ABSTRACT
This study explores relationships between Corporate Frugality (CF), Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) and Crisis Preparedness (CP). CP was proposed as the surrogate measure for firm performance during actual crises. EO is also examined as a potential mediator in the CF-CP association. The hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling with data collected from randomly selected small businesses operating in the Tripolitania region of northwestern Libya during the current economic instability caused by civil unrest. Further, COVID-19 pandemic cases had significantly risen among the population at the time of the study. The findings show that CF can be instrumental in responding to market crisis requirements, while innovativeness only results in better CP and partially mediates the CF-CP association. These findings validate the CF construct, but entrepreneurs must cautiously proceed when exercising EO in response to crises. Furthermore, the study casts new light on how the association between EO dimensions and performance can differ across contexts. Building on the resource-based view and pecking order theory and integrating them with contingency theory, this study is the first to explore the effect of EO and its dimensions as the mediator between CF and CP. © 2023 World Scientific Publishing Company.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 has been a global issue since its first case in November 2019. In March 2020, an increase in the statistics of this pandemic occurred worldwide. The direct exposures, such as human resource loss, and the indirect exposures, such as the systemic loss, have affected the individuals and the companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The identified loss exposures could be measured using several methods to implement suitable actions for the management of the identified risks. However, it has been indicated from the analysis that a minimum of five months is required for it to be solved. Therefore, the losses due to COVID-19 could be managed using three different risk management techniques, including the risk control techniques, which do not involve money and risk financing techniques. Meanwhile, the alternative risk transfer under the aforementioned techniques involves the investment in capital. Notably, these techniques must be performed by three distinct parties: the individuals, companies, and the government. © 2021 WITPress. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
This study explores the effect of social isolation (SI) on the psychological wellbeing (PWB) of employees due to the imposed distance education during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. Drawing on individual psychological resources to improve wellbeing, researchers examine emotional intelligence (EI) as a possible mediator that reduces the effect of social isolation. In this quantitative study, questionnaires were administered to measure SI, EI, and PWB among academic and non-academic staff in Iraqi public universities during the height of the Covid-19 outbreak. The results suggest that EI and SI were strong predictors of PWB. While SI was negatively and significantly related to EI, the presence of emotional intelligence as a mediator reduced the negative effect of isolation on wellbeing. Gender was not found to moderate the mediating effect of EI on the SI-PWB association. These findings support the validity of incorporating EI interventions during pandemic outbreaks that produce distinct effects on the isolation and thus potentially result in improving the wellbeing of employees. Although employees high on EI are viewed less socially isolated and high on wellbeing within literature there is a relative dearth of supporting research that has not examined these inter-relationships during a genuinely imposed lockdown such as the one during the Covid-19 pandemic which provided standardization as to the social isolation context understudied. Another theoretical gap included the psychometric revision of the social isolation scale. © 2021 by the authors;licensee Growing Science, Canada