The innovative organisation of Airbnb: business model innovation and holacracy structure to enhance innovative business behaviour coping with the impact of the COVID-19

Challenging traditional hotel chains, Airbnb is widely known as a major disruptor in the industry of short-term accommodation rentals and is broadening to other hospitality services. On a commission-based digital platform, Airbnb operates as a peer-to-peer business provider where it is driven to match guests and hosts with listings or experiences of relevance at an affordable price. The corporation has originated from the edge of the market, disrupting the contemporary hotel business and amplifying its influence on the mainstream. This article aims to evaluate Airbnb in the light of business model innovation and disruptive innovation theory. Themes will be discussed and presented on how to enhance innovative business strategies based on the unique organisational framework holacracy, which should be the key factor in sustaining business during and after the COVID-19 lockdown. Copyright © 2023 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Liber Amicorum Manfred Weiss

Liber Amicorum Manfred Weiss by Marius Olivier, Nicola Smit, and Evance Kalula (Cape Town, South Africa, Juta, 2021, 395 pp.).

Índice de Vulnerabilidad al Desempleo en México: efectos de la pandemia por covid-19

An Unemployment Vulnerability Index is presented to obtain the profiles of those employed in Mexico with the highest risk of losing their job, taking as reference labor data produced during the covid-19 pandemic. Among the results derived from the Analytical Hierarchical Process, it was found that the most influential variables to measure vulnerability to unemployment were sector and gender;thus women with basic education, working in the informal sector, in the services branch, or micro-enterprises and with low income, had a greater probability of losing their job.Alternate :En esta investigación se presenta un Índice de Vulnerabilidad al Desempleo para obtener los perfiles de los ocupados en México con mayor riesgo a perder su trabajo, se toman como referencia datos laborales producidos durante la pandemia por covid-19. Entre los resultados derivados del Proceso Jerárquico Analítico se encontró que las variables más influyentes para medir la vulnerabilidad al desempleo fueron el sector y el género;los perfiles de mujeres con educación básica, quienes trabajan en el sector informal, en la rama de servicios o en microempresas con un ingreso bajo, tuvieron una mayor probabilidad de perder su trabajo.

The Socio-Economic Effects of the COVID-19 National Lockdown on South Africa and its Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused a global public health emergency. In the absence of approved and effective prophylactics and therapeutics, almost all countries have resorted to some version of national lockdown coupled with social distancing and enhanced hygiene measures to curb the spread of the pandemic. The COVID-19 has infected almost fifty million people globally, with more than a million deaths so far. Although national lockdowns have been employed as the primary response to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have also resulted in untold economic devastation to South Africa. Millions of people in the informal sector have been impoverished due to the COVID-19-induced lockdown. More people have become unemployed, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of almost all the nations have significantly contracted and public debt has rapidly increased while South Africa's national budget has been severely strained. This article examines the socio-economic effects of the COVID-19-induced lockdown on South Africa and its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reference will be made to Tanzania and Sweden which have shunned lockdowns. This is done for comparative purposes and to inform policy reform.

The Pandemic - The Disease of the Underground Economy

In the current international pandemic context, the risks of the underground economy through its most perverse forms, corruption, undeclared work, tax evasion, etc., have been greatly exacerbated by urgently favouring the restriction of freedoms, the infusion of important resources into the economy and not least the interest of Pharma. The turbulent and unprepared international framework has created the premise that in this unfortunate period an activity in the underground economy that influences all its forms, namely corruption, will flourish. According to press reports, the sale of masks, medicines and anti-pandemic health products was a real El Dorado of Romania. Fabulous surcharge purchases made by UNIFARM are known, as well as worldwide, according to a World Bank report, due to the elimination of normal public procurement control filters. The pandemic generated by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, both globally and nationally, has had various influences on the underground economy, some favorable for the public sector but most unfavourable for the private sector.

Electronic Payments, the Antidote of the Hidden Economy

The hidden economy, known in everyday vocabulary as an undeclared, underground economy, etc., is a feature of today's world, with no global temporal and spatial limits, which has as its cause and purpose the avoidance of tax payments and / or the conduct of prohibited activities. Regardless of the forms in which it manifests itself, which are very diverse, complex and sometimes difficult to detect, it largely includes tax fraud, unregistered or partially registered work and criminal activities. Institutions interested in combating this phenomenon have adapted and intensified their activity to bring it to a controllable area so that in the end, as a long-term and difficult-to-achieve goal, it can be eradicated, if not completely, at least in a insignificant share compared to the real economy. As an equivalent of goods and services and a means of exchanging and procuring them, money, depending on the method of payment, creates the possibility for the actors involved to evade taxation, which why not recognize, in most cases is burdensome. It is proven that cash payments are favorable and conducive to the hidden economy, reducing or eliminating them by using electronic payments means a deep blow under the belt given to it, not only image, which can bring this type of economy in the controllable area as stated in beginning. This effort to generalize electronic payments has been somewhat helped by the international situation created by the Covid 19 pandemic, which in addition to serious problems has played an important role in raising awareness and awareness of the benefits of electronic payments and online commerce and implicitly taxing these transactions.

Roma and the First Wave of the Covid-19 Pandemic: Income Loss and Its Effects Across Roma Communities in Seven Non-EU Countries

This article focuses on income loss and its knock-on effects experienced by Roma communities in seven non-EU states during the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown measures in the first half of2020. Roma communities in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine were all facing socioeconomic exclusion and marginalisation before the COVID-19 pandemic, thus international organisations were warning very early on that Roma communities were at serious risk during lockdowns, including in the fields of employment or loss of income. This article uses primary data collected across the seven states from a survey of 440 Roma individuals and 53 indepth interviews with Roma stakeholders, in order to add empirical evidence to an under-researched area. The main findings include that almost 73% of those surveyed experienced a reduced income, and the major reason for this was due to access to or demand for informal work which was hindered by the lockdowns. The knock-on effects of this included 32% of those surveyed declaring an inability to afford food and everyday essentials or to pay bills. Most Roma who needed to borrow money did so through private means (family and friends) rather than through official or state institutions. Finally, there was some geographic variance between the seven countries, with Roma communities in Albania and Ukraine faring worst.

The role of decent work in the Zimbabwean retail sector: Testing a job engagement and turnover intention model

Orientation: There is a continued call to understand those factors that not only affect work engagement but also reduce turnover. A broad umbrella of work emerges arguing for ascertaining how decent work conditions affect these outcomes of work. Research purpose: To offer insight into the relationship between decent work, job engagement and turnover intention in the retail sector in Zimbabwe. Motivations for the study: Rapid changes in the business environment have undoubtedly led to a deterioration of work standards across all sectors although the retail sector seems to have been more vulnerable and suffered the most. This calls for the need to investigate on decent work, a key mechanism in maximising labour force potential such as job engagement and turnover intentions are not ignored. Research approach/design and method: The study adopted a descriptive survey design using a quantitative approach. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used for the purpose of analysis with the Structural Equation Model (SEM) utilised. Main findings: The study found a positive significant relationship between decent work and job engagement. A positive significant relationship was also established between job engagement and turnover intention whereas, a very weak and statistically insignificant relationship existed between decent work and turnover intention. Practical/managerial implications: Retail sector managers ought to prioritise decent work and pay closer attention to its impact on job engagement and turnover intention. A focus on these constructs will breed a highly engaged and committed workforce that will give the sector competitive advantage. Contribution: Very few studies have shed light on the construct of decent work in developing economies, and specifically in Zimbabwe. Decent work is critical in the realisation of the sustainable development goal (SDG) 8. Its correlation with job engagement and turnover intention brings to light quite invaluable insights to the management of human capital in the retail sector.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women entrepreneurs in Pakistan

This study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women entrepreneurs in Pakistan's informal sector based on perceived sales increase/decrease and satisfaction with sales. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had profound economic effects, putting women entrepreneurs at considerable risk of losing income and sales growth as a result. Women reporting sales increases and sales satisfaction tended to be older, have lower education levels, have larger households, be married, own a home, have a supportive family and report an average family financial position. The impact of family support on sales variables depended on the size of the household. The type of business was also affected during the pandemic. This study is unique because it focuses on the impact of the pandemic at the household level where women have taken on increased responsibilities for work and family beyond those in 'normal' times. The household level of analysis is critical for understanding the dynamics of women's informal, home-based businesses in the family context. Findings suggest the resilience, agility and multiplier effects of women entrepreneurs in the face of cultural, economic, social and institutional constraints encountered during the pandemic.

Navigating the digital informal economy during the COVID-19 pandemic: vignettes of Sri Lankan micro- and small-scale entrepreneurs

Globally, women have been disproportionally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the impact has varied between groups of women, women in the informal sector, mainly those managing micro- and small-scale businesses, have been severely affected. Drawing on the case of urban Sri Lanka, this paper explores the challenges that women owners of micro- and small-scale businesses faced during the pandemic and how they leveraged digital technologies to overcome these challenges. The paper adopts a feminist intersectional lens, which examines the everyday experiences of women in gendered economies through semi-structured interviews conducted in three phases during the pandemic. The first section of the paper details the challenges that women faced during the pandemic, including issues of mobility, competing care responsibilities, lack of institutional support, financial security, and health. The second section discusses how women used digital tools such as social media to overcome these challenges. The paper argues that although digital tools were initially used in response to the challenges posed by the pandemic, they have been permanently incorporated into everyday entrepreneurial practices of women. © 2022 Oxfam KEDV.

Reimagining Cities: Assuring the Right to Food for the Migrant Poor in Pune City

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is seeking to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. It guarantees every citizen with access to adequate food throughout the year through sustainable food systems. Although India has made considerable progress in tackling hunger and poor nutrition in the past two decades, the Global Hunger Index indicates that India suffers from a level of hunger that is 'serious'. During lockdown, the poor food security structure and its functioning have been observed. The urban informal migrant labourers are the most vulnerable to hunger and experienced acute food scarcity. By addressing food security and rights interventions, our cities would be inclusive. The paper discusses the issue of rights to food with regard to the urban informal sector, migrant labourers and experiences during COVID-19 response work in Pune city.

COVID-19 and Street Vending in Tribal Areas: A Qualitative Analysis From Ground Zero—Aizawl, Mizoram, Northeast India

This study explores the impact of the COVID-19-induced economic crisis on tribal street vendors in Aizawl, India, using the framework of resilience theory. The paper uses a case-study approach to examine how street vendors recouped their economic losses after the relaxed lockdown phase during the region's most celebrated Christmas and New Year festivals. A total of 74 street vendors were interviewed for this study using a semi-structured questionnaire. The study discusses that despite the relaxation of lockdowns, vendors faced extreme challenges in earning their daily wages, causing an inability to satisfy basic requirements like food, paying rent, and experiencing harsher workplace conditions. We observe that street vendors had heterogeneous motives toward street vending and were not driven by a single theoretical perspective. We present that most street vendors during the lockdowns reflect resilience in their businesses, socioeconomic, and workplace conditions through their indigenous coping mechanisms and social networking. We find that street vendors displayed entrepreneurial qualities during the lockdowns by either changing the goods they sold or how they were sold before the pandemic. The study recommends different economic and financial policies for street vendors at the ground level such as improving basic workplace amenities, safety, and awareness among street vendors and consumers. [ FROM AUTHOR]

The urgency of labor law for informal sector workers in the welfare state concept: An evidence in Indonesia

This study aims to re-examine the issues that involve outreaching the urgency of labor law for informal sector workers in the concept of the welfare state in Indonesia. The research method used is a normative juridical approach or a study of documents or literature that only focuses on labor laws currently in force in Indonesia. The qualitative method approach that is descriptive-analytic is used to describe the relationship of a phenomenon, idea, data, or fact that is found objectively. This study found that the rights, dignity, standard of living, and even the working environment of informal sector workers are still neglected by labor law in Indonesia today. The national labor law has not accommodated legal protection, guarantees, and social security, so there is a legal vacuum for informal sector workers. This condition contradicts the philosophy of Pancasila and the constitution, the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. Thus, efforts to develop labor laws are expected to be carried out by the government together with the legislature to make all parties have the same position in the production process for the achievement of the company's progress. will have implications for national economic growth. On the other hand, this effort is expected to create legal harmonization in the field of employment in general and especially for informal sector workers in the welfare state in Indonesia.

Street vending, vulnerability and exclusion during the COVID-19 pandemic: the case of Cali, Colombia.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on livelihoods everywhere, but especially in the informal economy where crucial forms of protection and security are often absent. A detailed understanding of the impacts for informal workers, the public policy approaches that could most effectively respond to their needs, and the barriers to such policy, is urgently needed. This paper discusses the results of a 2021 street vendor survey in Cali, Colombia, focusing on (1) vendors' socioeconomic circumstances and (2) their political engagement and attitudes on key policy and governance issues. It argues that while the pandemic and the government responses to it negatively impacted street vendors, there are steps that government could have taken, and can still take, to address vendors' needs and priorities. To ensure a just, equitable, sustainable recovery, and to protect economically marginalized groups from future crises, informal workers must be more meaningfully included in decision-making processes.

COVID-19 Pandemic: Problems and Solution Suggestions for Disabled Women

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic poses a significant threat to the whole society. In crisis situations such as a pandemic, disadvantaged and neglected groups are more affected. Disabled women are also among the risk groups for COVID-19. Aim: This review aims to reveal the problems experienced by disabled women due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to offer the suggestion for their solutions. Methodology: The literature reviewed examined and Popular data bases such as Pubmed, Medline, and Sciencedirect and corporate websites such as WHO, UN, and UNESCO were also used. Results: Disabled women have faced a number of challenges that will constrain them during the COVID-19 pandemic. Problems such as lack of education, economic difficulties, social exclusion, discrimination, inequality, lack of access to resources, neglect, abuse and violence experienced by disabled women are more common during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: The priority needs should be determined and cooperation between sectors should be established in order to solve these problems. The awareness studies should be carried out on the effects of the pandemic on disabled women and their rights, and more effective initiatives should be taken to address the problems experienced.

COVID-19 impact and recovery for women informal workers–a view from 2021

Studies show that the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions had disproportionately negative impacts on the majority of the world’s workers who work informally, and on women informal workers in particular. This reflects the interplay between the pandemic, existing decent work deficits in informal employment, and discriminatory gendered norms within and outside the workplace. Based on a sample of 1,935 informal workers from a mixed-method longitudinal study across 12 cities in 2020 and 2021 conducted by Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), this article finds that the gendered impacts on informal workers within and between occupational sectors observed in the initial three months have persisted over a year and half into the pandemic, and explores the reasons for the gender-differentiated impacts. It then considers the specific demands made by informal workers to the state, highlighting the ways in which sector and gender mediate workers’ policy needs. Finally, it provides evidence of the role of member-based organisations of informal workers in responding directly to the needs of women workers, and on making claims on the state to fulfil these needs. © 2022 Oxfam KEDV.

Analyzing the challenges of e-waste management practices in India during COVID-19

Purpose>This paper is aimed at analyzing the inter-contextual relationships among the factors that led to inadequate management of electronic and electrical waste (WEEE) during COVID-19 using a subjective perspective.Design/methodology/approach>Grey sets and a Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL)-based approach has been employed to identify the causal association of intertwined WEEE management barriers.Findings>Results reveal the lack of implementation of the legislative framework, extended producer responsibility and lesser corporate initiatives are some of the most challenging WEEE management challenges during the current pandemic.Practical implications>The findings of the study would enable stakeholders of WEEE management toward building resilient policies and effective implementation plans during as well as post-crisis situations.Originality/value>COVID-19 led challenges related to healthcare waste have attracted a significant amount of scholarly attention, but there has been lesser attention toward e-waste management challenges during the pandemic. Negligence toward e-waste management can pose threats to the environment as well as human well-being.

Fiscal sustainability in highly indebted countries: evidence from Jamaica

Purpose>This study aims to explore the sustainability of Jamaica’s public debt over a highly volatile period of time.Design/methodology/approach>The authors use a suite of econometric tools, including, unit root testing, cointegration testing and estimating a fiscal reaction function. The authors control for structural breaks in the regression analysis.Findings>The authors find that whilst reschedulings might be indicative of cash-flow problems in Jamaica, fiscal policy has responded effectively to increase the public debt, thereby making the debt sustainable. Notwithstanding the political economy and social demands of the population prior to the impact of the pandemic, the implications of higher debt stocks (higher debt-servicing and lower social expenditures) might make this approach to fiscal policy and debt management infeasible. As a result, the authors recommend that the government will need to take an active approach in managing its debt position to facilitate responses to shocks and provide conditions within which maintaining fiscal discipline is feasible.Originality/value>To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore fiscal sustainability in Jamaica over this time period whilst taking into consideration structural breaks caused by the global financial crisis and debt restructurings. The authors also take into consideration variables such as exchange rates and the occurrence of elections, which have not been included in previous studies.

Sustainability of the informal sector space in urban areas in the post-covid-19 pandemic

The informal sector retailers in Indonesia are considered problems in the urban public spaces and a disturbance of comfort, traffics, views, and environmental cleanliness as a concern during the Covid-19 pandemic period. Until now, the government policies toward the retailers are in the form of eviction. In fact, these activities are actual activities that happen around urban areas, so they must be accommodated. Accommodating those activities is reinforced by its advantage that can provide a livelihood for marginalized people who have a problem due to the pandemic critical events. These activities could be sustainable in urban spaces. Their existence problems were found in Salatiga City, so it’s necessary to study the space as a place for their activities there under the pandemic period. This study aims to examine the retailers’ spaces during the pandemic in Pancasila Square Salatiga City. This study applies a quantitative approach using cross-tabulation to understand the relation of the variables between spaces and the activity characteristics of the retailers. Data was collected using observations and questionnaires. The results describe a suitable location, comfortable place, and sustainable spaces for retailers during the pandemic which will have an impact on the sustainability of the informal sector retailers in urban public spaces.

Sustainable activities for the informal sector traders in the post-covid-19 in the public space around the Manahan Sport Stadium Area Surakarta City

The activity supports as one of the elements of urban designs which grow and develop because there are the main activities there are informal sector traders that can provide job opportunities for the jobless people due to the pandemic. However, those particular objects places in the public space are often considered to interfere with other activities around it, so finally, it becomes an element out of place. In addition, the condition of disturbing others done by informal sector traders also occurred in Surakarta City, which much disrupted, whereas actually their informal sector trader activities were basically needed to support their own needs. It is a real urban activity that must be accommodated, so it can turn into an in-place element and impact sustainable activities even during the pandemic. In supporting the sustainable activities of informal sector traders in the post-Covid-19, it was done research aimed to explain sustainable activities for informal sector traders in the post-Covid-19 public spaces. The method used was a quantitative method through questionnaires, observations, and cross-tabulation to analyze the characteristics of sustainable activity for informal sector traders in the post-Covid-19 public spaces. The results showed that the characteristics of sustainable activities for informal sector traders include the main activities based on the area, the type of products, trading facilities, a trading time, a spare pattern, hawker units’ informal sector traders’ activities during the Covid-19 pandemic and informal sector activities in the post-Covid-19.