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DR - GiribalaDewasthale (IMDR)

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radhikavarshney07072007
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13 views1 page

DR - GiribalaDewasthale (IMDR)

Uploaded by

radhikavarshney07072007
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Synopsis: Impact of COVID 19 across Industry Sectors - An Exploratory Study

Author: Dr. Giribala Dewasthale, Assistant Professor, DES’s IMDR, Pune.

Much has been written about COVID- 19 in the past few months. Slowly India is shedding its
siege mindset and bracing itself for the economic impact of this pandemic. Studies are
ongoing about the impact of the pandemic across industry sectors. The purpose of this study
was to gather perceptual data from those in leadership roles in business organisations,
regarding the impact of COVID-19 on their business operations. The objectives of the study
were twofold:
1. To investigate the impact of COVID 19 across industry sectors
2. To investigate perceptions about the future (July 2020 and beyond)

The study was exploratory in nature. Given the lockdown all over the country, data was
collected through a questionnaire administered through Google forms. Respondents were
given a list of questions as follows:
1. Has COVID-19 had a positive or negative impact on your business operations?
2. What challenges has your organization experienced as the result of COVID-19?
3. How has COVID-19 impacted sales for your product and/or service?
4. How has COVID-19 impacted costs of doing business?
5. How has COVID-19 changed the way you interact with customers and other stakeholders?
6. What will be the future impact of COVID-19 - next 6 months to 1 year- on your business
operations?

Data was collected over a period of 10 days from 22nd April to 1st May. An inductive
categorisation method was used to code the perceptual, qualitative data and draw inferences.
Given that respondents had to share qualitative data about their business operations and the
paucity of time, a convenience sample of respondents known to the researcher was used. The
sample adequately reflected various industry sectors as well as leadership levels within
organisations. A total of 50 valid responses were collected.
78% respondents acknowledged that the pandemic had a negative impact on business
operations. The top 3 challenges appear to be difficulty in staying connected with customers,
reduction in corporate spending and decrease in productivity due to remote work. Sales have
seen a sharp decline due to travel restrictions, social distancing, restrictions on sale of some
commodities and customers resorting to budget cuts and putting projects on hold. Companies
are struggling to recover fixed costs in the absence of revenue generation due to sharp drop in
sales. Increase in costs are due to enablement of digital platforms, increased freight and
cartage costs and increased costs of raw materials. Focusing on existing customers and
building collaborative relationships is the new normal. Communication has shifted from face
to face to online, voice calls, video conferencing, social media and virtual platforms. Virtual
modes of communication seem inadequate to generate new business. It seems that businesses
require at least one face to face interaction to build trust and commitment. Going forward it
would seem that businesses and their stakeholders must face up to some harsh realities and
prepare for them. Operations and supply chain managers must prepare for possible increase in
the cost of raw materials and think of new distribution models. Human resource managers
must brace themselves for lay-offs and prepare the workforce for remote working. It appears
that consumer sentiment will see an uptick only post Diwali.
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