Leadership challenges for Indian hospitality industry during COVID-19 pandemic

PurposeThe COVID-19 crisis has affected almost all the global sectors. The hotel industry, however, was hit hardest challenging the leadership. This study, therefore, attempts to explore the challenges hospitality leadership in India face to navigate the crisis. The study additionally addresses how leaders manage the expectations of key stakeholders; communicate hard decisions with employees, pursue strategies for revival and explores the role of technology to survive the crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts a qualitative approach involving structured interviews with 16 senior hospitality leaders consisting of CEO, vice president, general managers, directors, entrepreneur and general managers from various organisations like hotels, restaurant chains, food services and facilities management services. Data were content analysed involving coding techniques.FindingsThe leadership challenges included making customers and employees feel safe, optimising operations, agility and resilience of leaders, maintaining a balance between stakeholders, managing employee stress and ensuring cash reserves. The study found that leaders manage the expectation of various stakeholders by maintaining balance, demonstrating empathy and agility. The hard decisions are communicated with the employees through involvement, empathy and alleviating stress.Research limitations/implicationsThe study contributes by identifying twelve themes from the participants' responses under five major themes-labelled as leadership challenges, managing stakeholders, communicating with the employees, the role of technology and best practices of surviving the crisis. Future research can be conducted on such sub-themes in different countries.Practical implicationsAs the tourism industry in India is recovering after the second wave, the governments along with all stakeholders, must launch special events for promoting the tourism sector. Safety measures like making vaccination certificates for all tourists and employees of the tourism sector should be made mandatory. Further, special certification following the COVID-19 protocol needs to be introduced for hotels and catering establishments. A fund generated from the sector's direct tax contribution needs to be established to support the employees.Social implicationsThe study has several social implications. The study results can unite all industry stakeholders to shape the post-pandemic era through collaboration. Empathetic leadership can take the industry out of chaos by balancing the interests of the various stakeholders of society. The pandemic has proven that we all are vulnerable to risks and challenges; leaders have a vital role in taking proactive steps to ensure that such uncertainties do not cause unprecedented damage.Originality/valueThis study expanded the research on the hospitality leadership challenges in managing crises in the backdrop of the crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemic. The conceptual model, variables, themes and sub-themes utilised are original contributions to the hospitality literature.

Empirical investigation of risk management practices

In risk management research, dealing with known risks and helping companies foresee new risks are areas for subject matter experts. In practice, risk management is often perceived as a set of formal tools and procedures that must be delegated to the professionals. Despite this overall perception of risk, general managers, department managers, and other senior or line managers in organizations deal with questions associated with risk on a daily basis. They are, therefore, sometimes—even without consciously realizing it—involved in risk management practices. This article aims to analyze 'managers' involvement in risk management by empirically exploring how managers identify, assess, and respond to risks. Based on thematic analysis of observational and interview data, management practices used to manage risks were identified, and risk management as a non-linear process that is anchored on the strategic and operational levels and supported by learning from failures was defined. Two different ways of risk management can co-exist in an organization as a result of formal Enterprise Risk Management implementation.

Managerial Perception of Human Capital, Innovations, and Performance: Evidence from Banking Industry

This paper aims to examine the relationship between the managerial perception of human capital, innovations, and bank performance. We specifically sought to examine the influence of human capital on bank performance, by introducing the factors of innovation speed and quality. The study was taken in the Serbian banking industry, with the focus on the perception and the viewpoint of CEOs and general managers of different departments. We used a two-phase survey to design the questionnaire and the correlation and regression analyses to examine our hypotheses. Our findings propose that, from managers’ perspective, human capital is critical to the success of banks, and that innovation speed is more influential than its quality. The backward multiple regression model shows that human capital and innovation speed account for 67.5% of the variability of the bank performance. The findings of this research can contribute to bank management policies by revealing how to enhance bank performance by focusing on human capital and innovation agility and readiness. The proposed research model could potentially be implemented in other sectors and industries to hopefully endorse the significance of the detected relationships.

Dancing in the storm: finessing emergency remote teaching in the COVID-19 pandemic

Case overview The Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), a South African based business school and one of the top ranked business schools in Africa, was yet again facing a crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Having emerged out of an extraordinary year of strict lockdown regulations and having managed a rapid shift to emergency remote teaching. GIBS had managed to maintain its academic programmes, ensuring the completion of the curriculum within the academic year whilst maintaining the exceptionally high standards and quality learning experience it was known for. As 2020 drew to a close, the academic programmes team and the students looked forward to starting the new year in a more “normal” mode of operation. GIBS closed for Christmas holiday with the intent on returning, in early 2021, in some form of face-to-face teaching. However, on the 27th of December 2020, the President of South Africa announced a return to level-3 lockdown as the second wave of infections swept through the country. Strict measures were once again enforced, significantly impacting GIBS’ possible return to campus in January 2021. Reflecting on the lessons learnt over the past year, the Executive Director: Academic Programmes, Professor Louise Whittaker, yet again faced the challenge of deciding how best to proceed given the circumstances. The case illustrates the need for effective change management through the application of Kotter’s 8 steps to transformation, whilst demonstrating the complexity of change management during a crisis. A particular focus on the importance of communication during a change management process in a crisis is illustrated through this case. Expected learning outcomes The learning outcomes are as follows: students need to understand that in a crisis, change management will be emergent and requires flexibility and adaptability; students will determine what concrete actions may be required during a change management process in a crisis; students will need to discern that theoretical models do not necessarily fit real world contexts, particularly in a crisis situation; and students will identify aspects that might be missing or inadequately formulated in standard models of change management. Complexity academic level The case is positioned at a post-graduate level and would be ideal as a teaching case for business school students on a Master of Business Administration programme, a specialised business masters programme or selected executive education programmes for general managers or senior executives. The case can be taught in a course in the following fields, namely, change management, leadership or strategy. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.

The Mediating Role of Managing the High Involvement Management Between Organizational Power and Negotiation StrategiesAnalytical Research of the Views of a Sample of Leaders of the Iraqi Ministry of Industry and Minerals

The research aims to test the relationship and impact of High Involvement Management as an independent variable in negotiation strategies as a response variable, at the headquarters of the Iraqi Ministry of Industry and Minerals in Baghdad Governorate, and then trying to come up with a set of recommendations that contribute to strengthening the negotiations carried out by the ministry’s leaders and based on the importance of the topic of research in public organizations and the importance of the surveyed organizations to the society. The descriptive-analytical approach was adopted in the completion of this research, and the research included a sample of (180) leaders of the Iraqi Ministry of Industry and Minerals, and data was collected from (120) respondents who represent the research community exclusively and comprehensively, represented by (general managers, directors of departments people managers). By adopting the questionnaire, which included (47) paragraphs, the personal interviews were used during the distribution of the questionnaire and the explanation and clarification of its paragraphs. The research adopted the program Amos V.26, Spss V.26) with the adoption of descriptive statistics methods (linearity test, normal distribution test, confirmatory factor analysis, building models of variables, arithmetic mean, percentages, standard deviation, relative importance, and coefficient of variation, Pearson correlation coefficient, simple regression coefficient, path analysis, Sobel test) to test its hypotheses. As for the most prominent conclusions of the research that showed the validity of the hypotheses, they were embodied in the effect of high inclusion directly in the negotiation process and its strategies, and from it, we conclude that the management of high inclusion affects the negotiation directly and indirectly, and on this basis, these indirect influences contributed to increasing the value of the effect. The research came out with a number of recommendations; the most important of which is the investment of the reciprocal and interactive relationship between the management of high containment and negotiation strategies, directly or indirectly, with the realization that their elements and dimensions and their ability to develop, change and add in a way that coincides with the development and diversity of jobs and changes in the accelerating environment

British Banks and Their Aesop’s Fables

Using the framework developed by Scranton and Fridenson, this chapter explores the way British banks invested in their active learning memory, focusing on the visual cues used to remember stories about managerial behaviour and the narrative surrounding images of individual bankers, in particular, general managers of joint stock banks. What do artefacts tell us about the way banks remembered their past and the lessons of past crises? What stories are told through them about the person and the bank’s past performance, failure, and financial crisis? What morals or lessons about governance can be found in them? We draw upon the printed and archival literature to reveal the nature of the exchanges that were had over these objects and about these characters. We examine two key individuals and how they were remembered, in particular their role in steering their respective organizations through crisis.

Role of green financing and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in technological innovation and corporate environmental performance: a COVID-19 perspective

PurposeThe aim of this study is to estimate the relationship between technological innovation and corporate environmental performance among energy companies working in Egypt.Design/methodology/approachThe study extended the aim with the intention to assess the role of green financing in enhancing corporate environmental performance. Partial least squares (PLS)-based structural equation modeling (SEM) is applied to estimate the nexus among study variables.FindingsThe results indicated that technological innovation influenced environmental performance and has a positive impact on company performance. The role of green financing for environmental performance is also significant and positive. Moreover, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has insignificant role in environmental performance of the energy companies in the study context.Research limitations/implicationsThe study offers a valuable model for general managers of manufacturing organizations and policymakers to manage CSR, environmental strategy and green innovation in examining environmental performance. It can help to assist general managers of large manufacturing organizations to strengthen their internal resources like CSR, environmental strategy and green innovation to enhance environmental performance.Practical implicationsThe findings of this article will help the practitioners to design policies regarding sustainable energy systems and green finance in the presence of any natural calamity.Originality/valueThis study primarily complements the existing literature by establishing how green financing and CSR can augment and/or interact between technological innovation and corporate environmental performance under COVID-19 crises, in a developing country.

Implementación del presupuesto de ventas para la optimización de los ingresos de la empresa maderera "Don Junior" en Santo Domingo, Ecuador

RESUMEN La mayor parte de las microempresas necesitan de un presupuesto de ventas para desenvolverse dentro de un mercado competitivo, por lo que la implementación es vital para su supervivencia a largo plazo. En este contexto el presente estudio tiene como objetivo determinar de qué manera la implementación de un presupuesto de ventas permitirá alcanzar la optimización de los ingresos de la empresa maderera “Don Junior” del cantón Puerto Quito, provincia de Pichicha, Ecuador. Para lo cual se llevó a cabo una investigación con enfoque mixto, de diseño no experimental longitudinal, de tipo descriptivo, exploratorio e histórico mediante encuestas aplicadas a los clientes fijos y entrevistas a los directivos generales. Los resultados reflejaron que el presupuesto de ventas debe ser implementado como una herramienta de gestión que le permita a la empresa un manejo adecuado de los gastos que vaya encaminado al crecimiento económico, ayudando a los directivos a la acertada toma de decisiones. ABSTRACT Most micro-businesses need a sales budget to function in a competitive market, so its implementation is vital for long-term survival. In this context, the present study aims to determine how the implementation of a sales budget will allow to achieve the optimization of the income of the timber company "Don Junior" of the canton "Puerto Quito", Pichincha province, Ecuador. For which a research was carried out with a mixed approach, of a longitudinal non-experimental design, of a descriptive, exploratory and historical type, through surveys applied to fixed clients and interviews with general managers. The results reflected that the sales budget should be implemented as a management tool that allows the company to properly manage expenses that are aimed at economic growth, helping managers to make the right decisions.

Acutely increased workload is correlated with significant injuries among national basketball association players

Background Particularly at the level of professional athletics, injury prevention is of critical importance. We hypothesized that elevated in-game statistics over a period of 3-10 games places increased cumulative stress on players’ joints and thus predisposes players to injury. Methods Utilizing a comprehensive database of National Basketball Association (NBA) player statistics, we identified 34 NBA players who suffered significant in-game injuries during the 2016-2019 seasons, leading them to miss at least ten consecutive games. We then assessed several potential markers of increased player workload during the cumulative one, three, five, and ten games directly preceding the injuries and compared them to season averages for each player. Results Increased minutes played per game over the cumulative three (4.9% increase, p = 0.04), five (5.8% increase, p = 0.004), and ten (4.0% increase, p = 0.02) games directly preceding injury were closely related to increased injury occurrence. In-game activity level as measured by statistics such as points scored and rebounds per game did not relate to injury occurrence. Conclusion In addition to injury mitigation practices currently used by NBA teams, maintaining players’ minutes played per game constant over time may be an additional effective strategy to be used by coaches and general managers in the future.

Innovation Practices in the Hotel Industry: Case of Alanya

Innovation, derived from the Latin word "innovatus", means to turn an idea into a product that can be sold or developed (goods or services). Tourism is one of the greatest global industries, improving according to the continuous changes in tourism trends and consumer preferences. Thus, it is this need to change that makes the concept of innovation a vital concern for tourism firms of all sizes. Because there is a competition between countries, regions, and cities to attract more tourists. In this context, hotels try to differentiate themselves in order to stay alive and have competitive advantage. This is only possible by conducting innovative activities. Innovation in tourism has many faces and can include such as product, market, and process. This study has been conducted to find out which innovation strategies tourism businesses prefer and which innovations they are using. Within the scope of the research, the data was collected via a questionnaire from 52 hotels by choosing the easy sampling method. According to the findings, tourism businesses implement service innovation. However, decisions for innovation practices are decided by general managers. Furthermore, informing the staff in accordance with the innovation targets makes the highest contribution to the practices. Finally, although research and development (R&D) is the basis of innovation practices, it has been determined that most of the tourism businesses taking part in the research do not have such a department. Finally marketing mix and quality standards should be aligned with the innovation approach.