihood of many across the globe, which necessitated provisioning a package of support to everyone, particularly rural poor households. The World Bank undertook the COVID-19-Related Shocks Survey to provide a quick policy response for managing the risk of COVID-19 outbreak effectively. The results of this study provide timely insights for developing an effective relief strategy for rural households during a crisis. Originality/value: There is limited investigation on access to relief by rural households during the COVID-19 outbreaks and factors affecting the access to relief in terms of cash and kind. This study has utilized a reliable data source to analyze the access of relief packages by the rural communities during the coronavirus outbreak. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-10-2021-0632. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic has caused stress for everyone and impacted the lives of people globally. Such stress increases troubles for the employees. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to identify symptoms of health problems that employees face during the COVID-19 epidemic. Also, the aim of the paper is to examine if there are statistically significant differences in the physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms of health problems among employees before the COVID-19 epidemic and employees during the COVID-19 epidemic. Design/methodology/approach: The research is based on a survey of 950 employees in Slovenian companies. The factor analysis and the t-test for two independent samples were used to test the hypotheses of the research. Findings: The results show that physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms of health problems of employees during the COVID-19 epidemic are intensified as compared to the before COVID-19 epidemic era. Originality/value: The results highlight the measures with which companies can reduce the problem of different symptoms of employees during the COVID-19 epidemic. The results can be useful for employers and for managers who want to create an adequate working environment for employees during the COVID-19 epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper focuses on examining the relationship between challenges caused by COVID-19 pandemic and employees' stress through the mediating role of family-life disturbance and work-life imbalance. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 1,556 respondents from 45 countries across all continents were included in this survey. Statistical techniques such as exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), correlations, multiple regression and bootstrapping were used to analyse the data. Findings: The results depicted that COVID-19 challenges induced stress among employees. In combination with this, family-life disturbance and work-life imbalance mediated the relationship between COVID-19 challenges and employees' stress individually as well as serially. The paper further suggests some recommendations to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 challenges on employees' stress. Research limitations/implications: The major limitation of the study was in the data collection process. As the data were collected during the time period of pandemic, so, limited respondents were approached. Also, the international and cross-sectional design of the study can limit the applicability of the results. Practical implications: The study suggests organizations and HR managers to help in balancing family and work-life of employees, so that their mind can be kept stress free. Originality/value: The study has added knowledge to the existing literature of stress created due to the COVID-19 pandemic by explaining the serial mediation of family-life disturbance and work-life imbalance between the relationship of COVID-19 challenges and employees' stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In examining an economic fluctuation, researchers often refer to the theories of impaired access to capital which mostly explain, from the perspective of bank lending supplies, a shock in firm's access to investment would decrease its capital expenditures and net debt issuance during crisis period. However, some studies show that this is not always the case. A demand shock theory can explain the decrease in firm's capital expenditures and net debt issuance during crisis period, but there should be no causal link between the two. This is because firms naturally do not invest during crisis period because of a decrease in investment wealth during crisis period. This paper aims to examine these theories with respect to the Covid-19 crisis in Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach: The change in firms' capital expenditure and net debt issuance is analyzed using a non-parametric difference-in-difference and matching estimator across four firm-dimensions to see whether the implications of the supply shock theory apply to the current crisis or if that firms naturally do not invest during the crisis. In addition, this paper provides the result of panel regression to confirm the causal link between firms' investment funds and capital expenditure, with an addition of consumer confidence index to accommodate the implications of the demand shock theory. Findings: The results of this paper show that the implications of the supply shock theory cannot explain the economic fluctuation during the Covid-19 crisis. Rather, the results suggest that firms naturally do not want to invest during the crisis and that the demand shock can better explain the economic fluctuation during the Covid-19 crisis. This is confirmed by the result of panel regression which shows that only consumer confidence index has a significant positive relationship with firms' capital expenditure. Originality/value: This is the first study to examine the theory of impaired access to capital with respect to the Covid-19 crisis in Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to undertake the efficiency analysis in the form of stochastic frontier to estimate a Cobb–Douglas production function by controlling for the heterogeneity across Russian firms by including firm size, ownership, age, innovation activity and market competition. Design/methodology/approach: During the peak period of Covid-19, certain firms witnessed either a decrease or increase in sales. Using this segregation of firms from World Bank's Covid-19 impact surveys follow-up to the Enterprise Survey for Russia, this study empirically investigates the determinants of technical efficiency of these firms focusing on the role of government assistance. Findings: The findings suggest that by segregating firms in terms of sales, different internal factors can enable in steering through pandemic situation besides just depending on external assistance. Originality/value: One of the few papers to analyse the impact of the pandemic on Russian firms by considering World Bank Covid Survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to analyse COVID-19's effects on job loss and job finding rate in Serbia, focusing on groups with already low employment before the pandemic, such as youth, women, low-educated and rural areas. Design/methodology/approach: The authors exploit the panel structure of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) data for Serbia to analyse if the impact of the pandemic on transition probabilities was different for vulnerable groups and their counterparts during the first year of the pandemic. Findings: The results indicate that stagnation in overall employment growth in Serbia during the first year of the COVID-19 crisis resulted from decreases in new hiring rather than increases in job losses. However, trends differed for vulnerable groups. Young workers faced the highest increase in job losses, partly due to their higher shares in informal wage employment. In contrast, decreases in job finding rates were particularly high among low-educated and in rural areas. Practical implications: After the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, employment opportunities of vulnerable groups further deteriorated, and already existing labour market inequalities were exacerbated. These effects are partially due to policies implemented to mitigate the crisis, which focused on preserving permanent employment while leaving vulnerable workers and groups unprotected. Originality/value: The authors investigate the annual effects of the first year of the pandemic in a country with a large informal sector and explore the role of vulnerable groups' job characteristics in transition changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate small and medium enterprises' (SMEs) adoption of social media platforms and how they integrated them within their marketing strategies during the COVID-19 outbreaks. Dynamic capabilities – observed as the interplay between sensing, seizing and reconfiguration capabilities – represent the principal theoretical framework used in this research to explain challenges in social media adoption and their effects on these businesses. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopts the grounded theory approach to analyze semistructured interviews with 19 key informants from Italian SMEs belonging to diversified industries. Findings: The findings of this research are summarized in a holistic framework that explores three types of capabilities (i.e. sensing, seizing and reconfiguration capabilities) and the marketing outcomes of social media adoption among SMEs. Originality/value: This study attempts to unpack the specific dynamic capabilities that allowed SMEs to be successful in social media adoption during COVID-19 outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The temporary enforced closure of businesses in response to the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in governments in Europe and beyond offering short-term financial support to the businesses and workers affected. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a group of workers unable to benefit from the short-term job retention schemes and support to the self-employed made available by governments, namely, those whose paid work is comprised wholly of undeclared work, and how this could be addressed. Design/methodology/approach: To identify those whose paid work is entirely undeclared, a Eurobarometer survey of undeclared work in Europe is reported conducted in September 2019, just prior to the pandemic, and involving 27,565 face-to-face interviews in 28 European countries. Findings: The finding is that the paid work of one in every 132 European citizens is comprised wholly of undeclared work, and these workers are concentrated in non-essential businesses and activities severely affected by the lockdown. These workers whose paid work is comprised wholly of undeclared work are significantly more likely to be widowed or divorced/separated, living in households with three or more adults, without children and most of the time have financial difficulties in making ends meet. Practical implications: Given that businesses and workers in the undeclared economy are largely unable to work under lockdown, it is argued that providing access to short-term financial support, through a regularisation initiative based on voluntary disclosure, would not only provide the income support these workers need but also bring them out of the shadows and put them on the radar of the state authorities, thus transforming undeclared work into declared work. Originality/value: This paper shows how in the current or repeat lockdowns, the short-term financial support made available by governments can be used to transform undeclared work into declared work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]