In this research seminar, I discuss the Covid-19 Shock and its accelerations globally and in the UAE, before presenting the results of a qualitative research, through semi-structured interviews done with 47 managers and decision-makers in the service sector. In this research, I explore: 1/ the impact of Covid-19 on organizations and the service industry, 2/ the strategies and practices adopted for recovery; 3/ the challenges and facilitators of recovery, 4/the new normal for organizations and consumers, before finalizing with the lessons and opportunities that we can learn from the crisis.

1. CRISIS MANAGEMENT IN SERVICE
ORGANIZATIONS:
WILL THE NEW HABITS AND PRACTICES STAY OR DIE POST-COVID-19?
Dr Elissar Toufaily
Research seminar
22 February 2021

2. AGENDA
Background: The Covid-19 Shock and its accelerations
Impact of Covid-19 on Organizations and Industries
Changes and strategies for recovery
The role of Government in Bailout and Support
The challenges and Facilitators for recovery
The long lasting impact of Covid-19 on organizations, on behaviors, on
industries
Lessons and opportunities from the crisis- Higher Education sector

3. COVID-19 SHOCK
• As a global health and humanitarian crisis, the Covid-19
pandemic has affected society at both the macro and micro
level (Finsterwalder and Kuppelwieser, 2020), and its economic
and financial effects are unprecedented.
• Psychological, physical, financial and social challenges faced by
individuals and communities, as well as the pressure on
industries and the global economy have increased.
• Economists predict that in the best case scenario the loss in
global economic production might total around USD 3.5 trillion
(Statista Research Department, 2020).
• Deep output losses, on the order of 5.0 percent in 2020, in the
MENA region (WordBank, 2021)
• The global recession has turned 2010’s into a lost decade for
30% of EMDEs (Kose and Sugawara, 2021)
• Pandemics, wars, depressions are painful shocks, but the times
that follow are often among the most productive in human
history.
W O R L D B A N K G R O U P , J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 1

4. Covid-19 Cases
Workplace and Retail Mobility Employment
• Source: Johns Hopkins University, World Bank 2021
Covid-19 Policies Response
COVID-19: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE MENA

5. GOVERNMENT RELIEF STIMULUS IN THE UAE:
TARGETED ECONOMIC SUPPORT SCHEME (TESS)
As stimulus, the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE)
released a AED 256 billion package, to provide banks
with sufficient capital to support economic activities
and development, by providing temporary relief to
large corporations, SME and households to ease their
principal and interest burdens (KPMG, 2020; UAE
Government Portal, 2020).
New financial products have rapidly appeared,
including relief packages for rent, mortgages, personal
loans, credit cards, SMEs, and corporate entities
Liquidity tools to prevent a credit crunch- Temporary
relief from the payments of principal and/or interests
on outstanding loans.

6. COVID-19 ACCELERATION
E-Commerce steps forward 5 to 10 years
Lockdown has pulled forward a huge amount of future adoption
Source: OECD, 2020

7. VALUE OF E-COMMERCE SALES IN THE UAE
($US 27.2BILLIONS, WEF, 2020)

8. Source: McKinsey, Benedict Evans, January 2021

9. ONLINE GROCERY IN THE UAE
GROWTH 300%IN Q3 2020
The dispersion of grocery via
delivery creates opportunities for
more efficient distribution, wider
reach for fresh foods and adoption
of local goods.

10. A GLOBAL EXPERIMENT: WORKING FROM HOME
WHAT WORKS BET TER AND WHAT GET BROKEN?
Maximalists
“Global
distributed
company”
Moderates
3 days a week
in the office?
Questions
Real estate?
Social capital?
Office Space?
Cities?
• Despite stereotypes that telecommuting breeds slacking, early data suggest productivity is up, at least at some
companies, 3 more hours (Bloomberg, April 2020)
• As of June 2020. 82% of corporate leaders plan to allow remote working at least some of the time, and 47% say they
intend to allow full-time remote working going forward (Wall Street Journal, July 2020)
• How to balance dispersing workforce without reducing a culture of innovation and productivity ?
Post- corona, will working from home be the new normal?

11. THE CULLING OF THE HERD:
THE STRONG GET (MUCH) STRONGER, AND THE WEAK GET
(MUCH) WEAKER
At the end of July, Tesla was up to
242% on the year, while GM was
down 31%. Amazon was up 67% and
JCPenney was bankrupt.
• This disconnect between the big
and the small, the innovative and
the old fashioned is important
post pandemic. Today’s winners
are judged Tomorrow’s bigger
winners and Today’s losers appear
doomed.
• Companies that doing well before
the pandemic hit have benefited
remarkably from this worldwide
crisis
• Nine major Tech companies
increased in market value of 1.9$
trillion over the first 5 months of
the pandemic (Galloway, 2020)

12. S O U R C E : C O M P A N I E S - E V A N S , J A N
2 0 2 1
S O U R C E : N E W Y O R K T I M E S , J A N
2 0 2 1

13. A decade in a year
Towards a new normal?
Macro, political,
cultural,
environmental ,
fiscal, social
shock
Massive
acceleration and
forced
experiments
Broken habits

14. PURPOSE OF THE
RESEARCH
1/To determine the social and economic impacts of
Covid-19 on service organizations
2/ to explore the long lasting practices and
behaviors post-recovery.
How did Covid-19 disrupted organizations in the
UAE?
How did organizations managed the crisis? (Changes
and strategies of recovery)
Which new behaviors, strategies and practices will
stay and which will not?
How can the learnings from crisis be translated into
more sustainable business models for the service
industry?
SOME OF THE LITERATURE ON
COVID-19
Research about the consequences of Covid-19 is scarce and non-
conclusive in terms of disruption and strategies of recovery
• Hall et al. (2020) evaluate changes in consumption patterns by
observing spatial and temporal displacement of consumption
spending.
• Heinonen and Strandvik (2020) draw on a crowdsourced
database of 221 innovations associated with Covid-19 in order to
analyze strategic issues related to the fragility of firms. They
conclude that to facilitate economic survival, businesses have to
implement transformations in their markets and service offerings.
• Ritcher and Wilson (2020) analyze the changes in underwriting
standards following Covid-19. They conclude that, to support the
insurance industry, certain pandemic costs are not insurable and
the risk has to be carried by the individual.
• Hepburn et al. (2020) argue that fiscal policy recovery packages
as a result of the pandemic, lead to market failure in
misallocating resources in the economy system.
• Chiou and Tucker (2020) found that high-speed Internet affects
an individual’s ability to self-isolate during Covid-19.

15. RESEARCH DESIGN
• Exploratory research design through
qualitative research
• Semi-structured interviews in English,
on average of 40 minutes, starting in
June 2020 and ending in January 2021
• Purposeful sampling: perspective of
multiple stakeholders/
managers/decision-makers from
different service sectors in the UAE (n=
47)
• 56% of the respondents are male, 38
years old on average and have an
average of 8 years of experience in their
respective industry.
• A theory-driven approach of analysis,
based on Crisis Management,
Disruption, social exchange theory and
Service Innovation
• Unit of analysis: Organization
15
Sample (N=47) Profile of the respondents
Restaurants/Cafés (n=5)
Hotels (n= 5)
Airlines (n=4)
Banks (n=4)
Telecommunication (n= 3)
Healthcare (n=3)
Higher Education (n=6)
Supply/Distribution/Logisti
(n=6)
Marketing/Media (n= 2)
Software/ Technology
Event management (n=2)
Two owners, Two directors and one managing partner
Cofounder, Chief organiser of digital marketing ,Marketing and
communications director, Head of production,
Boeing Commander, Senior software developer, Marketing
executive, project manager, associate administrator
Accounts manager, customer service manager, Marketing
manager, compliance specialist
Head of Technology development center, Operating manager,
Security manager
Childcare clinic supervisor , Pharmacist, doctor
Two Executives, Two professors, Two grad students
Shareholder, sales director, Category manager, Two
owners/managers
Digital marketing manager ; owner ,
Software supplier manager, Senior operating manager
Owner, Associate sale and social media manager
Public services (n=5) Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi: Head of festival
development
Dubai Civil Defense: Administration officer
Dubai Development Authority: Director of corporate support
Telecommunication Regulatory Authority : Accounts/Head section
Dubai health Authority: Corporate advisor

16. Financial losses
Additional costs
Cancelation of
events/cessation
of projects
Stressful
transition to
online
Reduction in
liquidity, supply,
and sales
Total Shutdown
Fear of
contacting the
virus
Implementation of
Covid-19 health
and safety
measures
Uncertainty
Loss of
customers
Decline in sales
IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON BUSINESSES
Loss of qualified
talent/employees
Interaction with
customers

17. CHANGES/PRACTICES IMPLEMENTED DURING
COVID-19
Service
Redesign and
Provision
Business Model
Disruption/
Adaptation
Imposed
Innovation
Narrative
Resources-
Challenges
Equilibrium

18. Business model
disruption/adaptation
Increase in home delivery and pick-up orders/Delivery
strike- Change in logistic model
Adoption of contactless payments, products, menus.
Work from home
New Business Line to create revenue (e.g., Cargo flights)
Restructure of Business
New budgeting solutions
Disruptive digital transformation
Service redesign- Service provision
Health and safety precautions measures
implemented/ compliance with regulations
Change the service delivery method
(temperature, checking, social distancing)
Reducing direct, F2F contact with
customers
Implementing a few fully digital branches
(video conference to answer customers
services)
Service delivery redesign: Creating an
event without spectators and focusing
primarily of broadcast.
Jumping to E-commerce
Innovation Narrative
Imposed innovations (e.g. DIY- Restaurant;
new cleaning machines for planes, Covid-
clean certification in hotels)
Adoption of contactless payments
Accelerated technology adoption and new
platforms and mobile apps (e.g., Yalla let’s
order)
Online banking including new options
Introduction of digital platforms, and video
conferencing between customers and
relationship managers
Resources Equilibrium: Over Capacity-Under capacity/under capacity- over demand
balance
Staff reduction (part time job)
Price reduction “the first thing that we had to do is to reduce our offered prices for any aluminum and glass fittings, by 20-30%. Yes, this didn’t
really bring us much profit, but it is better than nothing” R4
Adjustment of available services: “Differently from other crisis, reallocation of resources and strategies for generating revenue have not been
very effective to reduce the impact of the crisis” R40
Prioritizing projects and changes inside the organization- Put on hold some projects, mainly expansion, and high investments ones
Equilibrium of resources and demand. Capacity- demand (e.g. Lowering the flight capacity, R15)
Cutting costs (E.g., such as reducing number of employees, offering unpaid leave to staff, reducing remuneration and benefits offered to staff. R
16
Reallocating of resources for income

19. IMPOSED SERVICE INNOVATIONS
Short
term
Long
term
Low High
Exploiting a market change
Social connection innovations
Health and well being innovations(e.g.,
channels for mental health support)
Delivery or pickup
Remote working
Envisioning a future market
Ed tech innovations
Digital transformation /Mobile ecommerce/
features/(E.g., digital signing; mobile key
(keyless system)
Self serving technology (vending machines
for masks, sanitizers, hot meals)
Unmanned grocery stores
Contactless payments
Telemedicine
Riding out the storm
•Take away services
•Face masks when interacting with
customers
•Temperature check
•Physical distancing innovations
Exploiting an emerged market
Remote presence innovations (virtual
parties, artists album launch )
Entertainment innovations (e.g., Sports
events museum visits, online music
performance, business events, events
without spectators )
Customer
Centricity
Strategic
Horizon
Strategic Stretch
Inspired from Heinonen and Strandvik (2020)

20. SUPPLY CHAIN
-Increased costs
-Waist on inventory
-Transportation (limited nb of
labor in trucks)
-Limited supply
ORGANIZATION
-Figuring out a strategy of
survival- Change of Focus
-Changing target market for
the services
-Respect of implementation
hygiene recommendations-
-Adapting to continuous
changes in guidelines and
regulations
-Being informed with
changing guidelines
EMPLOYEES
- Salary cut
-Lack of motivation
-Adapting to new rules,
practicing social distancing
-Lack of readiness
-Changing the mindset
-Lack of knowledge of the new
approaches by the team
-Learning how to use digital
tools (shift into online meetings)
-Working from home and
keeping a schedule
-Connectivity for an optimal
CUSTOMERS
-Customer understanding
acceptance of the new
offer
•-Customer acceptance of the
technology
CHALLENGES OF
IMPLEMENTING NEW PRACTICES AND STRATEGIES

21. FACILITATORS TO COPE WITH COVID-19 UNCERTAINTY AND CHANGES
Standardization of
rules/ guidelines
for Franchisee
Clear Objective
and strategy
TESS/Relief
support
Using domestic
products and
Supply
Fund for unseen
events
Scenario
planning/
Forecasting/
Trend analysis
Qualified
Managers
Crisis
Management
Protocol
Contingency
planning
Securing
multiple
suppliers
Clear
governmental
guidelines

22. Banks
support in
the form of
loan
deferments
Small funding
for SME
Landlord offer
of rent relief
Loans with
low interest
rates
Guidance and
fresh news
from the
public
institutions
Financial
incentives for
semi-
governmental
companies
Taxes
Reduction
No financial
support/
Reliance on
own resources
to face the
crisis
RELIEF SUPPORT
What type of support was offered to organizations
during the pandemic?

23. SURVIVING THE CULLING: CASH IS KING
• In the pandemic, Cash is the king and cost structure is the new blood oxygen
level. Strong balance sheets mean capital.
• Companies with cash, low debt or cheap debt, high value-assets, and low fixed
costs will likely survive.
• Weak balance sheets will create the most damage from an economic standpoint.
This is the challenge with owning a restaurant.
e.g., “Reducing our costs in order to recover loss of profit” R11

24. • Shift to contactless payment methods like Google pay and
Apple pay
• Introduction of QR code for customers to place an order
• Started receiving more orders from these platforms- Online
ordering
• Effective communication
• Key driver for meetings
• Online offer- Online Delivery: “Before the pandemic, customers
who wanted to apply for a credit card, debit card, or open an
account had to physically go to the branch, sit with a person,
and fill an application form. The pandemic facilitated this
experience by making those applications available online, and
this makes consumers find banking easier. “R26
• New Technologies introduced: “Touchless check-in, digital
menus, WhatsApp confirmations, teams/zoom
• “Yes, it has improved productivity and connecting instantly with
upper management” R1
• “Technology was the biggest rescue due to digitalization and
strategic online creation and centralization for payment modes”
R41
• Push to mobile first has increased significantly
• “All the activities within our business are focused on technology
and working remotely, all databases, meetings, payroll etc. is
done online and will continue most likely .”R36
Strategic Role Of The Technology:
Lifesaver
Solutions adopted during the pandemic
Source: Deloite Analysis

25. STRATEGIES OF CUSTOMERS DELIGHT DURING THE CRISIS
• Competitions, vouchers when the business opens, discounts for visitors to increase awareness
and loyalty after the storm
• Increase in the offer (e.g., free dessert) to increase customer base: « Sometimes we let them live
for an additional day if they already paid for a week of stay. “R7
• Taking hygiene measures seriously
• More flexibility in pricing
• High Service quality: Responsiveness, empathy, understanding
• Customer centric focus: “ We reoriented more our strategy by focusing on customers. We
extended to 2-year validity of tickets, we allowed for COVID insurance during travel”R15
• Growing number of online interactions (e.g., WhatsApp)
• Offering a digital omnichannel experience (e.g., social media, online platforms, quizzes, email
marketing, videos on Instagram highlighting safety measures)

26. Impact of
Covid-19 on
Consumers
Embracing
Digitization and
Connectivity
Local
consumption
Responsible,
social, conscious
and thrifty
spending
Health and
wellbeing
Scaling
DIY/ Customizing
prosumers
Brand
Reputation as a
driver of trust
Work-Life-
Learning
Balanced
WHAT WILL BE THE NEW NORMAL FOR
CONSUMERS?
Examples of Excerpts
• “Digitizing and digital connectivity will be here to stay
as now companies and all profile of persons in the
world have come to familiarize themselves with it” R12
• “Consumers who are afraid of technological
programs- fear due to the idea that technology will
steal their money- will have to adapt to using digital
platforms now and in the future” R25
• “Consumers became more aware of their spending
and focus only on essentials, as well as buying in
bulk.” R18
• “Contactless payment will sustain after the pandemic
even for people who were afraid of using this type of
technology. “R46
• “Consumers are now more than ever more price
conscious when spending. They are looking for more
for less (deals and discounts)” R6
• Three drivers to generate new habits: Public Policy,
Technology, and Changing Demographics (Sheth,
2020)

27. WHICH CHANGE COULD STICK OR DISSIPATE?
Source: McKinsey 2020

28. THE PANDEMIC MOST ENDURING IMPACT WILL BE AS AN
ACCELERANT
WHAT WILL SUSTAIN POST -COVID-19?
• While it will initiate some changes and alter the direction of some trends, the
pandemic’s primary effect has been to accelerate dynamics already present: Digital
Transformation- Digital consumption- Digital Entertainment- Digital
meetings/communication- Digital documents- Digital shopping- Digital payments
• Contactless services- technology features- fully operating online- less human
power in service provision
• Customer centricity will be more a powerful strategy (better customer service)
• Contingency plans
• Costs reduction
• Hybrid models/omnichannel, which will be physical and digital events, will emerge
and stay post covid-19
• More competitive environment
• Work-life balance : Post corona, working from home will be a new normal
• Failure to innovate and attract younger, more online customer base has been lethal
to traditional retail even pre-Covid.

29. HIGHER EDUCATION
AN INDUSTRY RIPE FOR DISRUPTION
Higher education has resisted change
Technological improvements have brought distance
learning to the threshold of market acceptance.
A year of radically transformed higher education, and
much of the change will be permanent, DUE TO:
“The rising generation has grown up on screens, and is
comfortable with online interaction to a degree my
generation cannot comprehend” R30
Understanding the pandemic effect on HE requires
understanding HE’s value proposition

30. THE CRISIS IS UPON HIGHER EDUCATION
In exchange for time and tuition, college offers three
components of value:
a credential, an education, and an experience.
Schools that offer an exceptional credential will be fine.
Schools that offer solid education at a great price are
well also well positioned post Covid.
The schools facing an existential threat are college that
rely largely on the experience aspect of the value
proposition
A year without the in-person experience, and the pricing
power it brings, could drive 10-30% of universities out of
existence (Galloway, 2020)
• A need to rethink the HE value proposition post-Covid

31. DISRUPTION AS AN OPPORTUNITY
TO BETTER SERVE THE COMMUNITY
• The heart of the coming transformation of HE is technology: “There will be explosion in new tools and technology hitting
the market in 2021 as the tsunami of venture capital being deployed into higher education takes root” R17
• “ The median faculty member went from” online education over my dead body” to “ I am not stepping foot in a
classroom until there is a vaccine” within two weeks” ( Anastasia Crosswhite, NYU, 2020)
• Online education allows Scale . Scale will allow individual institutions and individual professors to exponentially expand
their reach
• Lifetime learning, a recurring revenue model, presents an enormous opportunities for universities to evolve to superior
business model
• Technology creates scale, and scale increases both access (social impact) and revenue.
• Bait on partnership with Big Tech, for expansion, and certificate programs (e.g. Google-computer science; Apple-Arts;
Amazon-Operations)- The business model is to flip the model and charge firms to recruit (shifting costs from students to
firms)
• Universities will dramatically increase their spend on technology and, in many cases, outsource entire programs
• Opportunities to upgrade SaaS teaching tools.
• Rotating schedules ( 4 to 6 weeks modules rather than 4-months semester) are likely to be the future
• Entrepreneurial learning should be the norm

32. CRISIS MANAGEMENT LESSONS
• Overcorrect
For companies in a weak position, survival will depend on radical cost cutting
• Going on Offense
Universities: Decrease the costs per student by reaching more students. A modest investment in technology
allows universities to expand class sizes without corresponding physical facilities
• Contactless transactions
The post corona world will prize contactless transactions of all kinds
• Rethinking business model
Flexibility around working from home; Safety and survival as main goals
• Create and recruit leaner teams
Capabilities to quick adaptation to change to uncertainty from the management and employees
• Contingency plans- Preventing plans are a must
Financial fund for unseen events, preparation is a key for success, be ready for uncertainty
• Customer - centric culture
Follow consumers in their new decision journeys when they market and communicate

33. Thank you!