Leading for Resilience: Fostering Employee and Organizational Resilience in Tourism Firms

Grounded in conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study identifies the effect of leadership behaviors on the resilience of tourism firms and employees in Sri Lanka during the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis. The developed conceptual model links the resilient leadership behaviors of vision sharing, leadership of tasks, and management of change with employee resilience (cognitive, behavioral, and contextual) and organizational resilience (planned and adaptive). The findings highlight that resilient leadership behaviors in the early stages of the pandemic enhanced both employee and organizational resilience. The contextual and behavioral dimensions of employee resilience mediated the effect of resilient leadership behaviors on organizational resilience. The study offers suggestions for the development of organizational resilience and the specific support that may facilitate the recovery of the tourism sector from the COVID-19 crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Travel Research is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Building Dynamic Capabilities and Organizational Resilience in Tourism Firms During COVID-19: A Staged Approach

Using dynamic capabilities (DCs) and the disaster/crisis management cycle (DMC) as the theoretical lens, this study explores how different types of DCs build and sustain organizational resilience of tourism firms during COVID-19. Taking a processual view, the study advances theorization of the relationship between DCs and organizational resilience in tourism studies. A qualitative study of 30 owners and senior managers of tourism and hospitality firms in Bangladesh reveals that threats and opportunities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic activated 10 different types of DCs (replicating, integrating, reconfiguring, creating, developing, assimilating, renewing, adaptive, innovative, and regenerative) across the pre, response (short-term) and future recovery intentions (long-term) stages. DCs activated different resilience facets (networks and relationships, leadership and culture, and change ready), highlighting the criticality of achieving planned and adaptive resilience for tourism firms during COVID-19. Response and recovery implications for tourism firms during disruptive events are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Travel Research is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Time for Reset? Covid-19 and Tourism Resilience

As a rapidly evolving global pandemic, COVID-19 provides several opportunities for tourism researchers to study the resilience of the tourism industry from a socioecological system perspective. Pandemics are not new and, similar to other crises and disasters, can have lasting impacts on individuals, businesses, communities, and nations. This article offers ways to explore how COVID-19 could affect different aspects of tourism resilience, adopting a three-level approach (macro, meso, and micro). While recognizing that these three levels are not necessarily mutually exclusive, interactions between them can be a worthy area of research in itself. This article proposes a research agenda on COVID-19 and tourism system resilience and contributes to further understanding of scale of change (temporal and spatial), impacts, and resilience. The article identifies, for example, resilience of destinations, organizations, and tourists as important areas of future research in relation to the pandemic. However, theoretical advancements and managerial implications of such research should not be sacrificed at the expense of the opportunities that the context of COVID-19 presents. It is time for reset not only for the tourism industry but also for tourism researchers.

Seeking thrills during a crisis? A TSR and hierarchy of effects perspective of the transformative potential of travel

PurposeThis study aims to theorise and empirically test a model based on the hierarchy of effects behavioural learning approach ("do-think-feel”) to explain how travel during a crisis assists consumer well-being. The paper also examines whether the effect travel has on well-being is serially mediated by perceived risk and resilience and moderated by the personality trait of sensation-seeking.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses a quasi-experimental design involving Australian consumers based on a sample of n = 307 who had travelled and n = 277 who had not during the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 584). A replication study (N = 290) is also undertaken to assess the robustness of the hierarchy of effects uncovered in the main study. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) and Hayes PROCESS macro.FindingsThe results reveal travellers have significantly higher levels of both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being than non-travellers, suggesting the transformative potential of travel experiences during a crisis. The transformative potential of travel is driven by perceived risk and psychological resilience, which mediate the relationship between travel frequency and well-being. Further, spotlight moderation analysis demonstrates that the effect of travel on well-being is most profound for those with lower levels of sensation-seeking. These relationships are also confirmed in the replication study.Originality/valueThis research is among the first in transformative service research (TSR) to test the mediators of perceived risk and resilience together in a singular study, showing how experiences such as travel are potentially transformative. It also evaluates personality traits such as sensation-seeking as a moderating factor, which is uncommon in TSR. Further, this study empirically validates a do–think–feel behavioural learning approach, as opposed to other hierarchy of effects sequences that are dominant in TSR and the wider services marketing literature.

SMEs navigating COVID-19: The influence of social capital and dynamic capabilities on organizational resilience

Building the resilience capacity of businesses is important for economic, social and community recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet organizational resilience is under-examined in the marketing literature. Crises and disasters can significantly impact small and medium enterprises (SMEs), affecting their ability to mitigate, respond and recover. Social capital (SC) is a key resource that can be mobilized by SMEs to tap the resources embedded in internal and external relationships to respond to disruptions, yet the mechanism through which SC facilitates organizational resilience is not clear. Using middle-range theorizing, we propose dynamic capabilities (DC) as the key sensing, seizing and reconfiguration resources that transform SC into organizational resilience. The results from a sample of SMEs (n = 419) in Australia and New Zealand demonstrate that internal SC has a positive effect on external SC (customer-focused). Only internal SC has a direct effect on organizational resilience. DC partially and fully mediates the relationship between internal and external SC and organizational resilience respectively. Implications for theory and practice are offered.

The Triple Blow Effect: Retailing in an Era of Disasters and Pandemics—The Case of Christchurch, New Zealand

In the last two decades, the retail sector has experienced unprecedented upheaval, having severe implications for economic development and sustenance of traditional inner-city retail districts. In the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, this effect has been exacerbated by a series of earthquakes in 2010/2011 which destroyed much of the traditional retail precinct of the city. After extensive rebuild activity of the city’s infrastructure, the momentum of retailers returning to the inner city was initially sluggish but eventually gathered speed supported by increased international visitation. In early 2020, the return to retail normality came to an abrupt halt after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study uses spending and transaction data to analyze the compounding impact of the earthquake’s aftermath, shift to online shopping, and the retail disruption in the Christchurch central retail precinct because of COVID-19. The findings illustrate how consumers through their spending respond to different types of external shocks, altering their consumption patterns and retail mode (offline and online) to cope with an ever-changing retail landscape. Each event triggers different spending patterns that have some similarities but also stark differences, having implications for a sustainable and resilient retail industry in Christchurch. Implications for urban retail precinct development are also discussed.

Residents’ perceptions of environmental certification, environmental impacts and support for the world expo 2015: the moderating effect of place attachment

PurposeBased on social exchange theory (SET) and signaling theory (ST), this study aims to evaluate how an event’s perceived environmental certification (PEC) by residents, affect their evaluations of environmental impacts and subsequent event support (ES). The moderating role of place attachment (PA) on some of these relationships is also evaluated.Design/methodology/approachUsing partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), a theoretical model is tested on a sample of 450 residents who attended the 2015 Milan World Expo.FindingsPEC positively affects evaluations of positive environmental impacts (PEI) but negatively affects evaluations of negative environmental impacts (NEI). PEC positively affects ES while the relationship between PEC and NEI is moderated by PA.Research limitations/implicationsItems used to measure PEC, PEI and NEI are not exhaustive. SET has its own limitations in explaining residents’ ES, which the authors have attempted to attenuate by using ST.Practical implicationsUsing environmental certification as a communication tool must demonstrate to residents how it reduces negative externalities, rather than focusing only on its positive community benefits. Less well-educated residents had the lowest ES, suggesting the need to use social media to increase ES.Originality/valueThis study contributes to understandings of the perceptions of the benefits of event certification by residents, and how this affects their ES. PA moderates the relationship between PEC and NEI.

Linking travel motives to identity and travel behavior of the Australian LGBT market during COVID-19

Using push-pull and identity-based motivation theory, this study examines the link between the push motives of the LGBT market, their identity, pull activities and travel patterns (location) during COVID-19. With a sample of 473 Australian LGBT travelers, this study identifies four motivation segments (Social Butterflies, Escapists & Safety Seekers, Blurring Binaries and Conformists). These segments differ on their identity (self and social) and travel activity choices, highlighting the heterogeneity within the LGBT market. The findings have implications for designing experiences and their marketing for the different segments of LGBT travelers post COVID-19.

Panic Buying and Consumption Displacement during COVID-19: Evidence from New Zealand

Panic buying and hoarding behavior is a significant component of crisis- and disaster-related consumption displacement that has received considerable attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding such purchasing and stockpiling behavior provides critical information for government, disaster managers and the retail sector, as well as policy makers to adjust crisis response strategies and to better understand disaster management, including preparedness and response strategies. This study examines consumer purchasing behavior, retail spending and transactional data for different retail sectors between January 2017 and December 2020 using data for the greater Christchurch region in New Zealand. Once COVID-19-related panic buying began, overall spending increased sharply in anticipation of lockdowns. Transactional spending increased and subsided only slowly to a level higher than pre lockdown. The magnitude of the panic buying event far exceeded historical seasonal patterns of consumer spending outside of Christmas, Easter and Black Friday, although daily spending levels were comparable to such consumption events. The results of the study highlight the importance of comparing panic buying to other events in terms of purchasing motivations and also considering that so-called panic buying may contribute to greater individual and household resilience. The volume of sales alone is not adequate to define panic buying. Instead, the extent of divergence from the normal daily spending value per retail transaction of a given population provides a much more accurate characteristic of panic buying.

Beyond panic buying: consumption displacement and COVID-19

Purpose This study evaluates consumption displacement, the shift in consumption that occurs when consumers experience a change in the availability of goods, services and amenities to which they are accustomed as the result of an external event, and which is characterised by the points in space and time where consumption occurs and by the movements to, from, and between those points, that is occurring as a result of the effects of COVID-19 on the services sector in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. Design/methodology/approach Based on consumer spending data, the authors identify patterns of consumption displacement for the hospitality and retail sectors as defined by ANZSIC. We answer where, when, how, what and why consumption displacement happens. Findings The findings provide evidence of spatial and temporal displacement of consumption based on consumer spending patterns. Evidence of increased spending in some consumption categories confirms stockpiling behaviours. The hospitality sector experiences a sharp decline in consumer spending over lockdown. Originality/value Given the lack of studies analysing the impacts of crises and disasters on the services sector and consumption displacement, this study provides evidence of different forms of consumption displacement related to COVID-19.