Influence of COVID-19 Strategic Responses on Organizational Performance among Internet Service Providers in Kenya.
Keywords:
Business ManagementAbstract
The study aimed to assess the influence of COVID-19 strategic responses on organizational performance among Internet Service Providers in Kenya. The specific objectives were to evaluate the influence of financial restructuring, Staff restructuring and training, and work-from-home strategy on Organizational Performance among Internet Service Providers in Kenya. The resource-based view was the theoretical background of the study. The study adopted a descriptive research approach. The study was conducted among 41 Internet Service Providers operating in Kenya during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Census sampling was found more suited for the study. The main tool used to collect primary data was structured questionnaires. The researcher used a variety of inferential statistics to evaluate the hypotheses, including percentages, frequencies, mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, Paired T-test, correlation, and multiple linear regression. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The findings show that the mean application of financial restructuring practices before and after the pandemic was 2.98 and 3.825, respectively implying that financial restructuring strategy was practiced significantly more after the pandemic. The financial restructuring factor has a Pearson coefficient of 0.720, showing a significant and strong association between financial restructuring and Organizational Performance. The mean application of staff restructuring, and training practices was 2.93 before, and 3.67 after the pandemic, and the resultant difference significance p-value was 0.001. The staff restructuring and training factor has a Pearson coefficient of 0.851, exhibiting a significant and robust association between staff restructuring and training with Organizational Performance. The mean condition of work-from-home factor before and after the pandemic was 3.055 and 3.96, respectively; with resultant significance p-value of 0.001. The work-from-home factor has a Pearson coefficient of 0.357, illustrating a significant and moderately strong association between work-from-home and Organizational Performance. The study recommend that the long-term goal of financial restructuring is to re-establish a sound and safe company structure. Client-facing employees must have the requisite skills, understanding, and attitude to meet the high expectations of the customers. To enhance productivity, organizations must support their staff to set up conducive home offices and invest in the right tools that will enhance virtual communication and collaboration. HRM strategies such as upskilling and re-training of staff are critical to helping companies retain talent and propel sustainable growth.
References
Accenture. (2020). Outmaneuver uncertainty: Navigating the human and business impact of Covid‐19.
Bansal, T. (11 May 2020). What Business Professors Are Saying about COVID-19. Network for Business Sustainability. Available online: https://www.nbs.net/articles/what-business-professors-are-saying-about-covid-19 (accessed on 1 January 2022).
Baum, T., Mooney, S. K., Robinson, R. N., & Solnet, D. (2020). COVID-19’s impact on the hospitality workforce–new crisis or amplification of the norm?. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32, pp. 2813-2829.
Bloom, N., Liang, J., Roberts, J., & Ying, Z. J. (2015). Does working from home work? Evidence from a Chinese experiment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 130(1), 165-218.
Boiral, O., Heras-Saizarbitoria, I., & Brotherton, M. C. (2019). Corporate sustainability and indigenous community engagement in the extractive industry. Journal of Cleaner Production, 235, 701-711.
Bryce, C., Ring, P., Ashby, S., & Wardman, J. K. (2020). Resilience in the face of uncertainty: early lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Risk Research, 23(7-8), 880-887.
Bundy, J., Pfarrer, M. D., Short, C. E., & Coombs, W. T. (2017). Crises and crisis management: Integration, interpretation, and research development. Journal of management, 43(6), 1661-1692.
Muriuki T
Carnevale, J. B., & Hatak, I. (2020). Employee adjustment and well-being in the era of COVID-19: Implications for human resource management. Journal of Business Research, 116, 183-187.
Chaffey, D., Ellis-Chadwick, F., Mayer, R., & Johnston, K. (2009). Internet marketing: strategy, implementation and practice. New Delhi: Pearson Education.
Coombs, W. T., & Holladay, S. J. (2002). Helping crisis managers protect reputational assets: Initial tests of the situational crisis communication theory. Management communication quarterly, 16(2), 165-186.
De Waal, A. A. (2007). Is Performance Management Applicable In Developing Countries: A Case of a Tanzania Collage. International Journal of Emerging markets, 2(1), 63 – 72
DeMarzo, Peter M., Arvind Krishnamurthy and Joshua Rauh, 2020, “Debtor-in-Possession Financing Facility,” Stanford University Working Paper.
Hatum, A., Pettigrew, A., & Michelini, J. (2010). Building organizational capabilities to adapt under turmoil. Journal of Change Management, 10(3), 257-274.
He, H., & Harris, L. (2020). The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on corporate social responsibility and marketing philosophy. Journal of business research, 116, 176-182.
Heinonen, K., & Strandvik, T. (2020). Reframing service innovation: COVID-19 as a catalyst for imposed service innovation. Journal of Service Management, 32, pp. 101-112.
Hilmi, I. N., & Febriansyah, H. (2020). Working from Home as a Human Resource Management Strategy during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Indonesian Workers' Experiences.
Muriuki T
Ho, K. F., Ho, K. F., Wong, S. Y., Cheung, A. W., & Yeoh, E. (2020). Workplace safety and coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic: survey of employees. Bulletin Of The World Health Organization.
Holton, I., Glass, J., & Price, A. D. (2010). Managing for sustainability: findings from four company case studies in the UK precast concrete industry. Journal of Cleaner Production, 18(2), 152-160.
Hsiao, H. C., Chang, H., Cianci, A. M., & Huang, L. H. (2010). First financial restructuring and operating efficiency: evidence from Taiwanese commercial banks. Journal of Banking & Finance, 34(7), 1461-1471.
Javed,B. & Akhtar,S. (2012). Interrelationships between Capital Structure and Financial Performance, Firm Size and Growth: Comparison of industrial sector in KSE: European Journal of Business and Management, 4(15), 148- 157
Lloyd-Smith, M. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic: resilient organisational response to a low-chance, high-impact event. Bmj Leader.
McKee, M., & Stuckler, D. (2020). If the world fails to protect the economy, COVID-19 will damage health not just now but also in the future. Nature Medicine, 26(5), 640-642.
Mithani, M. A. (2020). Adaptation in the face of the new normal. Academy of Management Perspectives, 34(4), 508-530.
Mustajab, D., Bauw, A., Rasyid, A., Irawan, A., Akbar, M. A., & Hamid, M. A. (2020). Working from home phenomenon as an effort to prevent COVID-19 attacks and its impacts on work productivity. TIJAB (The International Journal of Applied Business), 4(1), 13-21.
Muriuki T
Nazir, M., & Alam, A. (2010). The Impact of Financial Restructuring on the Performance of Pakistani Banks: A DEA Approach. The IUP Journal of Applied Finance, 16(1), 71-86
Notanubun, Z., Ririhena, R. L., & Batlolona, J. R. (2019). The effect of organization restructuring on organization performance viewed from employee performance and leadership effectiveness at maluku provincial education office. Journal of Education and Learning (EduLearn), 13(1), 118-124.
Notanubun, Z., Ririhena, R. L., & Batlolona, J. R. (2019). The effect of organization restructuring on organization performance viewed from employee performance and leadership effectiveness at maluku provincial education office. Journal of Education and Learning (EduLearn), 13(1), 118-124.
Ogohi C. D. (2018). Effects of Training on Organizational Performance. Asian Journal of Business and Management, 6(5), 58-67.
Osoro, P. M. (2014). The effect of financial restructuring on the financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Nairobi, Kenya.
Rogovsky, N., Ozoux, P., Esser, D., & Broughton, A. (2005). Restructuring for Corporate Success: A socially sensitive approach. Geneva: International Labour Office
Smith, G, De Cronje H. (2010), How to Increase Job Satisfaction and Improve Employee Engagement, www.chartcourse.com/articlepride.htm.
Srivastava, V., & Mushtaq, G. (2011). Corporate Restructuring - A Financial Strategy. Asian Journal of Technology & Management Research, (22), 143-47
Muriuki T
Talbot, D., & Ordonez-Ponce, E. (2020). Canadian banks’ responses to COVID-19: A strategic positioning analysis. Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 1-8.
Teng-Calleja, M., Caringal-Go, J. F., Manaois, J. O., Isidro, M., Queenie, Y., & Zantua, R. M. S. (2020). Examining organizational response and employee coping behaviors amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thompson, H. G. Jr., & Garbacz, C. (2007). Mobile, fixed line and Internet service effects on global productive efficiency. Information Economics and Policy, 19(2), 189-214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infoecopol.2007.03.002
Thoraneenitiyan, N., & Avkiran, N. K. (2009). Measuring the impact of restructuring and country-specific factors on the efficiency of post-crisis East Asian banking systems: Integrating DEA with SFA. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 43(4), 240-252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2008.12.002
Thorstensson, E. (2020). The Influence of Working from Home on Employees' Productivity: Comparative document analysis between the years 2000 and 2019-2020.
Tran, H. N., Tran, P. T., & Nguyen, H. H. (2014). Impact of restructuring on the performance of Vietnamese commercial banks. Journal of Economic Development, 26(2), 26-47.
Van Der Lippe, T., & Lippényi, Z. (2020). Co‐workers working from home and individual and team performance. New Technology, Work and Employment, 35(1), 60-79.
Worthington, A. C. (2009). Frontier efficiency measurement in deposit-taking financial mutual: a review of techniques, application, and future research directions. Discussion Papers Finance 2009(11). Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Australia. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8292.2009.00405.x
Muriuki T
Zhang, T., Gerlowski, D., & Acs, Z. (2021). Working from home: small business performance and the COVID-19 pandemic. Small Business Economics, 1-26.
