COVID-19 and undeclared work: impacts and policy responses in Europe

'Change creates change' - older female sex workers' experiences through the early COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 and associated policy responses created unique social, economic and health risks for sex workers. Through semi-structured interviews we explored pre- and early COVID-19 experiences and work practices of ten cisgender female sex workers 50 years of age and older in Queensland, Australia, analysing the findings using a risk environment framework. Throughout early 2020, participants navigated a complex risk environment, managing economic needs, health and safety, occupational stigma and policing. Australia's policy responses altered the risks and opportunities available to participants. Half the participants continued sex work and half stopped sex work with some accessing economic support and withdrawing superannuation savings. Those who continued sex work drew on life and work experience to reassess changing health, stigma, and policing risks, and adapted their work strategies by increasing client screening and modifying services. Participants relied on information from peer networks and organisations to guide work practices but remained wary of contact tracing, police and the media. Decriminalisation of sex work and the strengthening of sex worker organisation and government partnerships are important in embedding equity in responses to ongoing and new public health threats.

Resilience and (Dis)empowerment: Use of Social Media Among Female Mainland Low-Skilled Workers in Macao During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The role of social media in a resilient process is associated with the co-constitution of structural forces and users' agency. During COVID-19, how women-particularly low-skilled labor migrants-used social media for empowerment is underexplored. By taking a socio-techno approach, this study qualitatively examines mobile phone-based social media usage among female mainland low-skilled workers in Macao when coping with the pandemic. The enabling yet constraining role of social media has been identified through semi-structured interviews. Social media use is a double-edged sword: on the one hand, social media is appropriated to relieve stress and anxiety, open access to updated COVID-19 related information, and manage contagious risks; on the other hand, it reinforces existing constraints and thus hinders resilience, due to female migrant workers' high risk of addictive social media use and limited information literacy. Moving beyond the Information and Communication Technology empowerment, a more inclusive approach is recommended in the long term to cope with the risks and uncertainties posed by the pandemic.

Give Me Five: The Most Important Social Values for Well-Being at Work

Social values are very important for well-being at work. This study investigates which and how social values affect well-being at work and contributes to the growing interest that the issue of quality of life at work has aroused in the areas of human resources management (HRM). Semi-structured interviews were held with 21 active employees of a large Portuguese business group in the environmental sector. The study took place in two parts; first, in December 2018 and then two years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, in January 2022. Theories and concepts emerged from the thematic analysis and the subsequent consideration of the literature and emerging conceptual understanding. This qualitative interview study examines what employees expect from work experience about the behavior of leaders and supervisors as representatives of the formal structure of the organization and the behavior of co-workers as an expression of an ethical and positive work environment. The findings show the five social values most important for employee well-being: respect, trust, equity with no discrimination, help and gratitude. The knowledge of the social values with more impact on employee well-being constitutes very important information for human resource management and for the employees, themselves.

Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic and Developing a Sustainable Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: The Theory and Practice of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Policies in China

Under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the vitality of start-ups has been continuously suppressed, their income has been decreasing, and overall economic development has gradually declined. At this time, the government, as an effective subject, should present its due responsibility to make entrepreneurship more sustainable and form a sustainable entrepreneurship ecology that can cope with risks. This paper takes the innovation policy theory and practice from research regarding China’s COVID-19 cases. One example is exploring the formation of the government’s innovation entrepreneurship policy and its mechanism within industrial cluster theory. Furthermore, we explore the analysis of the practice situation and try to solve the obstacles in the process of sustainable development through the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem and platform system building. We hope to find an acceptable way for the sustainable development of entrepreneurial ecological theory research and provide effective research and practical support.

Analysis of the Economic, Labour, and Management Effects of COVID-19 on Rural Accommodation: An Application to a Rural European Province (Cáceres, Spain)

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the consumption habits of tourists to benefit sustainable destinations that are not overcrowded, such as rural tourism destinations. However, the periods of compulsory lockdown have had devastating effects on tourism businesses operating in rural areas and have even jeopardised their economic viability. The aim of this article is to quantify in relative terms the effects that the period of compulsory lockdown in a markedly tourist country, such as Spain, between March and May 2020 has had on rural accommodation in one of the most rural provinces of Spain (Cáceres). Based on a random sample of 225 rural accommodation establishments and the consideration of various factors, statistical techniques of comparison of means and proportions were used to detect differences in the intensity of the effects of the compulsory lockdown on the economic-financial management, bookings, facilities, and input of rural accommodation establishments in the province. The results obtained show that the economic, labour, and management effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural tourism businesses in the province of Cáceres have been very substantial. In particular, the businesses with the highest level of tourist services on supply, i.e., those that, in addition to accommodation, also offer other tourist activities, have been the most affected. In view of this situation, urgent emergency measures have been put in place at a provincial level to alleviate the economic loss and the destruction of jobs caused by this pandemic.

Modeling COVID-19 Impacts and Response Strategies in the Construction Industry: PLS-SEM Approach

Policymakers are developing response strategies to reduce the impacts of COVID-19. However, developing response strategies without considering their relationships with the impacts of COVID-19 is ineffective. This study aims to model the causal relationships between COVID-19 impacts and response strategies in the construction industry, using Malaysia as a case study. To achieve this, a systematic literature review and semi-structured interviews with forty industry professionals were conducted, yielding 12 impacts and 22 response strategies. The impacts and strategies were inserted into a survey, and 107 valid responses were received. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to group the impacts and strategies. Then, partial least-squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to identify the causal relationship between the impacts and strategies. The EFA results indicate that the underlying impacts are project- or material-related, and the underlying strategies are market stability and financial aid, supply chain and project support, and information and legislation. The PLS-SEM results indicate that supply chain and project support are required to address material-related impacts, and market stability and financial aid are required to address project-related impacts. This is the first paper that models the relationships between COVID-19 impacts and response strategies in the construction industry.

A study of the impact of COVID-19 on construction workforce productivity in Malaysia

Purpose

This paper aims to study the reaction of construction project managers in coping with workforce productivity challenges that arise from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

Quantitative research via questionnaires targeting the project managers from G7 contractor companies in Malaysia was carried out in the data collection process. In total, 182 responses have been analysed descriptively and inferentially using SPSS software.

Findings

The research discovers that most of the construction projects and their workforce productivity were adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides, the strategies adopted by project managers in Malaysia and the ranking of strategies based on their effectiveness were indicated.

Originality/value

The findings of this research have contributed to a new understanding of the construction workforce productivity during the COVID-19 era from the perspective of project managers in Malaysia. A guideline established from the ranking of strategies would be useful to ensure the survival of the industry in Malaysia aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Assessing the Effects of COVID-19 on Restaurant Business From Restaurant Owners' Perspective

Purpose

The main purpose of this study is to assess the effects of COVID-19 on the restaurant businesses of Bangladesh. It examines the socio-economic impacts of the humanitarian disaster of the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of restaurant owners. The study also intends to provide recommendations to mitigate effects on the restaurant business.

Design/Methodology/Approach

A qualitative research approach was adopted to explore the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the restaurant businesses of Bangladesh. A total of 22 in-depth interviews were conducted with the top-ranked restaurant owners in the Rajshahi City Corporation area of Bangladesh. Thematic analysis technique was applied for analyzing the collected data.

Findings

The study found that the restaurant owners were compelled to reduce their number of employees, and forced to ensure social distancing and proper sanitization which increased the expenses. Although online orders and home delivery services have increased significantly, restaurant business operation is gradually turning critical owing to the lack of financial support. Thus, restaurant owners urge the govenrment for financial assistance.

Research Limitations/Implications

Since this research only focused on one city in Bangladesh, the outcomes of study may have a dearth of generalizability. Hence, the investigators are encouraged to extend the study area.

Practical Implications

This study will help restaurant owners and policymakers in formulating contemporary business policies and strategies. Thus, it will be supportive of improving the present condition of the restaurant businesses in developing countries like Bangladesh.

Originality/Value

This paper identified the truculent scenario of the restaurant business during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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

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.

A Standard-Based Concept of the Integration of the Corporate Recovery Management Systems: Coping with Adversity and Uncertainty during a Pandemic

The aim of this study is to develop a conceptual model for the better coordination of recovery management systems to improve organizational performance in light of the new challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The author provides a revision of “the corporate recovery prism” model by presenting an extended standard-based concept of the integration of the corporate recovery management systems. It offers, among others, two new dimensions which result in a “pentagonal pyramid”. They emphasize the type of events in the individual elements of the concept and highlight the basis of the concept on standardization. The concept has been designed in order to develop the planning, preparation, and response to incidents from an event up to a crisis and, ultimately, to improve the company’s ability to thrive and prosper in an uncertain environment. For the initial validation of the concept, empirical research was conducted in Polish enterprises. The methodology of the survey is based on a questionnaire of the best practices in addressing the COVID-19 crisis in organizations. It is used for checking the relationships between organizational performance and a triad of the concept elements, such as organizational resilience (OR), crisis management (CM), and business continuity management (BCM). Using the survey results, a strong correlation was found between the triad and the performance. Therefore, the main finding of the survey shows that elements of the concept build better performance and sustainability in enterprises during a pandemic.

Vulnerable migrants' access to healthcare in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK

OBJECTIVES

To understand the living conditions, changes in the service user profile, and needs of vulnerable migrants trying to access healthcare in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

STUDY DESIGN

Mixed methods study; using quantitative questionnaire data collected from migrant service users of Doctors of the World UK (DOTW UK) with qualitative data from free-text notes.

METHODS

DOTW UK provides drop-in clinics to vulnerable migrants. Consultations switched to remote during the UK's first lockdown. We compared patient profile, well-being, healthcare access and reason for consultations of individuals attending the virtual clinic between March and September 2020 to those of the prepandemic periods between 2011 and 2018.

RESULTS

During the pandemic, consultations dropped to under half of the prepandemic numbers, with the shift to remote consultations attracting more users outside of London. DOTW UK's user base changed to include a greater proportion of asylum seekers, younger adults (18-34) and individuals reporting good health. Socio-economic conditions and housing stability deteriorated for the majority of users. Those in the greatest need of healthcare appeared to be less able to access remote services. General practitioner (GP) registration remained the most common reason for contacting the virtual clinic with a lack of knowledge of the healthcare system being the main barrier to access.

CONCLUSION

The shift to virtual consultations may have exacerbated existing inequalities in healthcare access for vulnerable migrants. Given that many clinical services continue to operate remotely, it is important to consider the impact such actions have on vulnerable migrants and find ways to support access.

Surviving the hectic early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study to the supply chain strategies of food service firms in times of a crisis

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown have hit the food service industry very hard. The COVID-19 outbreak has created a sharp downturn for firms in the food service industry, compelling actors across the whole food service supply chain to rethink their strategies. The purpose of this paper is to document the impact of COVID-19 on the food service supply chain, as well as to identify crisis management strategies food service firms use during the hectic early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic to survive the current and prepare for future pandemics.

Design/methodology/approach

We performed a qualitative descriptive study using 21 semi-structured interviews with actors across the food service supply chain (i.e. farmers, wholesalers and food service providers). Data were collected to shed light on food service firms' decision making during the hectic early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic to uncover various crisis management strategies used.

Findings

By integrating the disaster and crisis pyramid and resilience theory, four core crisis management strategies to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic are conceptualized, i.e. (1) managing resources, (2) diversifying strategically, (3) prioritizing long-term outcomes and (4) bonding socially.

Originality/value

The theoretical contributions include documenting the performance impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food service supply chain and exploring crisis management strategies food service firms employed during the hectic early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, functioning and survival during a pandemic, an emerging field in literature, are central to this study. Additionally, while recent research suggests that integrating crisis management and resilience literature may provide a more complete understanding of the organization–crisis relationship, these literature streams mainly developed in isolation. By integrating the literature streams of crisis management and resilience and applying these theories to the COVID-19 crisis, our study provides specific managerial guidelines.

The economic reaction to non-pharmaceutical interventions during Covid-19

Policy makers have implemented a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to contain the spread of Covid-19 and reduce the burden on health systems. These restrictive measures have had adverse effects on economic activity; however, these negative impacts differ with respect to each country. Based on daily data, this article studies governmental economic responses to the application of NPIs for 59 countries. Furthermore, we assess if these economic responses differ according to the economic and sectoral context of the countries. By applying a counting model to the economic support intensity, our results quantify the average reaction of governments in counterbalancing the imposition of NPIs. We further re-estimate the base model by dividing the countries according to their GDP per capita, the intensity of their service sectors, and the expenditure by tourists. Our results show how each NPI implied a different level of economic support and how the structural characteristics considered were relevant to the decision-making process.

Personality Traits That Affect Travel Intentions during Pandemic COVID-19: The Case Study of Serbia

The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has enormous effects on peoples’ lives and on the global economy. The outbreak and effects of COVID-19 have resulted in fears, concerns, and anxiety among people all around the world. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the fear of COVID-19, travel anxiety, and travel intention among residents in Serbia. In addition to the above, the aim of the study was to examine the impact of personality traits on the fear of COVID-19, travel anxiety, and travel intentions. To enhance the understanding of the relationship between the mentioned variables, this study proposes a research model based on the use of measurement scales from the existing studies to develop the questionnaire. The standard paper-and-pen survey was used for data collection from the respondents from Serbia. The total sample include 987 respondents. It was determined that Travel intention was negatively influenced by Neuroticism and Conscientiousness, but positively by Extroversion and Openness. The supposed Agreeableness did not have a significant effect on Travel intention. This study contributes to understanding the respondents’ behavior during pandemic of COVID-19, and their responses to the crisis according to their personality traits might have practical implications in the travel sector.

A bibliometric review of research on COVID-19 and tourism: Reflections for moving forward

By adopting a bibliometric analysis approach, this study systematically reviews and retrospectively analyses the rapidly emerging literature on COVID-19 in tourism and hospitality. A co-word analysis revealed the intellectual structure of 177 papers (published until January 2021) consisting of four major themes discussing the following various issues: 1) the impact of COVID-19 on tourist decision-making, destination marketing, technology adoption, and tourists' well-being; 2) the future of tourism post COVID-19; 3) managing change in tourism; and 4) the COVID-19's impacts on tourism and hospitality stakeholders. The findings show that preliminary publications tend to be descriptive, pre-mature and theoretical, i.e. most studies advocate and re-imagine a more sustainable, responsible and equitable post-pandemic tourism, but almost no research investigates in-depth whether, why and how such theoretical proclamations are being materialized or not and/or whether they will remain a COVID-19 induced fuss. The paper concludes by offering various directions and propositions for future research.

Societal Changes Due to “COVID-19”. An Analysis of the Tourism Sector of Galicia, Spain

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented global health and economic crisis started. This situation has had a devastating effect on all economic and social sectors, provoking either a decrease or cessation of business or profound changes in life habits. One of the most affected industries has been tourism, due to the resulting travel restrictions and a sharp drop in demand among travellers as well as temporary hotel and restaurant closures. Thus, the primary purpose of this study is to analyse the changes during the pandemic in individual consumers’ behaviour patterns in the tourism sector. Predictive market research techniques through quantitative analysis were carried out via surveys (n = 712). One of the more significant findings to emerge from this study is that recollection of these times will be in people’s minds for a long time after the pandemic. Notably, tourists will reward safety over leisure and will continue to undertake independent tours with their own vehicles. Findings also proved—and for the tourism sector this is good news—that travellers’ trust will be rebuilt, and tourists will be travelling again.

Reviewing COVID-19 Literature on Business Management: What It Portends for Future Research?

Who could have imagined that the COVID-19 crisis would affect the whole world? This means that all aspects of society, in general, have felt the consequences of the measures imposed to reduce contagion. Firms, businesses, and their management had to be and must continue to be resilient, and entrepreneurs creative to overcome the present and future impacts of the pandemic, which will be long-lasting. This study aims to map the existing literature on the topic and identify emerging ones. To provide a robust response to this objective, qualitative methodology was adopted through content analysis of the selected documents and the use of MAXQDA software to analyze qualitative data. In addition, a descriptive analysis of the selected documents is presented. The results obtained show there is still a shortage of studies, principally empirical ones, addressing this subject, to complete existing knowledge and thereby contribute to understanding the effects of the virus on businesses and their management. The main contribution of this article lies in a first systematization and coding of the literature, to identify emerging topics for study by academics, the foremost agents of knowledge.

Acceptance and usage of mHealth technologies amid COVID-19 pandemic in a developing country: the UTAUT combined with situational constraint and health consciousness

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a devastating effect on public health. As “social distance” is a highly effective preventive measure of this pandemic, close contact between a patient and physician is strongly discouraged where possible. Consequently, mobile health (mHealth) technology is taking its momentum to fulfil this gap. The purpose of this study is, therefore, to empirically investigate the moderating as well as the direct role of situational constraint and health consciousness in the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) constructs to understand the adoption and use behavior of mHealth care services amid pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from existing mHealth users using an online survey questionnaire in Bangladesh. SmartPLS 3.0 and SPSS 23.0 were used for partial least squares-structural equation modeling.

Findings

Situational constraint and health consciousness both have strong direct positive effects on both behavioral intention (in all models) and use behavior (in Models 2 and 3). Further, this study revealed that effort expectancy remains insignificant in both direct and interaction effects whereas social influence becomes insignificant in interaction effects from direct significant effect (Models 1 and 2). Besides, the study reported that the relationship between behavioral intention and use behavior is moderated by situational constraint.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first in terms of mHealth empirical investigation considering the current pandemic situation. The incorporation of the situational constraint and health consciousness into the UTAUT model provides a holistic framework to understand the influence of the adoption and use behavior of mHealth amid pandemic.

Risk Management: Exploring Emerging Human Resource Issues during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The unanticipated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has hit global business heavily, disrupting the management of human resources across numerous industries. More than 500 articles (indexed in Scopus and the Web of Science) on the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on emerging human resources issues and related practices were published from 1 January 2020 to 31 January 2021. In this study, we conduct a systematic literature review on emerging studies in the business and management field to explore what the emerging human resource issues are during the COVID-19 pandemic and propose related practices to solve these issues. The analysis of the published literature identifies nine main human resource issues across 13 industries. The findings of this study suggest that COVID-19 has enormous impact on conventional human resource management and requires the theoretical and empirical attention of researchers. The propositions nominate related human resource practices to deal with emerging human resources issues and identify several research venues for future studies in this field.

Are Historical Buildings More Adaptive to Minimize the Risks of Airborne Transmission of Viruses and Public Health? A Study of the Hazzazi House in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia)

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has brought immense challenges to the natural and built environment to develop an antivirus-enabled model for reducing potential risks of spreading the virus at varied scales such as buildings, neighborhoods, and cities. Spatial configurations of structures may hinder or assist the spread of viruses in the built environment. In this study, we have hypothesized that suitable air ventilation in historic buildings may enhance the built environment to combat the spreading of infectious viruses. To provide such quantitative shreds of evidence, we have generated and estimated an integrated model to summarize obtained information by considering natural ventilation, wind speed, inflow and outflow, wind direction, and forecasting the associated risks of airborne disease transmission in a historical building (i.e., the Hazzazi House in particular). Intrinsically, the results have demonstrated that the effectiveness of natural ventilation has directly influenced reducing the risks of transmitting airborne infectious viruses for the selected heritage building in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). The adopted methods in this research may be useful to understand the potentials of conserving old heritage buildings. Consequently, the results demonstrate that natural air ventilation systems are critical to combat the spread of infectious diseases in the pandemic.

COVID-19 Economic Response and Recovery: A Rapid Scoping Review

This rapid scoping review of existing evidence and research gaps addressed the following question: what research evidence exists and what are the research gaps at global, regional, and national levels on interventions to protect jobs, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and formal/informal sector workers in socioeconomic response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic? The results are based on 79 publications deemed eligible for inclusion after the screening and prioritizing of 1,658 records. The findings are organized according to the 3 main categories of socioeconomic interventions-protecting jobs, enterprises, and workers-although the 3 are intertwined. Most results were derived from global-level gray literature with recommendations for interventions and implicit links to the sustainable development goals. Based on research gaps uncovered in the review, future implementation science research needs to focus on designing, implementing, evaluating, and scaling: effective evidence-based socioeconomic interventions; equity-focused, redistributive, and transformative interventions; comprehensive packages of complementary interventions; interventions to upend root causes of systemic social inequities; collaborative and participatory approaches; interventions that integrate environmental sustainability; and city-level interventions. Failing to consider the environmental dimensions of economic recovery is shortsighted and will ultimately exacerbate social inequities and poverty and undermine economic stability in the long term.

The good, the bad and the ugly on COVID-19 tourism recovery

This paper is to produce different scenarios in forecasts for international tourism demand, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. By implementing two distinct methodologies (the Long Short Term Memory neural network and the Generalized Additive Model), based on recent crises, we are able to calculate the expected drop in the international tourist arrivals for the next 12 months. We use a rolling-window testing strategy to calculate accuracy metrics and show that even though all models have comparable accuracy, the forecasts produced vary significantly according to the training data set, a finding that should be alarming to researchers. Our results indicate that the drop in tourist arrivals can range between 30.8% and 76.3% and will persist at least until June 2021.

Gender Differences in the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Employment, Unpaid Work and Well-Being in the EU

Unpaid work carried out inside the home has increased in the pandemic, and evidence points to women's share in care responsibilities and domestic tasks remaining higher than those of men in the pandemic, continuing the gender divides of past decades.

Underlying Principles of a Covid-19 Behavioral Vaccine for a Sustainable Cultural Change

Until pharmacological measures are effective at containing the COVID-19 outbreak, adopting protective behaviors is paramount. In this work, we aim at informing interventions to limit the spread of the contagion and prepare against any future outbreaks by developing a behavioral framework to interpret and prescribe both the individual and large-scale uptake of non-pharmaceutical measures. First, we analyze the barriers and facilitators to adherence to protective behaviors according to a three-term contingency by exploring potential gaps in terms of setting stimuli, motivating operations, delayed consequences, and positive or negative consequences. We explore their roles in the likelihood of individual compliance to protective behaviors, taking physical distancing as an example of functional analysis. Second, we interpret contagion control as the cumulative effect of large-scale adherence to protective behaviors. We explore the interrelations between societal problems caused or amplified by similar behaviors presented by many individuals and the coordination of agents or agencies aiming at promoting large-scale behavioral change. Then, we highlight the potential of developing a behavioral vaccine, and practical steps for applying it to promote sustainable cultural change that may protect against health, social, and economic losses in future outbreaks.

Hearing the Voices of Wingless Angels: A Critical Content Analysis of Nurses' COVID-19 Experiences

The world has been affected by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Health care workers are among those most at risk of contracting the virus. In the fight against the coronavirus, nurses play a critical role. Still, most social media platforms demonstrate that nurses fear that their health is not being prioritized. The purpose of this study is to investigate nurses' experiences through analyzing the main themes shared on Instagram by nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast with highly structured research, the current paper highlights nurses' natural language use in describing their experiences during the first months of the outbreak in their workplace. Instagram captions were utilized as a data source. Leximancer was utilized for the content analysis of nurses' narratives towards their coronavirus experience. We sought to accomplish three research objectives: the first was to identify the main themes in the descriptions of nurses' experiences shared via their social media, specifically Instagram; then, to determine the relationships among concepts, and finally, to give useful implications based on the findings. The current study uses a qualitative (i.e., narratives) approach to analyze the main components of the nurses' experiences during the pandemic. The Leximancer software analysis revealed nine major textual themes and the relationships among these themes. In order of the relative importance, the themes were "patients", "coronavirus", "exhaustion", "family", "hospital", "personal protective equipment" (PPE), "shift", "fear", and "uncertainty". The results offer practical implications based on the social media information regarding nurses' overall experiences.

Dismissals and Temporary Leaves in Romanian Companies in the Context of Low Demand and Cash Flow Problems during the COVID-19 Economic Lockdown

The aim of this study is to describe the relations between low demand, cash flow problems, employee dismissals, and temporary leaves experienced by Romanian companies during the economic lockdown in the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Romania (16 March–16 May 2020). For this purpose, we conducted a quantitative study using descriptive, correlation, and regression analyses applied to data collected from company decision-makers. Our results show that demand for products/services and cash flow in companies has decreased significantly, the workforce being affected by dismissals and temporary leaves/furloughing. Additionally, the average linear revenue of companies has been decreasing due to insufficient cash flow, higher absenteeism of workers, customers having been affected, and the demand going down. Therefore, employee dismissals, employee temporary leaves (furlough), and dismissal intentions have been positively correlated with insufficient cash flow in companies and an extremely low demand.

The Hospitality Industry in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Current Topics and Research Methods

This study reports on a systematic review of the published literature used to reveal the current research investigating the hospitality industry in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The presented review identified relevant papers using Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Science Direct databases. Of the 175 articles found, 50 papers met the predefined inclusion criteria. The included papers were classified concerning the following dimensions: the source of publication, hospitality industry domain, and methodology. The reviewed articles focused on different aspects of the hospitality industry, including hospitality workers' issues, loss of jobs, revenue impact, the COVID-19 spreading patterns in the industry, market demand, prospects for recovery of the hospitality industry, safety and health, travel behavior, and preference of customers. The results revealed a variety of research approaches that have been used to investigate the hospitality industry at the time of the pandemic. The reported approaches include simulation and scenario modeling for discovering the COVID-19 spreading patterns, field surveys, secondary data analysis, discussing the resumption of activities during and after the pandemic, comparing the COVID-19 pandemic with previous public health crises, and measuring the impact of the pandemic in terms of economics.