COVID-19 Pandemic Implications for Corporate Sustainability and Society: A Literature Review

Abstract

The paper revises the ample empirical and theoretical literature on sustainable organizational growth and strategic leadership relating to the critical aspects of the ongoing pandemic, including poverty, social responsibility, public health, and organizational and managerial innovation. Drawing from available COVID-19, management, and sustainable leadership publications released from 2020 to 2021, this paper considers influential studies exploring core business concepts, principles, philosophies, and activities for accelerating, stimulating, and nurturing social and corporate sustainability. The study analyzed the characteristics and interrelation of 133 articles through bibliometric and literature systemization techniques. We shed light on the significant influence COVID-19 has had on financial, operational, and psychological solvency and organizational health to elucidate expectations and implications for businesses worldwide concerning the long-term financial and functional impact of COVID-19. An overview of the relevant studies on the individual, organizational, and external factors relating to novel disease’s relation to sustainability are provided. We emphasize the need for digital transformation following the COVID-19 upheaval and throughout the upcoming years. Some of the generally employed techniques in response to adversity entail portfolio diversification, service delivery innovation, product redesigning, new market development, partnering with competitors and/or complementary service providers, synergizing with other stakeholders, and open innovation.

Effects of Covid19 on Digital Business & Operations Management Information System

“…A more detailed analysis of H2 and H3 shows that positive influence is a higher priority than negative effect. These impacts are straightforwardly connected with digital exercises and functional management (Su et al, 2022). The investigation discovered that technology, robotization and cooperation offset the positive impact of digital business.…”

“…The positive effects of Digital Commerce from Anywhere (WFA) and new business models (IBM) proceed. This pandemic is inescapable as organizations should go on with some level of ordinariness, driving representatives to work digitally from home or in a hurry (Su et al, 2022).…”

Supporting Agri-Food SMEs in Italy in the Post-COVID-19 Context: From Horizon 2020 to Horizon Europe

“…The success achieved with the application of the SME Instrument, according with the mid-term evaluation of 2018, convinced the European Commission to provide a new program, the EIC Accelerator Pilot (European Commission, 2020b), for the years 2018-2020. The EIC Accelerator Pilot [11] not only bridged the transition from H2020 to the next programming Horizon Europe (HE) (the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation-2021-2027) [12,13], strengthening the initial support, but took into account the needs arising from the Coronavirus pandemic-including those arising from the negative economic and societal consequences [14] that impacted businesses and industries and especially firms of small and medium sizes [15]-and the European Green Deal guidelines (EIC Accelerator "Green Deal"). The EIC Accelerator for the relaunch of enterprises also received financial support by the Next Generation EU [16] and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) [17].…”

The Paradoxical Effects of COVID-19 Event Strength on Employee Turnover Intention

“…Moreover, the undesirable impacts of the COVID-19 crisis may not only involve employees’ career development but also spread to the organizations’ overall development [ 19 ]. During the COVID-19 outbreak, the deteriorating external environment would hinder organizational sustainability development [ 20 ], which may elicit employees’ negative cognitive evaluations of the growth of current organization and engender their intentions to leave subsequently. This study thus speculates that perceived organizational growth may be another pivotal cognitive mechanism in accounting for how COVID-19 event strength affects employee turnover intention.…”