How COVID-19 has Reset Business Activities in Organizations around Africa

Abstract

Purpose: The global outbreak of the COVID-19 virus forced governments across Africa to impose major health, travel and trade restrictions at home to protect their citizens from the pandemic. These measures caused a dampening impact on conventional social and business activity forcing organizations to rethink, redraw and reset their operations to remain functional, viable and sustainable. The aim of this study was to show that the pandemic driven changes in the business environment, though disruptive in nature, essentially enabled businesses to acquire a new set of survival and success competencies to thrive in the foreseeable future.

Methodology: This study used paper reviews, research journal findings, academic papers, and online business publications that tracked business responses to the pandemic. The author used a thematic analysis of text and descriptive statistics to analyze data on the major changes businesses have made in response to the pandemic.

Findings: The results indicated that business activities were severely affected by the onset of the pandemic. The pandemic also disrupted conventional business strategy and forced companies to review their operations in the light of challenges of continuing business in the COVID-19 environment. While short term survival measures included laying off staff and cutting back on overhead costs, business quickly embarked on medium plans to re-engineer business operations using online service technology to reach consumers under lockdown conditions. However, businesses have gone further to invest in digital transformation not only to survive the pandemic, but also to ensure their profitability and long-term success. In the light of these developments businesses have reset their activities under five themes; structure, strategy, staffing, service and sustainability. The author argues that reset changes are likely to become institutionalized as businesses carry forward their learning experience into their culture. The business community is also expected to pursue the opportunities created by the pandemic to critically define and differentiate between core business activity and non-essential engagements. Society has undergone substantive transformation over the pandemic season and expects organizations to respond and adapt accordingly.

Recommendations: Operational and start up organizations should attune their business to the mental and experiential reset in customer expectations brought about by the pandemic. Businesses need to provide meaningful consumer value without over dependence on high cost overhead infrastructure such as expansive corporate offices, centralized staffing and profit draining procurement and distribution.