Will teachers continue to teach online post-COVID-19?

Numerous studies have captured the experiences of teachers teaching online, but the current 'emergency' to teach online is unprecedented and has been challenging. Grounded in the theory of cognitive dissonance, this paper attempts to recapitulate the experiences of university teachers and analyses whether they have developed the consonant cognitions to teach online during the pandemic period or would they prefer switching back to 'normal' teaching as soon as the circumstances permit. Technology-enabled teaching has been found to be complex as it mandates teaching in a computerised setting and lacks an element of social interaction, which is at the heart of face-to-face teaching. Using Structural Equation Modelling, this study presents the determining factors that motivate teachers to embrace technology-driven teaching more convincingly. The study finds that in the absence of adequate training imparted to the teachers for developing technological and pedagogical knowledge (TPK), high psychological capital and facilitating conditions are the two most important factors ensuring teaching proficiency, creating positive online experiences and a continued intention to teach online.

New product innovations in times of crisis: How did women entrepreneurs survive the COVID-19 crisis?

To prevent the COVID-19 virus from further spreading, several governments worldwide imposed strict mobility and activity restrictions, including a lockdown of all economic activities. These restrictions affected industrial businesses more than consumer businesses, who were allowed early relaxations from the pandemic restrictions. Women entrepreneurs (WEs) managing these businesses responded by introducing new product innovations that helped them survive the crisis and build a foundation for future growth. However, the resources used by WEs to introduce new product innovations differed across consumer and industrial businesses. In this study, we examine the difference in resources used by WEs across industrial versus consumer firms that enabled them to introduce new product innovations during the pandemic lockdown. We surveyed 388 WEs, 243 of them managing industrial firms and 145 running consumer firms, in the immediate aftermath of the lifting of the COVID-19 lockdown in India. Our analysis finds that WEs leveraged their socio-psychological resources, such as networking, resilience, and entrepreneurial orientation, to innovate new products during the crisis. Specifically, resilience helped industrial firms, and networking helped consumer firms introduce new product innovations during the COVID-19 crisis. The interplay of resilience, networking, and entrepreneurial orientation helped both industrial and consumer firms introduce new products.