Dramatic changes caused by the new coronavirus COVID-19 have unprecedented implications on companies around the globe and influenced human resource management profoundly. HRM took leadership to navigate in the vague present and unforeseeable future by managing people to cope with stress and to continue working remotely so that business goes on with its operations. However, HRM had to deal with the dismissals and reduction of the staff caused by the pandemic lockdown. The presented paper is based on the qualitative expert interview research method. It discusses the challenges HRM has been facing in Georgia, ascertains the implications the crisis has on human resources, finds out the solutions companies applied, and makes suggestions for tackling the crisis from the point of view of HRM. The expert interview findings indicate that companies, together with the HR managers, should develop crisis management plans, elaborate new policies for remote as well as hybrid working systems as a response to the current and future crises.

Extraordinary changes caused by COVID-19 have enforced companies around the globe to accelerate transition to digital business processes. Human resource management (HRM) is in the heart of these transformations helping organizations to navigate in the vague present and unforeseeable future. HRM needs to manage people in companies during the crisis in order to enable business continuity and ensure work-life balance. Since the future will bring more flexible, remote-friendly, digital working norms, the changes in policies, processes, workspaces, collaboration systems, and employee wellness are of increasingly urgent importance.The paper discusses the challenges HRM is facing due to the current crisis in terms of remote working, and identifies the implications the pandemic has on human resources. The expert interviews conducted in Georgia indicate that HRM should consider ways to develop new policies for hybrid working models as a response to the current pandemic crisis.

Sustainable economic growth can be achieved through tourism by protecting the environment, maintaining natural resources, creating employment, improving cultural diversity, and recognizing cultural heritage values. The concept of tourism sustainability is gradually growing globally and becoming a dominant aspect in modern business, as companies need to meet stakeholders’ demands regarding environmental management. Sustainable tourism incorporates environmental, social, economic, and cultural issues into operations. The demand for green tourism, ethical consumption, protection of natural resources, and living close to nature is expected to increase. In particular, the latter gains more and more popularity due to the stress caused by the global pandemic and also because values have been re-evaluated at every level of society. In this paper, we explore sustainability in the tourism industry within the international context during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a specific focus on tourism in 35 European countries for the period between January 2020 and September 2021. We aimed to study the impact of tourism on sustainability based on the Eurostat database, using cluster analysis and descriptive statistics. The results indicate that tourism will recover slightly, even though the pandemic will continue, recording different effects in European countries. Furthermore, we highlight the relationship between income and tourism, the clusters on tourism being significantly different according to income. The results also identify potential recovery options to align this business area with global sustainable development goals, generate effective transformational change, and suggest how to create a viable growth process pushed by a glocal perspective.

The paper studies organizational support with respect to Human Resource Management during the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines HRM initiatives regarding changing in jobs, working routine, workplaces, and remote working conditions. The paper analyses how HR managers supported employees during the pandemic and how top-management encouraged employee wellbeing. It also explores whether HRM practice and employee emotions are a strategic focus for companies. Quantitative data for this research was collected with survey from forty-eight organizations located in Georgia. The findings suggest that HRM supported staff with helping them to update their skills for remote working, established flexible working hours, and adopted less strict policies regarding performance management. Additionally, HR managers have been encouraged by the top-management in implementing initiatives concerning employee physical and emotional wellbeing. Furthermore, HRM should be a strategic focus for any organization to lay foundation of employee relationship and organizational culture in order to overcome difficulties and adapt to the changes. The novelty of the research highlights the importance of HRM practice when economies are facing the threat of recession. It contributes to HRM in terms of supporting employees during the pandemic as well as from the top-management perspective to promote HR initiatives, and paves the way for further studies in this field.

Economic growth is a major goal pursued by public authorities but can be achieved with the involvement of several categories of stakeholders given the complexity of the phenomenon and the many influencing factors. In this research paper, the authors analyze specific current issues that are representative as influencers of economic growth. This study brings into focus the importance of education, particularly tertiary education, entrepreneurship skills, and innovation capacities of businesses. The objectives are (1) to find out if tertiary education leads to economic growth; (2) to examine if innovation is one of the promotors of economic growth; and (3) to discuss the impact of the dynamic of businesses (enterprise birth) on economic growth. The methodology used in this research is panel regression (static model) for a sample consisting of 30 European countries for the period 2003–2020. The main findings are associated with a positive influence of tertiary education on economic growth, whereas the two other variables, that of entrepreneurship and innovation, are found to be insignificant for this time period.