Impact of COVID-19 on Woolworths' Operations

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Introduction

The research is about analysing the impacts of COVID 19 situation on continuity of business operations through remote workplace facilities and this study particularly focuses on a case of Woolworths. There are several effects of COVID 19 on the business operations, staff retention, managing the online employees and their working practices and this issue further deteriorates the quality of the organisational operations. The brands are hereby suffering to provide high quality customers services to the end customers across the globe, where the government instruction of lock down, social distancing further break down the international connection and freight services (Belzunegui-Eraso and Erro-Garcés, 2020). Hence, the global operational activities cannot be conducted under such critical situation of COVID 19. Through this study, it is hereby possible to analyse the effected of such pandemic era on the business operations with a case study evaluation of Woolworths where the company focuses on the strategy of providing remote workplace facilities to the employees for handling the billing activities and customer’s service management.

1.2 Background of the research

In the recent pandemic situation, there is drastic change in the operational environment of the business across the globe along with lifestyle, customer purchasing pattern, needs and preferences of the customers and changes in daily life activities. There are several government regulations implemented across the international markets such as social distancing, lock down, quarantines and limiting the workforce of the organisations which has limited the capability of the businesses in maintaining continuity of the global operation towards sustenance and growth (Margherita and HeikkilÄ, 2021). Due to international lock down, the airplane operations and freight services are not possible as well as the business operational activities cannot be conducted globally due to spread of the virus. The scope of the revenue generation and profit maximisation of the organisation has also been deteriorated due to inefficacy of the global operations and reduced productivity for the regulations of social distancing and lock down (Belzunegui-Eraso and Erro-Garcés, 2020). The incurred cost of the companies is high due to fixed cost that the business must incur to maintain its continuity such as employee remunerations, office expenses, production and manufacturing activities and operations (Galbusera, Cardarilli and Giannopoulos, 2021). Due to lock down and social distancing, most the organisations reduce the physical contact and working physically in the office remises and this further leads the organisations to strategies the business through remote workplace facilities.

Hence, the employees are working from their home in order to maintain social distancing and be safe in such a pandemic situation around the globe (Galbusera, Cardarilli and Giannopoulos, 2021). There are several issues faced by the organisations for such strategy of remote working activities and the major difficulties are lack of communication and cooperation, poor team work and lack of partnership working practices as well as poor customer’s service and lack of proficiency in handling the business operations through online activities. Hence, it becomes a serious challenge for the business firms to maintain their proficiency and run their operational activities strategically (Dwivedi et al., 2020). In such pandemic era for COVID 19, the company Woolworths has implemented the strategy of remote workplace facility for the customer assistance and billing department in order to adhere to the government legislations and regulations (Dwivedi et al., 2020). The staff members of Woolworths, who are working in the billing and customer assistance department of the company, now have been shifted to online portals where they are working from home to assist the customers and fulfil the billing requirements.

Woolworths is an Australian chain of supermarket and grocery stores founded in 1924. The organisation operates across 1,051 locations and total numbers of employees are 215,000. The organisation is successful to generate their revenue A$ 42.151 billion in 2020. The total working activities are transformed into online service where they try to provide good customer’s service by handling their online portals (Woolworths, 2021a). However, such drastic change in business environment deteriorated the pace of business growth, where the staff members are also facing difficulties to adopt the new changes and be comfortable with the new technological system, of working from home (Woolworths, 2021b). There are several challenges faced by the employees, who are working remotely such as lack of communication, misunderstanding, internal conflicts as well as poor cooperation, where the efficacy to provide services to the customers has been deteriorated for such new strategy of Woolworths which is working remotely in order to adhere the government rules and guidelines in such a recent critical situation. Hence, it is essential to critically analyse the issues faced by the company staff of Woolworths in serving the customers and working in the billing departments (Galbusera, Cardarilli and Giannopoulos, 2021). The quality of customer’s services and business proficiency are hampered for such remote working activities, where the employees fail to meet the customers’ requirements through managing online portals. This study is important to analyse the impacts of COVID 19 on the business operational activities of Woolworths where the firm adopt the new strategy of remote workplace facility to support the government decision of maintaining social distancing and lock down.

1.3 Research aim and objectives

The aim of conducting the study would be to identify the impact of COVID 19 on the organisational operations with reference to the challenges that are being faced by the workforce in Woolworths through the implementation of the remote workplace facility. Through this study, it is hereby possible to evaluate the issues faced by the workforce in working remotely and serving the customers with billing activities and customer’s service activities in the organisation Woolworths.

The research objectives are such as,

To analyse the impact of COVID 19 on the operational systems in organizations

To evaluate the concerns that are faced by the organisations in coping with the impact that COVID 19 created

To analyse the different challenges that are being faced by the people in billing and customer support departments of Woolworths while working through the remote workplace facility

To suggest a set of recommended activities for Woolworths and other businesses to overcome the challenges related to remote workplace facility

1.4 Questions of the study

The research questions that would be considered for the study would be:

How has COVID 19 impacted on the operational systems in global organisations?

What are the concerns that are faced by the organizations in coping with the impact that COVID 19 created?

What are the different challenges that are being faced by the people in billing and customer support departments of Woolworths while working through the remote workplace facility?

What are the recommended suggestions that Woolworths and other businesses might consider overcoming the challenges related to remote workplace facility?

1.5 Research hypothesis

H1: There is strong relationship between COVID 19 and operational issues for remote workplace activities [Alternative hypothesis]

H0: There is no such linkage between COVID 19 and operational issues for remote workplace activities [Null hypothesis]

1.6 Rationale of the research

What is the issue?

The major issue is lack of organisational operational efficacy in the recent pandemic situation, where the employees face difficulties in working remotely as the government provide the instruction of social distancing and lock down to stop spreading virus (Tripathi and Bagga, 2020). Woolworths face difficulties in the recent years to serve the customers with business excellence and efficacy of the staff as the employees cannot work directly in the organisation and there is communication gap between the sales executives and the customers of the company.

Why is it an issue?

In the recent pandemic situation for Covid-19, all the international markets are suffering with huge economic loss, break down of the operational activities in business and stop in international trade. Hence, the multinational corporations face the issue of running their operations by adhering the government instruction of locks down and maintaining social distancing (Tripathi and Bagga, 2020). The organisation Woolworths also faces the problem of providing good customers services due to such critical phase of business, where international operations cannot be conducted and the domestic operations are conducted through maintaining online portals and remote working activities (Tripathi and Bagga, 2020). The organisation mainly provides the scope of remote working facilities to the employee to cooperate with the government and stop spreading the virus across the social communities. Hence, the sales executives are working remotely for serving the customers with instruction and cooperation.

Why is it an issue now?

Now, it is a critical issue for the organisation Woolworths to handle the workplace through online portals, due to lack of cooperation and poor communication, as well as internal conflicts of adopting the new changes due to recent pandemic situation, lack of management of good corporate culture and misunderstanding to acknowledge the customer’s choice and preferences (Goldfarb, Gal and Golan, 2021). The employees of Woolworths mainly work remotely to serve the customers and in this regard they utilise their online portals to accept the orders and handle the clients for successful payments and delivery of the goods (Goldfarb, Gal and Golan, 2021). However, due to new system and lack of management of the sales executives of the organisation, they cannot deliver high quality customers services for which the issue exists where the business face difficulties to manage the customers and fulfil their requirements.

How does the research shed light on the topic under consideration?

The research provides a scope to analyse the impact of COVID 19 on the organisational operations with reference to the challenges that are being faced by the workforce in Woolworths through the implementation of the remote workplace facility (Kaushik and Guleria, 2020). The study is effective to identify the existing issues that the workforce of Woolworths faces in working in billing activities and customers handling departments (Kaushik and Guleria, 2020). Through analysis and evaluation, it would also be possible to gather the information directly from the management team and employees about the impacts of remote working facilities on customer’s services and this further help to acknowledge the existing problems and recommend some suitable suggestions for improving business excellence of Woolworths.

1.7 Significance of the study

It is important for the multinational corporations to work efficiently and run their global operations successfully in order to secure future sustainable development (Tanpipat, Lim and Deng, 2021). Due to recent pandemic situation, the operational activities are hampered and the corporate leaders face difficulties to run their global operations efficiently and thus there is no scope of the business to generate revenue and maximise their profitability in long run (Margherita and HeikkilÄ, 2021). The study focuses on analysing the impacts of the recent pandemic situation on the organisational operations where there is lock down and social distancing. The research is significant to analyse the effects of Covid-19 on business operations as well as identify the existing issues, for which the business firms face difficulties to manage their excellence and efficacy to support the customers with quality customers care services. Furthermore, the study focuses on analysing the impacts of the strategy that the organisation Woolworths adopts on the employees performance. The organisation creates the strategy of remote working facility for the employees in order to follow the government rules of social distancing and lock down as well as run their operational activities in the market. The study is hereby significant to analyse the impacts of the brands strategy of remote working facility on the performance of the employees in handling the customers by maintaining billing activities and ensuring customers service management in Woolworths.

1.8 Structure of the dissertation

The research is about analysing the impact of recent pandemic era due to COVID 19 on the operational activities of the organisation Woolworths in working remotely. There are five chapters in the study which are introduction, literature review, research methodology, data findings and analysis as well as conclusion and recommendations. In introduction, the background of the research, rationale as well as aim and objectives are effective to create good base of the research and develop the research questions to progress in the study systematically. The second chapter is literature review, in which the researcher would be able to gather existing secondary sources of information including books, journals, and articles and online published company report, which are beneficial to improve knowledge about the effects of COVID 19 in business operational activities. Reviewing the theories and concepts related to the business operations, impacts of this recent pandemic situation on business activities, operations and remote working plan as well as customer handling so that the researcher can improve understanding about the research topic and progress in this study through in depth analysis and evaluation for fulfilling the above mentioned aim of the study.

The third chapter is the methodology of the research, which is useful for the researcher to select the right methods for collecting and analysing the valid and authentic information critically. The suitable methodology of the research as well as the ethical consideration of this dissertation are also discussed in this chapter in to progress in the study ethically and gather authentic data and information for meeting the above mentioned research aim and objectives. data findings and analysis is the next chapter, where the researcher will represent the findings and analyse the gathered primary data and information critically for understanding the impacts of COVID 19 on the operational activities of the organisation Woolworths for remote working activities. The last chapter will be conclusion and recommendation, where conclusion after data analysis and evaluation is beneficial, leading towards meeting objectives. In this chapter, the researcher would be able to suggest some suitable recommendations to the organisation Woolworths and other business firms to improve their remote working activities for mitigating the issues related to COVID 19.

Chapter 2: Literature review

2.1 Introduction

Literature review is important to gather authentic secondary sources of information including the books, journals, articles and published news. Through this second chapter, it is possible for the researcher to review the existing theories and concepts related to the research topic as well as improve own understanding and knowledge to analyse the above mentioned study topic in a systematic way. Through reviewing the literatures related to the research topic, it is possible to understand the business operational management, the remote working activities and the strategies to manage the employees in this recent pandemic situation. The conceptual framework in this chapter is also effective to improve understanding about the research and develop systematic way to conduct the research after improving knowledge about the operational activities of the firm in the recent critical situation of COVID 19.

2.2 Conceptual framework

2.3 Organisational operations through remote workplace facilities

In the recent pandemic situation, the organisations try to maintain their operational activities remotely, so that the government regulations of social distancing and lock down can be maintained. According to Tanpipat, Lim and Deng (2021), the operation management is theories of managing, planning, organizing and supervising in the contexts of production as well as handling the provisions of the services, through improving the manufacturing activities, marketing and sales, warehouse and stock handling, customers order processing and delivery of the products to the right customers. The workers recently work remotely to maximise customers experience by handling the online portals, where the workers try to acknowledge the needs and preferences of the customers and help them to place their orders in order to get the final goods to the locations. The business activities are hereby totally changes in the recent COVID 19 situation and it is important for the organisations to handle their operations through remote workplace facilities. The remote workers try to adopt the new technology and work through online portals for handling the customers and in this regard, they try to communicate with the clients and identify their orders for final billing. As opined by Margherita and HeikkilÄ (2021), this becomes a critical task, where there is no verbal and face to face communication and the customers must place their order through online. As per the operational process, the suppliers and distributors are also managed by the managers and corporate leader through online activities where they track the orders and review the stick of the products for final dispatch. The whole operational system become online and digitalise for supporting the customers and providing them the update of packing of the products, stocking and delivering the final basket of goods to the customers.

2.4 Impacts of COVID 19 on the business operations

According to De Menezes, and Kelliher (2017), there is drastic change in business and operational activities including international trade in the recent pandemic situation for COVID 19, where the multinational corporations face difficulties to run their business across the international countries. The major impacts of COVID 19 on the business are evaluated further,

Impact of strategy

Strategic management is important to run the organisational operations and in the recent pandemic situation, the organisations face difficulties to generate revenue and maximise their profitability due to low income of the customers and job loss. As stated by Singh et al. (2020), the government regulations towards lock down and social distancing are also necessary to adhere. The organisations in this regard change their strategic planning by accelerating digital transformation, establishing different cost structure for adopting cost leadership strategy and implementing agile technology. The organisations are facing challenges of huge loss, lack of customers retention n door sales volume for which they try to strategies their business and focus on delivering quality products and services at lower prices so that the customers can afford the products and make effective purchase decision. Hence, COVID 19 has led the organisations through drastic changes due to changes in business environment and customers purchasing pattern.

Impacts on consumers

Changing customer’s habits is one of the crucial impacts of COVID 19. In the recent years, the customers refer to make purchase for the necessary goods and items in daily life and there is decreasing demand for the luxury product in the market. Additionally, due to the government regulations of maintaining social distancing and lock down, the customers cannot go to the supermarkets for purchasing their necessities, rather they refer to make purchase decision through online portals. As opined by Kim et al. (2019), for business continuity in the recent crisis, the organisational employees focus on supporting the business with online portals and deliver relevant customers experiences. There is contactless delivery system as well as curb side pick-up services for delivering the products to the customers. Hence, the customer’s pattern to buy and make decision for the products in daily life has been changing over the time in the recent critical situation.

Impact on workforce

The organisations across the globe are experiencing with unprecedented workforce disruption. The workforce and communities try to work and perform from home where virtual communication and working activities are increasing across the international markets due to social distancing and lock down to stop spreading the virus. As stated by Al Shobaki et al. (2017), the employees try to adopt the new changes in organisational operations so that it is possible for them to deliver good customers experience. Some of the employees are suffering from job loss, over time work, and excessive pressure, which hamper the practice of work life balance in the recent remote working practice.

Global operations

The global operations are being damaged due to the recent pandemic situation where the organisations fail to handle their international trade and transaction of goods from one country to another due to international lock down and social distancing. With the COVID-19 crisis, there are fundamental changes related to consumer behaviour, supply chains, operational network and distribution centre management. As opined by Pak et al. (2019), the system focuses on top-down decision-making, empowering teams guided by purpose, driven by data, powered by technology and enabled by cloud for faster speed to market. It is built for agility, resiliency and growth, where the organisations focus on digitalising the whole operational system, to support the customers and ensure continuity of the business activities in the market.

Impact on finance

There is financial crisis and overall economic slowdown due to such pandemic situation, where the business activities, investment decision and international trade have been hampered. As stated by Galbusera, Cardarilli and Giannopoulos (2021), there is lack of scope for business growth and due to poor financial condition of the companies, it is difficult for the corporate leader to invest in new projects and sustain in the market.

Impact on technology

Technology is playing a crucial role in handling the business operations and due to the COVID 19, there are strategic changes to adopt new technology in the business for digitalising the whole operations. According to Wang et al. (2021), the corporate brands follow the government regulations about social distancing and lock down, where they try to introduce online portal for customers handing and maintain business continuously. In this regard, there are technological changes in the companies through which the business leader try to renovate the whole operational activities and maintain their position in the market. Through technological advancement, the organisations mainly focus on business continuity risks, sudden changes in volume, real-time decision-making, workforce productivity, security risks.

2.5 Response of the organisation to COVID 19

The organisations in the recent pandemic situation focus on transforming their activities towards digital innovation so that the firms can follow the government regulations of lock down and social distancing as well as can continue their business operations successfully. The multinational corporations act responsibly and support the government intervention of social distancing and lock down by providing remote working practices. The employees are asked to work form their home through online portals. As opined by Abdurakhmanova et al. (2020), the managers and leaders try to handle a huge numbers of staff through integrated online platform in order to manage their activities and encourage them to perform better. Additionally, the organisations also focus on digitalising the whole operational activities, where the customers must place their orders and fulfil payments online so that the companies can process their orders and deliver high quality products at customers place. Hence, as opined by Järlström, Saru and Vanhala (2018), the whole business and the distribution network have been changed over time due to COVID 19 where the suppliers and distributes try to arrange the products and deliver it by maintaining social distancing. The organisations are hereby efficient to maintain the government guidelines for tackling such critical phases as well as develop online platform for continuing the business process and operations.

2.6 Issues of employees in remote working practice

There are several challenges faced by the workers who work remotely in the recent pandemic situation due to COVID 19. The major issue is lack of communication, for which misunderstanding exists and it deteriorate the performance and proficiency of the staff to manage their workplace responsibility. As stated by Kaushik and Guleria (2020), the remote workers face difficulties to handle their job roles and do not get constant assistance for clearing their doubts. It further deteriorates the quality of services that they provide to the customers in such critical phase. Unclear thoughts and lack of understanding about the online process innovation and handling a huge range of customers online raise the problems to manage their working activities and deliver high quality customers services. According to Masri and Jaaron (2017), other issues are lack of collaboration and partnership working, where the employees feel lonely and work alone without any assistance and cooperation form the team members. This further Reduced Supervision & Direction further de-motivate them to work efficiently along with that the staff members face problems due to blurred line between personal & professional life and distractions. On the other hand, as opined by Tripathi and Bagga (2020), there is misunderstanding between the customers and employees where the staff in the organisation cannot acknowledge the actual needs and preferences of the customers as there is no such one to one interaction and open communication due to online activities. This is the major issue, where the employees face problems in supporting the clients by understanding their actual requirements and progress in billing activities online.

2.7 Strategies to manage recent change in business operations

Strategic changes in the recent years is mandatory for the business, where all the corporate firms strategies the whole operational activities in order to maintain business continuity. According to Zaid, Jaaron and Bon (2018), the Lewin’s change management model is useful for the strategic change, where the leaders can lead the employees by following suitable changes in the workplace. As per the model, there are three stages such as unfreezing, change and refreeze, through which the required changes in the pandemic situation can be implemented in the workplace for maximising the organisational aims and improving the performance of the staff in long run, so that the employees can contribute creatively to maintain business continuity and improve operational practices for the benefits of the customers. As stated by Macke and Genari (2019), in the recent era of COVID 19, all the organisations provide the scope of working from home and there is an online portal, through which the employees must work and communicate through online meeting. Hence, these changes must be implemented by empowering the employees so that existing issues can be handled well. Through suitable change management practices, the organisations can manage change in the workplace and lead the employees efficiently through enhancing communication and cooperation.

As per the first stage of unfreeze, the cooperate leaders try to determine the changes, ensure particular support and cooperation in the workplace as well as create the necessity of change in the workplace and it is important for the leaders to share the information about the need for change. According to Nejati, Rabiei and Jabbour (2017), managing the doubts and concern of the employees is important as there is drastic change in the operations of the organisation and it is important to handle their queries and clear their doubts about the new strategy of remote working. According to Dwivedi et al. (2020), the leaders also ensure that there is strong support and bonding from the management team and the employees and additionally, there must be discussion about the thoughts and principles of change with the employees so that the employees can rely on the leaders decision and manage their responsibilities through online portals in the remote working practice. In the second stage, the organisational leader focuses on enhancing internal communication and dispels rumours for managing the strategic leadership changes where it is possible to cooperate with the employees, improve their understanding and guide them to work remotely. As opined by Cooke (2018), as per the third stage refreezes, there are the activities to create organisational culture, develop the ways to sustain in the change process and providing continuous support the employees to celebrate the success. In the recent pandemic situation, the major change is to introduce remote working practice and technological advancement, where all the employees must manage the online portals to work from home and support the customers by ensuring quality customer service management.

2.8 Ways to handle the employees in remote working practice

According to Goldfarb, Gal and Golan, 2021), the recent organisational changes are drastic with technological innovation and business creativity towards cost leadership strategy, online purchasing decisions making behaviour and remote working initiatives to adhere the government regulations of social distancing. It is hereby necessary to resolve the existing issues of the employees, where the staff members face difficulties to handle the chance working practice through developing suitable human resource management and leadership style. In this regard, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is effective theory to understand the ways of managing human resource and maximise their capabilities to contribute in the workplace. As stated by Margherita and HeikkilÄ (2021), the business firms are totally transforming their activities towards digitalisation and remote working, where the customers are handled remotely as well as the employees are also working from home through integrated online portal. Hereby, as per the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, there are five needs which must be fulfilled by the organisational leader in order to manage the employees. The needs are such as physiological needs, safety and security, love and belongingness, as well as self-esteem and self-actualisation which are mandatory to be met so that the business firms can strengthen their employee base and maintain continuity of the business in such a critical pandemic phase. As stated by Carnevale and Hatak (2020), through providing monetary incentives structured salary and compensation to the employees, it is possible to manage their psychological needs including food, shelter, clothing and other necessities. It is also the responsibility of the leader to manage safety and security in order to secure the job of the employees in the recent critical era of COVID 19 and provide safety guidelines to work efficiently. Managing the job security, protect the data of the employees and providing them safe workplace to perform better are crucial to maintain safety and security of the employees.

As stated by Analoui (2017), the third needs are such as love and belongings where the employees try to create social bonding and improve trust. However, due to the recent pandemic situation, there is remote working practice, where the workers of the firm are working from their home by handling online portals. This raises the difficulties ion working and fulfilling own responsibilities due to cooperation and communication. In such situation, it is mandatory for the leader to enhance internal communication and cooperation so that it would be possible to develop trust and internal corporate bonding withal the staff. Self-esteem includes achievement at the workplace, confidence and the respect for each other and on the other hand, self-actualisation can also be fulfilled to be fulfilled by recognition at the workplace, increasing creativity and innovation of the employees, and ensuring morality. According to De Menezes and Kelliher (2017), these are considered as crucial motivational factors where the corporate leaders can manage strong employee base and retain them in long run to maintain business continuity and run their operations in such a critical phase of COVID 19.

Being organised and flexible working activities, it is possible to encourage employee’s creativity and arrange training programs for them to improve their knowledge and technical skill set for handling the customers online. The other ways to manage the remote working is to develop good leadership style at the organisation so that the management team can handle the staff remotely by creating good corporate culture. As opined by Belzunegui-Eraso and Erro-Garcés (2020), harmony and freedom to work with flexible working activities is one of the successful strategies to handle the employees, who work remotely. On the other hand, putting relevant information at their fingertips, checking in frequently and being proactive are also beneficial to manage the employees in the recent pandemic situation. In this regard, transformational leadership style is fruitful for the organisation to develop the practice of good communication and partnership working practice, continuous motivation, individual’s skill enhancement and empowerment of the staff in the workplace. As opined by Belzunegui-Eraso and Erro-Garcés (2020), the transformational leaders try to encourage the employee’s creativity and improve their knowledge and skill through continuous guidance and support so that the employees can maximise their capability and work proficiently to deliver high customers experience.

2.9 Summary

The chapter is hereby beneficial to improve good knowledge and understanding about the research where it is possible to acknowledge the impacts of COVID 19 on the business operations. the employees and the management team face difficulties due to remote working activities where the major issues are related to lack of communication and poor cooperation, internal conflicts, lack of team work and resistance to change. The corporate leaders face problems to handle the whole team remotely and thus it is essential to develop further strategic planning to transform the whole business operations towards digital innovation. Through the conceptual framework, it is possible to represent the ideas of the research and follow a suitable step to analyse the research topic and meet the above mention study objective and aim. There is strategic planning through which it is possible to manage the workers remotely and encourage their creativity to perform better for delivering good customers experience.

Chapter 3: Research methodology

3.1 Introduction

The research methodology is the third chapter which is beneficial for this study, where the researcher has the opportunity to select the right methods of conducting the business project efficiently. The right data collection and data analysis method is effective for the researcher to gather authentic data sources and analyse it efficiently to progress in the study for maximising the above mentioned research topic which is about analysing the effective of recent pandemic situation on operational excellence of customers management at Woolworths. The research onion in this regard is helpful to select the best methods and develop effective process to conduct the study in a systematic way (Brannen, 2017).

3.2 Research philosophies

The research philosophies are interpretivism, realism and positivism. Realism is effective to link the theories with the reality in the society (Brannen, 2017). Interpretivism philosophy is also beneficial for the researcher to interpret the data and influence the information with the social existence and theories. Positivism philosophy refers to analysing the gathered data and information related to the above mentioned research topic by engaging the human being, where the individuals can share their feedback (Brannen, 2017). In this particular research, the researcher will select the positivism research philosophy in order to conduct the research efficiently by engaging the respondents in the society so that valid data and information would be gathered efficiently for further in-depth analysis. Hence, the Positivism philosophy provides a scope to empower the human being in the research and gather authentic feedback in order to analyse and evaluate the effects of COVID 19 on the organisational operations where Woolworths adopt the strategy of remote working facilities to handle the customers.

3.3 Research approaches

There are two types of Research approaches which are Inductive and deductive research approaches and the inductive approached is totally different to the deductive approaches (Brannen, 2017). The inductive approach refers that the researcher will gather and analyse the data and information critically in order to develop effective theory and concepts for successful completion of the project (Kumar, 2018). On the other hand, the deductive approach indicates the ways of gathering existing theories and concepts related to the above mentioned research topic and then evaluate the data for concluding the research topic to fulfil the aim and objectives (Kumar, 2018). The researcher in this research will choose the deductive approaches to gather valid data and analyse critically with in depth evaluation. Through the deductive approach, it is possible for the researcher to review the existing theories and concepts related to the organisational operational activities, employee working practice through remote working facilities and customers handling practice in the rennet pandemic situation. After that, the researcher would be able to analyse and evaluate the collected primary data and information to analyse the effects of COVID 19 on customer handing practice at Woolworths through remote working facilities.

3.4 Data collection

The two types of data collection method are primary and secondary, which are effective for progressing in the research and completing it successfully (Kumar, 2018). The primary data collection method refers to the process of gathering the first hand data through survey, questionnaire, case study analysis and interview (Brannen, 2017). On the other hand, the secondary data collection method is the practice of collecting the information related to the research topic from authentic books, journals and online published articles (Kumar, 2018). Gathering the authentic data and relevant information will provide a scope to the researcher for conducting in depth evaluation and analysis to meet the above mentioned research aim and objectives (Basias, and Pollalis, 2018). In this particular research, the researcher will choose mixed method, where both the primary and secondary data collection methods will be implemented in this study for analysing the impacts of COVID 19 on the organisational operations of Woolworths to handle the customers. The primary data will be gathered through interview and survey. The secondary data are also gathered through reviewing the secondary sources, existing theories and concept related to the business operations, impacts of this recent pandemic situation on business activities, operations and remote working plan as well as customer handling practice through managing online portals, which would be beneficial for further in depth evaluation.

3.5 Data analysis

The data analysis method includes the quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Both the analytical tools are beneficial for conducting the in-depth analysis and evaluation (Basias, and Pollalis, 2018). The quantitative analysis method refers to analysing the first hand primary data and information on the basis of the charts, graphs and statistical tools (Mohajan, 2018). On the other hand, the qualitative data analysis method is conducted through in-depth evaluation through applying the secondary sources of information and thematic analysis (Basias, and Pollalis, 2018). In this particular study, the researcher will choose the quantitative analysis method where the survey feedback is evaluated through graphs and charts and on the other hand, the qualitative data analysis method is also implemented in order to analyse the interview transcript through in depth evaluation. Hence, mixed method is selected by the researcher for analysing the impact of COVID 19 situation on continuity of business operations through remote workplace facilities: A case of Woolworths.

3.6 Sampling

This particular research would be conducted through the application of the mixed data collection methods (Basias, and Pollalis, 2018). Primary surveys would be performed among the billing and customer support departments of Woolworths through the development of an electronic questionnaire and in this regard the questionnaires are distributed online. The questionnaire would be consisting of 12 close ended questions and it would be circulated among the workforce through their respective e- mails. The questions in the survey are related to identifying the concerns and the existing problems that are being faced by the employees while working through the remote workplace facility. A total sample size would be 150 people who are working in the organisation, 75 from the billing department and remaining 75 from customer support department of Woolworths and here the random sampling methodology is being adopted to distribute the questions and empower the participants for gathering valid data. The results from the analysis would be represented in the form of graphs and charts with the purpose of gaining a clear insight on the areas of concerns that are being faced by the organisational employees while operating from home. On the other hand, interviews with 2 operations managers and 1 HR manager of Woolworths would be conducted as a part of the research study in order to identify the internal working practice of the organisation. For the interview, the researcher would like to develop 6 unstructured open ended questions. The questions in the interview session would be focusing on exploring the different interventions, which are being planned by the management of the organization to assist the employees with the new strategy of remote working facility and coping with the changed workplace situation. Due to recent pandemic situation, the researcher focuses on conducting the interview process through Skype, which would support in maintaining the social distancing aspects. The findings from the interview and the surveys would be later discussed in the findings and discussion section of the research paper through in depth evaluation and analysis.

3.7 Ethical consideration

Ethical considerations are integral part of this research study, as it supports in improving the scope and prospects of a study. In this connection, Anonymity of the respondents would be considered as the chief ethical consideration in order to secure the interests of the vulnerable population. Maintaining anonymity and confidentiality of the participants is an integral consideration that must be made by the researcher in order to safeguard the interests of the people and encourage them to take active part in the study (Basias, and Pollalis, 2018). In this connection, no identity of the respondents would be revealed in order to secure their interests and convince them to share their feedback without any fear. Moreover, the research would be conducted without any personal idiosyncrasies which would support in guiding the study towards an unbiased and significant outcome. The researcher focuses on the research ethics in this paper and maintains respect and integrity to include the managers and the employees of the supermarket Woolworths. The researcher respects each member and convinces them to take active part in the survey and interview in order to manage the research objectives and complete the study by gathering valid data and information. The researcher tries to maintain relevancy and validity of the gathered data and organisational information, which will be kept safely under Data Protection Act 1998. The researcher ensures that the data and information are utilised only for this study, and there will be no issue of data breach under the data protection practice. Moreover, relevant and valid data are included in this study for fulfilling the research questions and identifying the impacts of COVID 19 on the organisational operations of Woolworths, where the company strategies their business through remote working facilities. Additionally, due to this pandemic era for COVID 19, the researcher conducts online survey as well as arrange interview through video conferencing in Skype, in order to adhere the government rules of social distancing and lock down.

Chapter 4: Data findings and analysis

4.1 Introduction

Data findings and analysis is the fourth chapter which is crucial for the research, as the researcher will represent the data findings and conduct in depth analysis and evaluation successfully. The researcher in this regard selects primary data collection method and tries to gather the data and information through both survey and interview. The survey questionnaire is being developed where the questions are related to the operational activities of Woolworths and recent working practice after COVID 19 situation and there are 150 employees participants, who are the employees of the company. The researcher considers 75 employees from the billing department of Woolworths and remaining 75 employees are from the customer’s service departments. On the other hand, interview is arranged through Skype to collect data from the management team of the organisation which is helpful to understand the internal working practice and culture of remote working in Woolworths. Hereby, three respondents are efficient to attend the interview and provide authentic feedback. Two respondents are the managers in operational department of the company and remaining one participant is the human resource manager. There are 12 close ended questions for the survey and 6 open ended questions for conducting the interview and the data findings and discussion will be developed further.

4.2 Data findings

Questionnaire survey

1. How do you feel about working from home in the recent pandemic situation?

As per the finding, about 49% employees are feeling good to work remotely, 24% staff provide neutral answers and remaining percentage of the respondents are not happy with the remote working practice.

2. Do you capable of maintaining a healthy work and life balance when working from home?

About 36% people are capable of managing their working activities remotely and rest of the respondents are not capable of handling their job responsibilities, which raise the issue rewarding the performance and productivity of the staff.

3. Are you less productive, equally productive, or more productive in working remotely than when working in the office?

43.3% employees reveal that they are equally productive after the strategy of remote working and 36.7% employees feel their productivity has been hampered due to remote working activities as they are not able to manage their efficacy and fulfil their job roles. Remaining 20% employees feel that their productivity has been improved after remote working facilities.

4. Are you satisfied with the practice of regular contact with your team and manager?

Approximately 33.5% people are satisfied with the contact with team after the strategy of remote working, but about 13.3% staffs provides neutral answers. Rest of the employees about 53.3%, are not satisfied with the practice of regular contact with your team and manager due to lack of support and communication in the remote working practice.

5. Are you satisfied with your organisation regarding providing the proper support in working efficiently?

About 32% employees are satisfied with providing the proper support in working efficiently and 25.3% staff members provide neutral answers. Remaining percentage of employees is not satisfied with the support provided by the management team while working remotely. Hence, most of the employees are not satisfied with the organisational support.

6. What is the major challenge faced by you to manage billing activities at Woolworths?

There are several challenges faced by the team members while working remotely and about 10% employees are suffering from non-cooperation of the senior managers and 21.3% employees face the issue of lack of communication in the new system of working. 24% people agree that there is the issue of lack of integrated online portal and 28% employees reveal that they do not get continuous support from the management team. Remaining percentages of employees share that they are suffering from the above mentioned issues as a whole which deteriorate their performance and productivity.

7. Are you satisfied with the changed decision, taken by Woolworths which is to promote remote working practice for maintaining social distancing?

As per the findings, most of the employees are satisfied with the changed decision, taken by Woolworths which is to promote remote working practice for maintaining social distancing due to follow the government instruction of social distancing and lock down to be safe and stop spreading the virus in such pandemic situation. Remaining percentage of employees is happy with the working practice as they do not get continuous guidance and support to work remotely.

8. What is the issue, you have faced during the change management towards remote working practice at Woolworths?

During the change the employees face several challenges and about 14.7% staff members are suffering through lack of cooperation and 25.3% staffs reveal that there is poor communication during the drastic change of working process ion Woolworths. 17.3% and 20% participants are suffering from Lack of involvement of the corporate leaders and Poor internal management respectively. Remaining percentages of employees are suffering from all the above mentioned issues.

9. Is there any training and development program for you to manage their proficiency by working remotely?

Most of the employees about 57.3% reveal that there is no such fruitful training and development program in the organisational which further reduce the capability and proficiency of the staff to work remotely.

10. What is the challenge, you faced while providing good customers services?

Good customers service is mandatory for the staff of Woolworths to retain the clients and continue the business, but after remote working practice the major issues are Poor involvement of the leader, lack of management and support, misunderstanding about customers’ requirements and difficulties in handling the online portals fir which the staff fail to deliver high quality customers services. 10% employees reveal the issue of Poor involvement of the leader, 20% staff face lack of management and support, 16.7% face misunderstanding about customers’ requirements and 28% staff members face the issue of difficulties in handling the online portals.

11. Do you have all the equipment and remote tools you need to complete your work to your usual ability?

36.7% employees reveal that they have access to the equipment and remote tools to work from home and remaining 63.3% employees are not satisfied with the remote working process due to lack of equipment and remote tools to complete the job role.

12. Do you feel there is adequate communication from your teammates, managers and team leaders?

As per the findings, most of the employees are not satisfied with the internal communication with the teammates, managers and team leaders, where communication is important to support and guide the staff in remote working practice.

Interview transcript

1. How does the recent pandemic era affect your business operations?

2. What are your strategy to continuous the organisational activities of Woolworths?

3. What is the challenge faced by you to handle remote working facilities?

4. What are the issues faced by the employees in billing and customer support department?

5. What are the existing working practices to support the customers in the recent situation of COVID 19?

6. How would you like to strategies the business to handle remote working facilities and manage the employees to ensure quality customers services?

4.3 Discussions

The whole system of the supermarket chain become changes and it is important for the leader to manage online activities for develop partnership working practice among the customers, employees, suppliers and distributions, so that the customers can interact with the organisational representatives through the digital platform. The global COVID-19 pandemic hereby changes the whole system of customers buying and organisational selling activities as well as there is drastic change about attitudes of employees, customers, human being and citizens. The change towards digital transformation of the business through technological innovation in a systematic process is effective, where it is possible for the corporate leader to engage the staff and guide them to perform better through remote working practice (Dwivedi et al., 2020). The leaders are also able to develop the corporate culture with harmony, freedom to work, flexibility, team working activities and create bonding among the employees during the change initiatives in the workplace.

The major issues that the workers face lack of supervision and guidance, poor tracking and lack of productivity management that further deteriorate the quality of the organisational operations, where the workers are not motivated and feel socially isolated to work remotely. There are other issues related to the recent remote working facilities such as non-co-operation of senior managers, poor communication, and lack of integrated online portals, lack of support as well as no such effective training and development program (Galbusera, Cardarilli and Giannopoulos, 2021). These are the major issues for which the employees of Woolworths cannot work efficiently and they face problems in managing their job role in the billing and customers service department which may deteriorate the brand image in the supermarket chain. As per the interview transcript and the survey findings, it has been explored that the employees of billing and customer service department are confused to handle the online operations efficiently due to lack of technical skill and knowledge of online portals for handling the huge numbers of customers at a time (Belzunegui-Eraso and Erro-Garcés, 2020). Additionally, there is lack of understanding about the client requirement and their preferences which also raise misunderstanding among the staff to serve the customers proficiently. Moreover, the senior manager and team members cannot be collaborative and interactive through the online portals due to lack of shared workforce activities and this also delay the customers’ orders and billing process, leading to reducing the capability of the staff to serve the customers successfully.

As per the interview with the management team of Woolworths, it has been explored that they focus on developing strategic planning to handle the workers who work remotely. In this regard, making collaboration more efficient, enhancing communication as well as Defining goals for remote workers provide a scope to the organisational leader to handle the staff members and guide the to work with their full potential for achieving the business success in long run. Increasing recognition and providing performance related pay are also beneficial to manage the workers who work remotely. Through developing corporate bonding and enhancing communication, it is also possible to manage the employees and clear their doubts by continuous guidance and support. For implementing the organisational changes and guiding the employees for successful remote working activities, it is hereby important to empower the staff in the organisational activities, support them with adequate equipment and remote tools for enhancing internal communication and partnership working practice so that they can improve their technical skill and knowledge through gaining experience by serving the customers within effective time (Margherita and HeikkilÄ, 2021). It is hereby necessary for the management team of Woolworths to strategies the whole system and provide incentives to the employees who work remotely. The leadership style also must be changed to transformational leadership with continuous motivation, encouraging employee creativity, supporting with information and data as well as providing flexibility which further encourages the staff to work remotely and fulfil their job responsibilities in the billing and customer’s service department of Woolworths.

Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations

5.1 Conclusion

In the recent pandemic era, all the corporate firms are facing huge challenges to continuous their business operations with economic slowdown, break down of international operations and trade, job loss, and decrease in customers demand and changes in the purchasing pattern of the consumers. Woolworths is a famous brand providing quality products and services essential for the customers where the supermarket is successful to maintain its operations by managing a huge numbers of employees. However, due to the situation of COVID 19, Woolworths decide to provide remote working facilities for following the government guidelines of social distancing and lock down. The operational activities are totally changed towards online management portal, where the employees and customers are interacting through company website and it is possible for the organisation to deliver the basket of goods purchased by the customers to the client place in order to ensure that there is no person to person contact. Through the above discussion the research aim is being fulfilled which is to analyse the impact of COVID 19 situation on continuity of business operations through remote workplace facilities: A case of Woolworths. Through this study, it has been explored that, the operational managers of Woolworths are trying to handle the employees, working remotely. They try to provide assistance and support so that the sales executives and the staff members in billing deportment can handle the clients and conduct effective billing timely and this further helps to maximise the quality of customers services and create values for them. In order to maintain business continuity, this process is helpful for Woolworths to handle their operations in the recent pandemic situation.

5.2 Meeting objectives

Through the analysis and discussion, it is possible for the researcher to meet the objective of the research and it will be discussed further.

To analyse the impact of COVID 19 on the operational systems in organizations

As per the analysis, the major impacts of COVID 19 on the operational activities of the organisation share changes in the operational process, introducing online portals to handle all the clients, managing the employees by providing remote working facilities and maintaining operational excellence through online portal. The business operational activities and employee management are hereby changing over the period of time, where the organisation Woolworths tries to enhance their efficiency to continuous the business in such a critical situation.

To evaluate the concerns that are faced by the organisations in coping with the impact that COVID 19 created

The major concerns of the company are lack of business growth, decrease in sales volume and profitability as well as changes in customer buying pattern. In the recent years, the consumers make their purchase for the necessary products ion daily life in order to live healthily as well as the demand for the pharmaceutical products is also increasing and the demand for the luxury products has fallen down. Hence, the organisation Woolworths faces issues in identifying the actual needs and preferences of the customers due to changes in their buying pattern. Moreover, they are concerned about the business continuity in such a critical situation where the government declared closure of international flights and freight services, lock down and social distancing to stop spreading virus. Hence, it becomes a serious concern for the business of Woolworths to continue their operations and generate profit.

To analyse the different challenges that are being faced by the people in billing and customer support departments of Woolworths while working through the remote workplace facility

Through the research, the researcher is able to identify the existing challenges faced by the employees by conducting the survey where the employees share their feedback about the problems of working remotely. The major issues in the billing and customer’s service department of Woolworths are lack of communication and non-cooperation, lack of support from the management team and team leader, which deteriorates their performance and productivity in serving the clients through online portals. Additionally, there are other issues such as internal conflicts of such drastic change in the operation of Woolworths in billing and customers service department, where the employees are suffering from providing quality services due to misunderstanding and lack of skill of handling the online portal for the customer’s service management.

To suggest a set of recommended activities for Woolworths and other businesses to overcome the challenges related to remote workplace facility

It is hereby necessary for the organisation Woolworths to develop alternative strategic planning to support the workers working remotely and maximising their skills set and knowledge to handling the activities in the organisational billing and customer’s service department. As per the data findings and analysis, the operational team would like to develop shared workspace for involving the other team members and senior manager so that it is possible to conduct quality supervision and monitoring. The employees can get continuous support and guidance through the new shared workspace activity. Through technological advancement and human resource management in the organisation, it is possible to encourage staff creativity and improve their knowledge to handle the customers.

Hence, through in depth analysis and evaluation, it is possible for the researcher to fulfil the above mentioned research aim and objective where there is drastic change in the operation of Woolworths to continue the business for maintaining their market share in such a critical phase of COVID 19.

5.3 Suggested recommendations

It is important for the organisational management team and corporate leader of Woolworths to develop new strategic planning for better management and enhancing operational efficacy of the company so that it would be possible to continue the business activities and achieve future organisational success. The strategic recommendations are such as,

The organisational HR management team must arrange online training and skill developmental program, for the workers who are working remotely so that they can manage their responsibilities and improve their skill set to handle the online activities. In order to mitigate the issue in the billing and customers service departments. Training and development program can support the workers and help them to understand the ways of supporting the customers through online chat and organisational portal for making their purchase successful through suggesting them for quality products, time billing process and completing payment methods.

It is necessary for the organisation Woolworths to develop shared workspace portal where more than one employee can handle the customers and communicate with each other for clearing doubts and providing quality customer’s services. This further enhances team work where the worker can get assistance from the operational manager and also improve their knowledge and skill through gathering experience and serving more customers efficiently within effective time. Through training program, the manager must share the information of handling the shared workspace where the manager can review the working process of the employee and guide them to deliver high quality service. It would be possible for the organisational leader to lead the employees under remote working practice where they get continuous support and guidance to improve their ability to serve the customers.

The operational manager must arrange conference and group discussion where the manager needs to share the important information about the recent market trend under COVID 19 situation, customers changing needs and preferences as well as the online working practice, so that the employees can understand the working progress and activities for creating values for the customers, by suggesting them a good basket of goods, conducting billing method and guiding the customers for safe payments.

The organisational leader must follow the transformational leadership skill and construct the HR manager to develop incentive and performance related pay in order to encourage staff creativity and retain them for long run. Due to lack of clarity in online operations, misunderstanding and lack of work life balance, the employees are becoming de-motivated and it further negatively affects the performance and productivity of the staff. Hence, the HR manager must restructure the incentives and provide the worker performance related pay for encouraging them working remotely and supporting them to work successfully in meeting the organisational aim and objectives.

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