ABSTRACT
Taking into account the changes occurring in the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis and taking the perspective of students from generation Z currently entering the labour market, the aim of this article is to assess the increase in the importance of competencies for knowledge management on the impact of process orientation. The empirical research was conducted using an online survey method at two leading universities in Poland in economic education, and complete data were collected from 711 generation Z students. They were analysed using the structural equation modelling method. The results show that the increase in the importance of competencies for knowledge management following the Covid-19 crisis will affect the change of the five of six process orientation components, i.e. defining business processes more clearly, allocating resources to a greater extent based on business processes, broader setting of specific performance targets for different business processes, measuring the outcome of different business processes more closely and more unambiguous designation of process owners. Only in the case of rewarding employees based on the implementation of business processes in which they are involved, students from generation Z do not see the impact of the increasing importance of competencies for knowledge management. © 2022, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the leadership decisions taken during the crisis and their influence on the goals recognized by managers as crucial for surviving. Design/methodology/approach: During the survey, conducted in April 2020 (one month after the first economic lockdown in Poland), as part of a research project called Sur(VIR)val – Survival during the virus, data was collected from 178 leaders from randomly selected companies from Poland using the CAWI method. Ordered logistic regression modeling was used to examine the impact of the decisions taken by company leaders on the goals seen by leaders as most important for company survival. Findings: The results obtained in the study show that during the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, leaders made decisions that can be seen as oriented toward survival and continuity. Changing to remote working, extending payment deadlines for customers, as well as selective employment reduction turned out to have the greatest influence on strategic support for maintaining current production levels and retaining competent employees in order to survive the crisis. Research limitations/implications: This study has certain limitations. First, the list of leadership decisions and company goals used as dependent variables is not exhaustive. Second, the selection of business goals oriented toward survival may not derive directly from the lockdown situation. Third, our study did not measure the actual accomplishment of the company goals, but the managerial perceptions as to which ones are crucial for company survival during crises, and which of them should be given strategic support respectively. Fourth, the research sample was randomly constructed and covered only business organizations in Poland. Fifth, the hypotheses were formulated in a way that treated leadership decisions as one construct. Finally, we used survey, with a scale measuring managerial perceptions. Practical implications: Leaders should ensure that proper IT tools are developed within the organization, and that the skill level of employees is high enough for fast shifting employees on to remote working. At the same time, it is important to maintain IT infrastructure at a high level. In terms of general recommendations for leaders, they should make quick decisions, maintain the most valuable resources of the company (human resources and cash flow) and take actions aimed at taking advantage of opportunities (R&D) during and after the crisis. Social implications: Additionally, due to the key importance of human resources for the survival of the organization, leaders should respond quickly by making flexible decisions about sending employees on leave and downtime. As human resources are the most valuable assets of the company from the point of view of its survival, decisions concerning employment reduction should be taken carefully. Leaders who acted in panic after the first lockdown and made employees redundant, later on had problems recruiting skilled employees back and strived to return to full organizational capacity. Originality/value: Although scholars have investigated leadership decisions and actions taken during economic crises, little is known about how leaders behave when taken by surprise, and what decisions they make when the duration of a crisis is difficult to predict. The results of this study show which leadership decisions during the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020 influenced prioritizing critical company goals oriented toward survival. © 2022, Paweł Chudziński, Szymon Cyfert, Wojciech Dyduch and Maciej Zastempowski.
ABSTRACT
Water utilities are an essential service that helps protect public health during crises. The Covid-19 pandemic revealed that crisis preparedness is a crucial capability that water utilities must possess. The purpose of this paper is to identify managerial actions and responses that were undertaken by water utility managers in order to reduce the risk related to the first economic lockdown caused by the unexpected Covid-19 crisis. As water utilities should learn from Covid-19 so as to strengthen their future risk preparedness, the paper offers some theoretical underpinnings on risk management. As a result of literature analysis, we focus on the risk management framework that distinguishes five types of risk. The survey was carried out among 116 waterworks in Poland in April 2020. The results indicate the importance of minimising liquidity risk and supply chain risk, which is relevant to the adopted theoretical framework. The findings also highlight the importance of a category that was not originally included in the research model - that is human resource risk, an area that requires managerial attention in the water utility sector. The results could also provide useful pointers for other water utilities, especially those operating in the same or similar legislative regime.