UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

THE EFFECT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON ORGNISATIONS’ WORK SYSTEMS,

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND EMPLOYEES’

WELLBEING IN GHANA

BY

RASHIDATU MOHAMMED

(10558372)

THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN

PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF

MPHIL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT DEGREE

NOVEMBER, 2022

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DECLARATION

I, RASHIDATU MOHAMMED, hereby certify that this work is the result of my own research

and has not been presented by anyone for any academic award in this or any other university. All

references used in the work have been fully acknowledged.

I bear sole responsibility for any shortcomings.

……………………………………. ……………………………….

RASHIDATU MOHAMMED DATE

(10558372)

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CERTIFICATION

I hereby certify that this thesis was supervised in accordance with procedures laid down by the

University.

………………………………… ………………………………….

PROF. DAN OFORI DATE

(SUPERVISOR)

………………………………… ………………………………

DR. AMINU SANDA DATE

(CO-SUPERVISOR)

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DEDICATION

I dedicate this work to my entire family, particularly my parents, Alhaji Rabiu Mohammed and

Mrs. Sherifatu Mohammed. May Allah's blessings and protection be upon them.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I am grateful to Almighty Allah for his immeasurable mercy and grace.

My acknowledgement goes to my supervisor, Prof. Dan Ofori, for his invaluable insight and

supervision. His expertise and detail-oriented supervision aided in the shaping of this work, and

he also taught me key life lessons about efficient organisation and paying attention to details. I

also appreciate Prof. Richard Nyuur of Northumbria University, UK for his unparalleled

contribution throughout this study.

I further acknowledge all the faculty members at the Department of Organisation and Human

Resource Management here at the University of Ghana Business School for their guidance

during seminar presentations with special mentions to my co- supervisor, Dr. Aminu Sanda and

the Head of Department, Prof. Damoah Obi Berko for their support, time and effort into this

study.

A final acknowledgement goes to my course mates with special mention to Mr. Adam Abdul-

Mumin for all the help and constant peer review of this study, and also to all establishments and

managers that gave me access to their organisation for my data gathering.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION........................................................................................................................... ii

CERTIFICATION....................................................................................................................... iii

DEDICATION.............................................................................................................................. iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT............................................................................................................ v

LIST OF TABLES.......................................................................................................................xii

LIST OF FIGURES....................................................................................................................xiii

LIST OF ABBREVATIONS......................................................................................................xiv

ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................................xv

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................1

1.0 Background of the study........................................................................................................ 1

1.1 Research Problem.................................................................................................................. 5

1.2 Research Purpose................................................................................................................. 10

1.3 Research Objectives.............................................................................................................10

1.4 Research Questions.............................................................................................................. 11

1.5 Significance of the Study..................................................................................................... 12

1.6 Research Methodology........................................................................................................ 12

1.7 Research Limitations and Recommendation........................................................................13

1.8 Study Disposition.................................................................................................................14

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW...........................................................................15

2.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................15

2.1 Evolution of a Business Model............................................................................................ 15

2.1.1 Concept of Business Models.............................................................................................18

2.1.2 Business Model Canvas.................................................................................................... 19

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2.2 The Concept of Digitalization..............................................................................................21

2.2.1. Digital Domains........................................................................................................... 22

Figure- 2.2: The three digital domains.......................................................................................23

2.2.2. Digitalization drivers:...................................................................................................... 24

2.2.2.1. Shift to remote working.............................................................................................24

2.2.2.2. Paperless Offices and Organisations......................................................................... 24

2.3 Human Resource Management............................................................................................ 25

2.3.1 Human Resource Management Practices..........................................................................26

2.3.1.1. Human Resource Management and Training and Development...............................27

2.3.1.2. Human Resource Management and Work-Life Balance...........................................28

2.3.1.3. Human Resource Management and Employee Wellbeing........................................26

2.4 Theoretical Framework........................................................................................................ 29

2.4.1 The General System Theory............................................................................................. 29

2.4.1.1 Theory of Open System (OST).................................................................................. 30

2.4.1.2 The Viable System Model (VSM)..............................................................................30

2.4.1.3 The Viable System Approach (VSA).........................................................................31

2.4.3 The Dynamic Capabilities Theory.................................................................................... 35

2.5 Review of Empirical Studies................................................................................................36

2.5.2. COVID-19 Pandemic and Digitalization of Work Systems............................................ 36

2.5.3. COVID-19 Pandemic And Digitalization of HRM Practices.......................................... 41

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.......................................................... 48

3.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................48

3.1 Research Paradigm...............................................................................................................48

3.2 Research Design...................................................................................................................49

3.3. Research Approach............................................................................................................. 50

3.4 Research Instruments........................................................................................................... 51

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3.5 Target Population/ Research Participants............................................................................ 52

3.6 Sampling Technique and Sample Size.................................................................................53

3.7 Source of Data......................................................................................................................55

3.8 Data Collection Procedure................................................................................................... 55

3.9 Data Analysis....................................................................................................................... 56

3.10 Ethical Considerations....................................................................................................... 57

3.11 Validity and Reliability......................................................................................................57

3.12 Research Setting- Ghana....................................................................................................58

3.12.1 Demographic Profile of Ghana....................................................................................... 59

3.12.2 Overview of the Introduction of COVID-19 in Ghana................................................... 59

3.12.3 Detailed Measures from the Government of Ghana to Control COVID-19................... 62

3.12.3.1 Non- financial Measures.............................................................................................. 63

3.12.3.2 Financial Measures...................................................................................................... 65

3.12.3.2.1 Support for Soft Loans:......................................................................................... 66

3.12.3.2.2 Intervention in the Payment of Statutory Benefits................................................ 67

3.12.3.2.3 Monetary Measures............................................................................................... 67

3.12.3.2.4 Suspension of Utility Bills.................................................................................... 68

3.12.3.2.5 Employment Benefits............................................................................................ 68

3.12.3.2.6 Guaranteed Support...............................................................................................69

CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS....................... 70

4.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................70

4.1 Demographic Characteristics of Respondents..................................................................... 70

Table 4.1 Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Respondents.................................................72

4.1.1 Job Position of Respondents............................................................................................. 73

4.1.2. Educational Qualification of Respondents.......................................................................73

4.1.3. Professional Affiliation of Respondents.......................................................................... 73

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4.1.4 Respondents’ Tenure with the Organisation.....................................................................74

4.1.5 Job Position Period in the Organisation............................................................................74

Table 4. 2: Summary of the Job Responsibilities of Respondents.............................................76

4.1.6 Size and Type of Firm.......................................................................................................78

4.1.7 Sub-Sectors of Respondents’ Firms..................................................................................78

4.2 Exploring Respondents’ Knowledge of and About COVID-19.......................................... 79

Table 4.3: Respondents’ Description and Understanding of COVID-19.................................. 80

Table 4.4: Respondents’ responses on how COVID-19 affected them personally....................84

4. 3 Discussion of Findings in Relation to the Research Objectives......................................... 87

4.3.1 Objective 1: Exploring And Understanding How Organisations, In Response To

Government Policies On COVID-19 Pandemic, Redesigned Their Work Systems By

Digitalizing Their HRM Practices............................................................................................. 88

4.3.1.1. How Organisations have Redesigned Their Business Models to Tackle the Effects of

COVID-19..................................................................................................................................88

4.3.1.2 Organisations’ Reactions to Government Mitigation and Reactive Policies.................93

4.3.2 Objective 2: Exploring and Understanding the Dynamics of the Functionalities of the

Organisations Digitalized HRM Practices................................................................................. 98

4.3.2.1 Benefits of New Business Models to Firms’ Operations...............................................98

4.3.2.2 Drawbacks of the New Business Models to Firms’ Operations.................................. 100

4.3.2.3. Challenges of Emerging Technology and Digital Platforms for Organisations’ New

Business Models...................................................................................................................... 102

4.3.3 Objective 3: Determining the Essential Capabilities Required of Firms to Ensure

Survival and Competitiveness in the Post- COVID-19 Era.....................................................107

4.3.4 Objective 4: Investigating How Firms Are Positioning Themselves to Acquire And/ Or

Utilize These Capabilities to Ensure Survival and Competitiveness.......................................112

4.3.5 Objective 5: Exploring the Influence of COVID-19 and Organisational Responses on

Employees’ Mental and Emotional Wellbeing........................................................................ 115

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4.3.5.1 Identifying the Strategies Firms Have Put In Place to Manage and/or Ameliorate the

Effects of COVID-19 on Employees’ Wellbeing.................................................................... 119

4.3.5.2 Assessing Organisations’ Strategies for Ensuring Work-Life Balance....................... 122

4.3.5 Objective 6: Exploring How Organisation’s Facilitate Training and Development to

Develop Employees’ Skills and Mind-Set to match up with these Adjustments.....................125

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS...........128

5.0 Introduction........................................................................................................................128

5.1 Summary of Findings.........................................................................................................128

5.1.1 Exploring the Effects of COVID-19 on Organisations’ Business Models..................... 129

5.1.2 Exploring the Benefits and/ or Drawbacks of the New Business Models to the Firms’

Operations................................................................................................................................ 130

5.1.3 Determining the Essential Capabilities Required of Firms to Ensure Survival and

Competitiveness in the Post- COVID-19 Era.......................................................................... 131

5.1.4 Investigating How Firms Are Positioning Themselves to Acquire And/ Or Utilize These

Capabilities to Ensure Survival and Competitiveness............................................................. 132

5.1.5 The Influence of COVID-19 and Organisational Responses on Employees’ Mental and

Emotional Wellbeing............................................................................................................... 133

5.1.6 Exploring How Organisations’ Facilitate Employee Training and Development.......... 134

5.2 Revisiting the Conceptual Framework...............................................................................135

Figure 5.1: Empirical Framework............................................................................................136

5.2 Conclusions of the Study................................................................................................... 136

5.3 Research Limitations..........................................................................................................137

5.4 Recommendations..............................................................................................................137

5.4.1 Recommendations for Practice and Policy..................................................................138

5.4.2 Recommendations for Future Studies......................................................................... 139

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RFERENCES............................................................................................................................. 141

APPENDICES............................................................................................................................180

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1 Socio- Demographic Characteristics of Respondents …………………...………….71

Table 4.2 Summary of Respondents Job Responsibilities……………………………………..75

Table 4.3 Respondents Description and Understanding of COVID-19……………….………..79

Table 4.4 Respondents Responses on how COVID-19 affected them personally………..……84

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Digital Domains ………………..……………………..…………………….……....22

Figure 2.2 Conceptual Framework …………………….…………..……….……..…....……….45

Figure 3.1 Active COVID-19 cases and recoveries in Ghana ……………….………………….61

Figure 5.1 Revised Conceptual Framework ...………………………………………………….135

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LIST OF ABBREVATIONS

SMEs Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

MSMEs Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs)

COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease of 2019

L&D Learning and Development

R&D Research and Development

HRM Human Resource Management

GSS Ghana Statistical Service

GNA Ghana News Agency

ILO International Labour Organization

IHRMP Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners

MOF Ministry of Finance

MOI Ministry of Information

RBV Resource- Based View

VSA Viable System Approach

VSM Viable System Model

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ABSTRACT

The main objective of this study is to explore the effects of COVID-19 on organisations’ work

system, digitalized human resource practices, and new capabilities necessary to survive and

compete. Using a qualitative study method, a total of 20 medium to large-sized organisations

were purposefully selected from Ghana's service sector, including: Educational, Transportation,

Financial, Pharmaceutical, Health, Tourism and Hospitality sub- sectors. The research sample

was made up of respondents in various managerial positions. To ascertain and explore themes

linked to the research objectives, the study used a descriptive and thematic analysis technique.

According to some of the findings, firms redesigned their work systems by implementing new

business models that promote innovativeness through work virtualization, remote/telework

deployment, and the adoption of flexible work schedules. The findings also indicated that the

most essential capabilities required of firms to survive and compete in the post COVID-19 era

are strengthened IT, improved L&D and/or R&D, effective human resources in terms of

qualified and trained personnel, and the implementation of strong strategic plans and an effective

management structure. Furthermore, findings revealed that triggers such as stress from work

pressures and fear of COVID-19 had an influence on employees' well-being. Based on the study

findings, it was suggested that employee well-being be prioritized in job designs since they are

critical resources that support the flow of work and organisational success. It was also suggested

that organisations integrate the aforementioned capabilities into their fundamental business

functions in order to ensure survival, and competitive edge. Future research were also

recommended to include other sectorial firms from other regions of Ghana to broaden the

generalizability of the study findings.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background of the study

Globally, the coronavirus diseases of 2019 also known as “COVID-19” has imposed physical,

psychological, and socioeconomic limits on individuals' survival, well-being, business growth,

and recession on countries’ gross domestic product (GDP). The United Nations Framework

Report (2020) cites COVID-19 as one of the worst pandemics ever, with its effects including

severe unemployment, limitations on free movement, and slow economic growth. According to

the United Nations (2020), it had a tremendous influence on the global economy, totaling more

than $50 million, impacting a variety of sectors and businesses. Amankwah- Amoah, Khan, and

Wood (2020), asserted that, it has recently been increasingly obvious that the COVID-19

pandemic has not only fundamentally transformed the mode of operation of many organisations,

but has also resulted in the failure of numerous firms around the world.

The coronavirus is said to have emerged from China (Wuhan, Hubei province) around December

2019. The COVID-19 virus is a zoonotic disease (or pathogens) that has been discovered to be

transferred through droplets, contact, aerosol, and other routes (Tian, 2019) from an infected

person's mouth or nose to bodily fluids when coughing, sneezing or talking. In February 2020,

the International Committee on Virus Taxonomy (ICTV) and the World Health Organization

(2020) both issued official names for the virus and the disease it causes. According to ICTV

(2020), the virus was given the designation "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus

2," often referred to as "SARS-CoV-2". The name "SARS-CoV-2" was adopted because of its

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genetic similarity to the virus accountable for the 2003 SARS outbreak, despite the fact that the

two viruses are distinct (WHO, 2020a). The World Health Organization, on the other hand,

labeled the virus "COVID-19" after previously developed guidelines with the World

Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the

International Organization (FAO) (WHO, 2020).

According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO) (2021) website, this COVID-19

pandemic has affected over 215 nations, with 234 million confirmed cases and 4.797 million

fatalities as of October 3, 2021. Presently, according to World Health Organization (WHO)

(2022) records, globally, as of 5: 08 pm CET on March 10, 2022, there were 450,229,635

recorded cases with a total of 6,019,085 deaths and 388,418,779 recoveries. Also, as of March 6,

2022, a total of 10,706,043, 684 vaccine doses were administered globally (WHO, 2022). These

trends in virus-recorded figures and death tolls continued to be at all-time highs daily throughout

the world. Concerning predictions of confirmed cases and death tolls globally from its inception

in 2019 to its present status prompted the need for proper legislation to restrict its effects on

people's mental health and well-being, and also the impact on business operations.

According to Yawson (2020), the global pandemic sparked a flurry of mitigation and reaction

strategies around the world, with implications for economies, organisational behavior, and

business model changes. Governments from many countries enacted policies such as border

closures, local and national lockdowns, quarantine, and social separation, among others

(Amankwah-Amoah, Khan, Wood & Knight, 2021). The partial or complete lockdowns

according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) report (2020a), affected over 2.7

billion employees, or around 81% of the global workforce, because of limitations on free

movement of people as a method of easing the crisis. Furthermore, the pandemic's impact, paired

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with these actions, has resulted in employment losses and the insolvency of many businesses

(large and small) in both developed and developing countries (Amankwah- Amoah, Khan, Wood

& Knight, 2021; Patton, 2021).

Notably, several organisations shuttered their doors and encouraged employees to stay at home

for an extended length of time to contain the pandemic. As a result, many organisations

immediately adjusted or modified their business models by shifting their activities totally online,

especially in contexts with strong digital infrastructure to support business operations. Research

indicates a number of businesses and organisations were all largely digital prior to COVID-19,

with core elements of their business models already digitalized (Moore & Tambini, 2018;

Remane, Hanelt, Nickerson & Kolbe, 2017). However, in reaction to some of the rigorous

measures adopted in the initial periods of the pandemic, the majority of businesses appeared to

have expedited the digitalization of their work systems; and will continue to accelerate the

adoption of new business models post the pandemic.

The adoption of new business models due to the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the wide

digital divide between developing and established economies, urban and rural locations, rich and

poor people (Beaunoyer, Dup´er´e & Guitton, 2020; African Business Magazine, 2020). Even

within established countries, there are digital gaps between big cities and rural locations where

access and internet infrastructure development variey, influencing possibilities for new business

formation (Haight, Quan-Haase & Corbett, 2014). Despite the COVID impetus to adopt digital

technology (Amankwah-Amoah, 2020a; 2020b; 2021), many entrepreneurs encounter human

resource and capability hurdles including technical skills and digital literacy, which might slow

digitalization (Effah & Nuhu, 2017). For instance, firms may however face the problem of

deciding whether to implement remote working (work from home), working on-site (or from the

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office) or a hybridized operating model in the setting of insufficient digital infrastructures and

platforms (Carnevale & Hatak, 2020; Deloitte, 2020a). It is unclear how African countries

specifically Ghana with poor institutional and underdeveloped digital infrastructures would

model their businesses to respond flexibly to the effect, and what the implications for human

resource management practices will entail post pandemic. As a backdrop, understanding how

businesses and human capital systems will respond post COVID-19 pandemic is crucial.

It is expected that as long as COVID-19 exists, it will continue to drive the use of digitalization

of business models and there will very certainly be greater scale-up post-pandemic. The

pandemic has increased the demand for digitalization, which is an innovation process that aims

to deliberately disrupt and fundamentally transform traditional processes and systems in order to

gain continuity and competitive advantage (Datta, 2020; Datta, Walter & Amarilli, 2020). In

light of COVID-19, according to Dahlander and Wallin (2020), there is an urgent need for

enterprises to re-establish their innovative infrastructure and capabilities. Thus, the environment

of work and the meaning of labor post COVID-19 will be different from the pre-pandemic as

new sets of strategic and dynamic competencies will be necessary for enterprises to thrive and

compete effectively.

According to International Labour Organization (2020b), COVID-19 has substantially affected

organisations’ working conditions. The International Labour Organization (2020b) defined

working conditions as "the essence of paid work and employment relationships which address a

wide range of subjects and problems, ranging from working time (hours of labor, rest intervals,

and work schedules) to remuneration, as well as physical and mental workplace conditions”.

Most businesses presently have turned to telework to maintain business continuity, compelling

their employees to work remotely (Aitken- Fox, Coffey, Dayaram, Fitzgerald, Gupta, McKenna

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& Wei Tian, 2020; Gourinchas, 2020; Koirala & Acharya, 2020). However, according to

Hamouche (2020), working remotely may increase employees’ stress levels and risk of mental

health issues, especially for people who were already dealing with high psychological demands

at work prior to the pandemic (Quaedackers, Stein, Bhatt, Dogan, Hoen, Nijman,... & Bogaert,

2020) or those who work in high-risk professions such as healthcare professionals (Hamouche,

2020). According to Oehler (2020), although remote working can be beneficial, it also poses a

number of concerns to employee well-being.

Because the work environment and the meaning of labor will be altered post COVID-19, as new

sets of strategic and dynamic capabilities will be required for firms to grow and compete

successfully, Szulc, Tomczak, and McGregor (2021) argued for strategic work reorganisation

while taking current conditions into account. This has undoubtedly generated a demanding and

complex environment for human resource managers, who must establish appropriate norms and

settings that permit an acceptable degree of flexibility while also assisting and enabling their

employees in coping with the complexities of this extreme situation, as well as reassess how jobs

are designed to prioritize employee mental and emotional well-being. Therefore, exploring and

understanding the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the human resource management practices

of Ghanaian organisations is deemed important given the 'new normal' of the industrial

environment and the pre-requisites of organisational restructuring and work systems redesigns.

1.1 Research Problem

In Ghana, the Government's response to the virus's spread, such as partial/total lockdown,

isolations, social distancing, and border closures had a wide-ranging influence on industries and

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employees. According to Trade Union Congress (2020) survey, over 42,000 Ghanaians have lost

their employment by April 2020, with an approximated 75% of them being small traders, regular

employees, and wage-laborers. Also, specific industries or businesses that rely on social

connections, such as recreation, travel/transport, tourism, schools, hospitality, health sectors

among others have suffered major consequences because of these measures.

For example, the pandemic has had an effect on education at all levels, from pre-school to

postsecondary. According to Sudevan (2020), the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and

Cultural Organization (UNESCO) estimates that, the virus has forced school closures for over 1

billion kids, or approximately 72% of the world's student population. Following the closure of

educational institutions, an emergency relief program was established to provide distant and

online learning systems. Nonetheless, despite the efforts implemented with the assistance of the

Education Ministry and the Ghana Education Service, certain students and teachers encountered

challenges. Because many Ghanaians have low living conditions, not all students have access to

smart phones, personal computers, or the internet. Ghana's education and e-learning systems are

insufficient since just a few schools are capable of using online teaching methods. Therefore,

when examining the change of teaching and learning process due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it

is crucial to take into account the challenges associated with the adoption of digital platforms.

Secondly, initiatives such as the Pan African Historical Theatre Festival "Pana fest," "the Year of

Return," and "Beyond the Return," which were aimed at enticing international tourists,

particularly those from the diaspora, to experience Ghanaian culture while also promoting

Ghanaian tourist destinations (Ghana Tourism Authority, 2019), were impacted. According to

the Ghana Tourism Authority (2019), the country's "Year of Return" celebration resulted in an

unprecedented influx of over 1 million foreign tourists, generating approximately USD 1.9

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billion in revenue. This, however, came to an end in March 2020, when 90% of global travel was

halted to minimize the spread of the virus (Gössling, Scott & Hall, 2020). As per estimates, the

country lost an estimated USD 171 million in tourist earnings between March and June 2020

(Aduhene & Osei-Assibey, 2021) because of the closure of tourism enterprises due to the

lockdown. Aside the economic recession, COVID-19 exposed some inefficiencies and

inconsistencies in the tourism value chain. These arose from the industry's human resource

system, legal, and infrastructure concerns (Adu-Ampong, 2018, 2019). From a human resource

standpoint, the need for competent experts with the appropriate credentials for the business, as

well as training of current workers in the area, posed a difficulty.

Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented issue for the healthcare sector,

with cases rising all the time. The danger to doctors and healthcare frontline personnel is one of

the most critical vulnerabilities in healthcare systems around the world (Nicola, Alsafi, Sohrabi,

Kerwan, Al-Jabir & Iosifidis, 2020). When compared to other developed economies, Ghana's

healthcare system is fragile and vulnerable. The pandemic has had a detrimental impact on both

the healthcare system and the economy, owing to lack of funding and increasing pressure on the

health-care delivery system. Similarly, the pharmaceutical companies are no exception in coping

with the situation. The effect of COVID-19 on the pharmaceutical business has been more

visible in Ghana. Because of the obvious surge in demand for PPEs, and other COVID-19

fighting anti-bacterial products, an estimated 80% of pharmaceutical industries switched from

traditional medical supplies to PPEs, sanitizers, and other COVID-19 combating anti-bacterial

drugs.

In addition, the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, as well as other corrective

measures implemented, increased the risk and difficulty in Ghana's banking industry. Economic

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contraction; reduced fee and trading income, as well as pressure on net interest income; higher

credit losses and their impact on overall asset quality, capital, and liquidity; cybersecurity

breaches; operational constraints of keeping employees safe and meeting customer expectations;

and deterioration of IT and other support services due to internal challenges are some of the

heightened risks (PWC, 2020). For instance, Ecobank Ghana (EGH) which is one of the banking

industry in Ghana was known to be the most hit bank in April, according to KPMG (2020), with

its share price decreasing by 20% from GHS. 8.10 on December 31, 2019, to GHS. 6.50 on April

21, 2020. Moreover, treasury bill rates and stock prices are expected to decline, putting pressure

on banks' foreign exchange transactions and remittance fee earnings, as well as other industries

(KPMG, 2020).

It is thus important to understand how tertiary or service sectors in Ghana, specifically Education,

Transportation, Tourism and Hospitality, Health, Pharmaceutical, Financial and

Telecommunication sectors redesigned their work systems in terms of accommodating the

pandemic's effect, and how beneficial these changes would be to their operations. These selected

sectors are reported to have made significant contributions to Ghana's economic growth and have

suffered significant ramifications such as massive financial losses due to the occurrence of

COVID-19 and government mitigation and reactive policies to combat the virus's spread.

According to the annual report from Trading Economics (2022), the service sector accounts for

approximately 52% of Ghana's GDP. This means that any disruptions in their business

operations will have a significant impact on Ghana's growth and development. Hence imperative

and appropriate to employ them into the present study.

Moreover, according to Ritter and Pederson (2020), although digitalization is not new to scholars

and practicing managers, the potential effects of the pandemic in either halting or accelerating

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the process of adoption of emerging technologies remains underexplored. According to some

studies, many firms have the opportunity to develop new capabilities and strategies, such as

increasing their digital presence, automating some processes, creating cost structures that are

more flexible, having access to the appropriate technology, and creating safe substitutes for

online ordering, shipping, and distribution. According to studies, these concepts should be

explored since they are critical for the reopening of businesses in the post-COVID-19 era

(Caligiuri, De Cieri, Minbaeva, Verbeke & Zimmermann, 2020; Deloitte, 2020b; Henke, Puri &

Saleh, 2020; Korn, 2020).

Subsequently, Richter (2020) believed that COVID-19-related public measures (e.g. lockdown,

social distancing) act as enablers for digital activity, albeit with a plethora of problems for

organisations. These concerns relate to productivity (Carnevale & Hatak, 2020), which depends

on an organisation's digital age, skills and mindset of employees. Therefore, even if the

operations of the organisations are being digitalized, simply building up the structure is

insufficient since people need to be trained in order to develop their digital mindset and abilities.

Thus, the need for organisations to invest into developing training programs at the expense of

substantially reduced revenues.

The dearth of such studies regarding the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Ghanaian

industrial environment, particularly its influence on organisations' adaptations of digitalized

human resource management systems and the effect of the digitized systemic practices on

employees' development and wellbeing, is evident despite the abundance of studies related to

pandemic challenges in the existing literature. This represents a knowledge gap that this study

sought to fill. Adonu, Opuni, and Dorkenoo (2020) suggest that empirical research must

concentrate on the influence of COVID-19 on significant HR policies, practices, and

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interventions across industries in Ghana in order to appropriately adapt, cope, and establish

guidelines for policy and practice. That is, it is essential to modify current human resource

policies to ensure a fair distribution of responsibility between the organization and the employee.

Also, the study makes three main contributions to literature. First, the study enriches the

knowledge and understanding of digitally oriented or hybrid business models in response to

COVID-19 pandemic. This also enriches the literature on COVID-19 and the impact on

organisations and their work systems. Secondly, the study contributes to the human resource

management literature by providing insights into the practices that are crucial for supporting the

effective transformation of organisations’ work systems during pandemics. Finally, the study

broadens our understanding of COVID-19 effects on employees’ wellbeing, and thus extend the

knowledge on the drivers of employees’ wellbeing.

1.2 Research Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore and understand the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic

in the Ghanaian industrial environment, especially, its influence on organisations’ adaptions of

digitalized human resource management practices and how the practices affected employees’

development and wellbeing.

1.3 Research Objectives

To address the issues raised above, specifically, this study seeks to:

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i. Explore how organisations redesigned their work systems to respond to

government policies on COVID-19 pandemic

ii. Explore the dynamics of the functionalities of the organisations digitalized

HRM practices.

iii. Determine the essential capabilities required of firms to ensure survival and

competitiveness in the post- COVID-19 era.

iv. Investigate how firms are positioning themselves to acquire and or utilize

these capabilities to ensure survival and competitiveness.

v. Explore the influence of COVID-19 and organisational responses on

employees’ mental and emotional wellbeing.

vi. Assess how organisations facilitate employee training and development so as

to develop their skills and mind-set to match up with these adjustments.

1.4 Research Questions

To address the objectives of the study, this study therefore seeks to explore the following

research questions.

i. How do the organisations, in response to government policies on COVID-19

pandemic, redesigned their work systems?

ii. What are the functional dynamics of the organisations digitalized HRM

practices?

iii. What essential capabilities are required of firms to ensure survival and

competitiveness in the post- COVID-19 era?

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iv. How are firms positioning themselves to acquire and or utilize these

capabilities to ensure survival and competitiveness?

v. What is the influence of COVID-19 and organisational responses on

employees’ mental and emotional wellbeing?

vi. How does organisation’s facilitate employee training and development so as

to develop their skills and mind-set to match up with these adjustments?

1.5 Significance of the Study

This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge and emergent literature on COVID-19,

organisations' work systems, human resource management, and employee’s wellbeing which

arguably have been rarely studied. The study is relevant to inform employers, human resource

managers, and other organisational stakeholders about the significance of fostering an

environment that will support employee well-being amidst adverse conditions such as the global

pandemic and the ability to respond to abrupt dynamic changes by using cutting-edge strategies

that have a substantial effect on today's business environment and favorably influence

organisational outcomes.

1.6 Research Methodology

It is worth noting that all academic literature employs procedures for reaching conclusions based

on issues raised by a researcher (Boateng, 2018). The interpretative or constructivist paradigm

which is based on a relativist ontology approach that views reality as inter-subjective

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understandings based on social and experiential meanings and understandings served as the

research's philosophical foundation for the purposes of this study. To discover organisations and

solicit their involvement, a qualitative research and a purposive sampling technique were utilized.

This method was chosen because it allowed the researcher to investigate and gain deeper insights

into the phenomenon under investigation (Eisenhardt, 1989; Yin, 2013).

The population of interest in this study comprised of medium- to large firms from the service

sector of Ghana’s economy. The participating medium- large firms from the Service sector

include; Telecommunication, Transport, Health, Education, Pharmaceutical, Financial, Tourism

and Hospitality sectors. Furthermore, the primary data for this study was acquired through a

semi-structured interview which was however, supplemented by firm records, public web-based

information, and news articles. Thematic and descriptive analyses approach was used to analyse

and discuss the themes gleaned from the data. Important common themes from the obtained data

was identified and discussed in the findings section. Ethical protocols like the confidentiality of

information, voluntary participation, right for participants to withdraw from the study, approved

informed consent by respondents were well adhered to in the course of gathering data for the

study.

1.7 Research Limitations and Recommendation

The study employed a qualitative approach where persons in management positions have a

tendency to suppress crucial information. As a result, future research might employ a mixed-

method approach to get a diversity of views and a greater understanding of the research issue.

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Despite this, the study is credible, and its value to research and practice is not diminished in any

way.

1.8 Study Disposition

The study is divided into five chapters. Chapter one focuses on the study's background, statement

of the problem, study objectives, research questions, and significance of the study. The second

chapter presents detailed review of related theoretical and empirical literature relevant to the

study as well as conceptual framework. Chapter three discusses the methodology. It focuses on

the processes utilized to conduct this research, including the study design, population, sampling

technique and size, data collection instrument, and data analysis approach. The established

validity and reliability of the data obtained as well as the ethical standards adhered during the

study are also examined. The fourth chapter comprises the data presentation, as well as the

study's analysis and discussion. The fifth chapter focuses on the study's summary and

conclusions. It also includes limitations and suggestions for practice and future research.

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CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

This chapter reviews various literature related to the constructs on COVID-19, business models,

digitalization, and human resource management practices. This chapter is organized into the

following sections; evolution and definition of concepts, theoretical framework, review of

empirical studies and the conceptual framework designed for the study.

2.1 Evolution of a Business Model

According to Markides (2013), Lang was the first to introduce the term "business model" in 1947.

Osterwalder, Pigneur and Tucci (2005) revealed that, it first appeared in the title and abstract of a

research by Jones in 1960, as well as in a 1957 academic paper by Bellman, Clark, Malcolm,

Craft, and Ricciardi. According to Zott, Amit and Massa (2011), business models have grown in

popularity in administration studies since the early 2000s, notably in subfields such as strategic

administration (Baden-Fuller, Demil, Lecocq & MacMillan, 2010), innovative thinking

(Schneider & Spieth, 2013), and entrepreneurialism (Demil, Lecocq, Ricart & Zott, 2015).

In addition, Wirtz, Pistoia, Ulrich and Göttel (2016) mentioned that, business model has been

related to information technology since the 1970s, most prominently in business modeling. The

enormous growth in the number of references to the business model in the literature has greatly

aided attempts to theoretically and practically define this concept. Regardless of how far business

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model research has progressed over the years, the business model literature remains

heterogeneous and eclectic. The term has frequently been confused with other noteworthy

management literature concepts such as strategy, business idea, revenue model, economic model,

or even business process modeling (DaSilva & Trkman, 2014; Morris, Schindehutte & Allen,

2005).

Given the various perspectives on business model, it was broadly acknowledged that it

definitions typically comprised those aspects that generate the notion of value. The value

proposition, in particular, is frequently centered on the products and services offered, or the

value incorporated into the firm's services (Afuah & Tucci, 2003; Osterwalder, Pigneur & Tucci,

2005; Voelpel, Leibold, & Tekie, 2004). The firm's resource-based perspective (RBV) (see Amit

& Zott, 2001; Seppänen & Mäkinen, 2007; Morris, Schindehutte & Allen, 2005; Seppänen, 2009)

was also shown to be useful for the business model idea. Aside from the term resources, terms

like strategic resources, assets, competences, information, or even technology or brand all refer

to the tangible or intangible content of a company and its business model. Additionally, Zott,

Amit and Massa, (2011), found that, vast majority of existing research on business models

supports an activity system approach, which is a collection of interrelated organisational

activities centered on a focal company.

Notwithstanding these variations in the understanding of the term and conception of business

models, existing literature indicates a growing integration in meaning (Teece, 2010). According

to Morris, Schindehutte and Allen (2005), the business model concept has evolved rapidly over

the last decade, both operationally and strategically. The operational perspective deals with value

generation and value capture rationalization. According to Morris et. al. (2005), the operational

perspective includes architectural arrangement that allows the organisation to produce value.

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This architectural method incorporates the firm's internal procedures and resources (Amit & Zott,

2001, 2015; Johnson, Christensen & Kagermann, 2008; Osterwalder et. al., 2005; Timmers, 1998;

Voelpel, Leibold, Tekie & von Krogh, 2005; Wells, 2016). The strategic perspective addresses

the future long - term viability of value creation.

Many scholars believe that strategy is critical when examining business model aspects. For

example, Hamel (2000) saw core strategy as a key (first-order) component of a business model.

A group of authors also mentions competitive strategy (Chesbrough, 2007; Chesbrough &

Rosenbloom, 2002; Kujala, Artto, Aaltonen & Turkulainen, 2010; Morris et. al., 2005). They are

all in agreement that it must outline how the business will obtain and maintain an edge over

competitors. However, although Richardson (2008) mainly agreed, he believes that basic strategy

to acquire consumers and establish a competitive advantage is a second-order concept that relates

to value proposition.

On the other hand, some authors do not comprehensively use the term strategy inside the

business model framework. For example, Onetti, Zucchella, Jones and McDougall-Covin (2012),

rely on contingencies that may develop in a competitive situation (Casadesus-Masanell & Ricart,

2010; Tikkanen, Lamberg, Parvinen & Kallunki, 2005), and as a whole, strategy emphasizes the

necessity of positioning (Magretta, 2002). According to Shafer, Smith and Linder (2005),

whereas strategy is all about making decisions, a business model reflects those strategic

decisions as well as their operational implications.

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2.1.1 Concept of Business Models

A business model, according to Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010), is a "blueprint" that is enacted

through organisational formations, procedures, and process. Nonetheless, distinguishing between

business models and strategy is crucial. Business models are concerned with the logic of the

organisation, which focuses on financial and value generation components in businesses,

whereas strategy is the plan to perform a certain set of actions while concentrating on

competitors (see Magretta, 2002; Mansfield & Fourie, 2004; Seddon, Lewis, Freeman & Shanks

2004, p. 428). Business models illustrate a company's current or future position by providing

simple depictions of some or all aspects of how they do business (Becker, Ulrich, Botzkowski &

Eurich, 2017).

Alt and Zimmermann (2001) defined business models as "having six generic components:

mission (which describes the overall vision and value proposition), structure (which defines the

addressed industry, customers, and products), processes (which depicts customer orientation and

coordination mechanism), revenues (which describe the sources of revenues), legal issues, and

technology (which can also influence all other components due to emerging technologies)".

According to Lüdeke-Freund, Gold and Bocken (2019), business models have four

interconnected value dimensions: value proposition, delivery, creation, and capture. As a result,

the development of a new business model is guided by a value proposition (Jaakkola & Hakanen,

2013; Nenonen & Storbacka, 2010; Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010).

A new business model is defined as "the design process for bringing a relatively innovation to

market, which is accompanied by an adjustment of the value proposition and/or the value

constellation and aims at generating or securing a sustainable competitive advantage" by Wirtz,

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Pistoia, Ullrich, and Göttel (2016). The concept of new business models is founded on

comprehending the gestalt of organisations engaged in new internet-based methods of

conducting business, as well as the new positions which these businesses perform in their

specific environments (Zott, Amit, &Massa, 2011). There is an acknowledgment that a business

model is not a fixed element, but rather one that requires continual innovation and iteration in

response to external environmental conditions (Voelpel, Leibold & Tekie, 2004). For instance,

according to Fossen Van, Morfin and Evans (2018), virtual space may be used as an innovation

platform to enable new business models.

According to Johnson, Christensen, and Kagermann (2008), a profitable firm leverages its

resources (people, technology, tangible and intangible assets) and engages in the relevant

activities (trainings, development, production, budgeting, planning, and selling) to create value

for the organisation. Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010) developed the Canvas model in response to

Johnson et. al.’s (2008)' thinking on business models.

2.1.2 Business Model Canvas

The Business Model Canvas, created by Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010), is a tool for describing

how businesses operate. It is made up of nine components: value propositions, customer

segments, channels, customer connections, revenue streams, key resources, key activities, key

partners, and cost structures. According to Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010), cited by Erävala,

Salmela and Lampela (2020), a value proposition is a firm's ability to address a customer

problem or meet a customer demand and is at the heart of any company's business intentions.

The various groups of clients that a firm want to target and retain are defined as customer

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segments. When a firm identifies its ideal customers, the appropriate business model must be

founded on a thorough understanding of their necessities. Channels specify how a service or

product will be delivered to clients. A company's interaction with its consumers is comprised of

distribution, online marketplaces, and communication. Customer relationships, according to

Erävala, Salmela, and Lampela (2020), are designed to have an impact on the whole customer

experience. Client engagements are frequently linked to increased revenue, customer acquisition,

and retention.

The revenue streams show how much money a company generates from each customer category.

Revenue streams are frequently cost drivers and provide fundamental information about a

company’s financial position. Physical (buildings, equipment), intellectual (know-how, patents,

information), financial (funds and sources of income), and human resources are the four

categories of a company's core resources (employees and external partners). Knowing which

core activities are critical to the firm's performance allows it to function successfully. Problem-

solving methodologies, networking, and product quality are examples of key business model

activities. The network of suppliers and partners that enables the business model to function is

where key partnerships are formed. The kind of business model determines the cost structure,

which outlines all of the expenditures connected with a certain business model (Osterwalder &

Pigneur, 2010 as cited by Erävala, Salmela, & Lampela, 2020).

According to Coes (2014), the Business Model Canvas has received substantial criticism for not

taking into consideration external forces such as competition, market variables and other

dynamic conditions, as well as the value proposition's narrowness, because it concentrates on

providing value with earnings on return. However, the Business Model Canvas, is extensively

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used to explain firms' profit-making strategies and value proposition in addressing consumer's

needs and preferences.

2.2 The Concept of Digitalization

According to Saarikko, Westergren and Blomquist (2020), digitalization is the sociotechnical

process of using electronic experiences or create new organisational strategies, business models,

or economic possibilities. In other words, "digitalization refers to the process of converting

elements of a company's value chain activities and business models to digital platforms by

leveraging emerging digital technologies such as mobile and visual connectivity, cloud

computing, robotics, smart phones, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, additive

manufacturing, 3-D printing, and the Internet of Things (IoT)" (Soto-Acosta, 2020).

Digitalization has been regarded as the most major technological development affecting both

society and business (Leviäkangas, 2016; Parviainen, Tihinen, Kääriäinen & Teppola, 2017).

According to Warhurst and Hunt (2019), the digitalization enabled by fast technology innovation

has the potential to boost human productivity by making products and services production more

efficient and effective. Warhurst and Hunt (2019) posit that, in order to achieve productivity

increases, businesses must invest more in the dissemination of digital skills, recruit the proper

people, and foster a collaborative atmosphere that incorporates people more.

Past research has discovered that improved business procedure, new cooperative

activities, customer involvement, and a greater rate of innovation are driving considerations in

digitalization (Adomako, Amankwah-Amoah, Tarba & Khan, 2021; Rachinger, Rauter, Müller,

Vorraber & Schirgi, 2019). According to Ritter and Pederson (2020), digitalization enhances the

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ease of doing business and may help organisations develop and strengthen competitive positions.

However, although becoming digital has several advantages, it also necessitates investments and

related expenditures (Ahmad & Murray, 2019). In addition, Ross (2017) noted that, digitalization

may however, have both anticipated (e.g., digital monitoring) and unanticipated (e.g., cybercrime)

long-term consequences as with other new technology.

2.2.1. Digital Domains

Digitization, digitalization, and digital transformation are examples of these. As digital

technology pervades business, the economy, and society, distinguishing between these concepts

has become increasingly critical. This is because, few publications differentiate between

digitalization, digitization, and digital transformation, which are occasionally discussed

interchangeably in the literature (Reis, Amorim, Melo & Matos, 2018; Eling & Lehmann, 2018),

or there appears to be some misunderstanding surrounding the usage of terminology (Clerck,

2017). Common elements associated with the aforementioned concepts include digital

innovation, digital disruption, digital convergence, and digital transformation, which are various

companies' ability to compete when digitalization changes the dynamics of core technologies and

core markets (Åkesson, Sørensen & Eriksson, 2018). Digitization and digitalization, according to

Owens and Padilla (2020), are visually similar concepts that are closely related and frequently

used interchangeably. Figure 2.1 below depicts how the three digital domains are interconnected

to one another.

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Figure- 2.2: The three digital domains (Saarikko, Westergren & Blomquist, 2020)

According to Gartner's Glossary (2021), digitalization is the use of digital technology to alter a

business model and create new revenue and value-creating possibilities. The process of

digitalization transforms a traditional firm into a digital business or a business that heavily relies

on digital technology (SAP Insights, 2021; Madlenak, Madlenakova & Rudawska, 2017).

Whereas digitization discusses a technology—or set of technologies—in terms of what it is and

what it can do, digitalization explains why this technology is useful to a particular process or

organisation.

In contrast, digital transformation refers to the "process that attempts to upgrade an entity by

generating major changes to its attributes via the use of information, computer, communication,

and networking technologies" (Vial, 2019, p. 121). Digital transformation, sometimes referred to

as strategic business transformation, is customer-focused and necessitates organisational and

cultural change. To expand markets and increase customer base, it also makes use of digital

technology. The three digital domains may appear simple at first glance, but their centrality for

value generation, management, business strategy, and organisational behavior all mask differing

degrees of complexity.

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2.2.2. Digitalization drivers:

2.2.2.1. Shift to remote working

The term "remote working" refers to performing activities from a place other than the office,

such as a virtual location (Wang, Liu, Qian & Parker, 2021). Following the current pandemic's

worldwide crisis, many firms have nearly overnight shifted to remote working arrangements.

Firms are increasingly developing and deploying videoconferencing and remote collaboration

solutions to better their remote-working operations (Cortez, 2020). According to the World

Economic Forum (2020), 84% of employers in 15 industry sectors across 26 advanced and

emerging countries intend to rapidly digitalize working processes, including a significant

expansion of remote work, with the potential to move more than 40% of their workforce to

operate remotely.

2.2.2.2. Paperless Offices and Organisations

According to Hudson (2012), organisations are increasingly using laptops, large storage devices,

tablets, smartphones and high-speed wireless internet as tools for digitalization and paperless

operations. Many businesses are learning that digitalizing some or all of their operations is a

must in the new digital economy. Firms may expedite operations and reduce administration and

processing costs by transitioning from paper version to a digitally-oriented approach to data

storage, dissemination, and processing (Smith, 2019). With technology advancements, firms may

now not only have paperless workspaces, but also become digital organisations in order to cut

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costs, recover from disasters, and reduce time-consuming processes that frequently hinder new

projects.

2.3 Human Resource Management

Human resource management was renamed from personnel management in the 1980s as a result

of the study of renowned economist Michael Porter, who believes that any organisation's

performance is determined by its people (Porter, 1980). This overhaul was prompted by the

expanding economic recession, rapid industrialization, and technology improvements on entities

(O'Riordan, 2017). According to Taylor (2011), the shift from personnel to human resource

management marked not just novel terminology, but also substantial shifts in managerial thought.

Contemporary human resource management (HRM) involves strategic planning or operations,

whereas personnel management is confined to activities relating to recruiting, placement, and

legal compliance.

For Armstrong and Taylor (2020), human resource management is engaged with how individuals

are hired, managed and trained in firms. According to Olasoji (2019), human resource

management's major objective is to optimize employee effectiveness in order to boost

organisational productivity. Human resource (HR) professionals constantly seek to orient

themselves as organisational strategic partners who actively support organisational strategy and

adapt rapidly to ever-changing business challenges to support the HRM function's credibility and

legitimacy and to strengthen its own responsibility within organisations (De Gama, McKenna &

Peticca-Harris, 2012; Ulrich & Brockbank, 2009).

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2.3.1 Human Resource Management Practices

For the purpose of this study, it is obvious that there is a need to focus on practices that enable

the organisation to survive a crucial period. Therefore, the study focuses on three HR practices

that are deemed relevant to this study. These are: acclimating firms to the current reality through

promoting employee well-being, training and development, and maintaining work-life balance.

2.3.1.1. Human Resource Management and Employee Wellbeing

Voorde, Paauwe, and Veldhoven (2012) defined employee well-being in the workplace as the

total quality of an employee's experience that may be assessed in terms of happiness, physical

and mental health, and social wellness. This definition by Voorde, Paauwe, and Veldhoven

(2012) can be categorized into three: psychological wellbeing, physical wellbeing, and social

wellbeing. Psychological wellbeing examines employees' satisfaction levels with workplace

practices, feelings, and attitudes about work context (Brunetto, Shaclock, Teo & Farr-Wharton,

2014); physical wellbeing examines employees' health outcomes such as accidents and stress;

and social wellbeing includes employees' perception of equity, quality, and quantity of

workplace (Grant, Christianson & Price, 2007).

When it comes to human resource management, there are two differing perspectives on the role

of employers in employee well-being. According to the first perspective, which emphasizes

mutual gains, HRM benefits both employers and employees, while the second perspective, which

emphasizes conflicting outcomes, contends that HRM either has no negative influence on

employee wellbeing (Voorde et. al., 2012). However, because people are an employer's most

important asset, complex cases such as the pandemic require firms to place a greater emphasis on

employee well-being (Bingham, 2020). Thus, in this unprecedented period, the pandemic makes

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it imperative for HRM experts who are assigned to protect the safety and wellbeing of employees

to recognize and tackle the concerns of employees (Leon, 2020). The importance of workplace

well-being is vital to employees in terms of sustaining good health, as well as to managers and

organisations (Kowalski & Loretto, 2017). Evidence demonstrates that employee well-being is

related to performance, withdrawal behaviors, work engagement, stress, and work-life balance

(Tuzovic & Kabadayi, 2021). As a result, managers must consider the issue of employee well-

being in adverse condition such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

2.3.1.2. Human Resource Management and Training and Development

Adjirackor, Dweh, Agarwal, Oppong, Darko, and Gagakuma (2016) defined training as a

structured strategy for enhancing individual, team, and organisational success. Training

facilitates the development of technical, human, cognitive, and managerial skills in order to

improve individual and organisational performance (Kulkarni, 2013). According to Przytula,

Strzelec, and Krysiska-Kociaska (2020), institutions must reskill and up skill their staff to suit

the demands of the new ‘remote economy' environment. The main challenge for HRM

practitioners in this situation may be associated with the development of a training program that

is tailored to the new reality of the organisation and its employees, as well as the selection of

appropriate training methods, taking physical distancing measures and the need to have

employees efficient and effective immediately in order to sustain the core operations. Devyania,

Jewanc, Bansal, and Denge (2020) advised changing workers' training programs to preserve a

long-term transition to the new working methods. Because employees are seen as a crucial

component of every corporation, having a significant effect on its productivity, success, and

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growth, organisations must invest extensively in employee development (Hameed & Waheed,

2011).

Development, on the other hand, prepares individuals for numerous opportunities inside the firm

and boosts their ability to advance in their careers. In practice, developing people involves

expanding not only their capabilities but also the business.

2.3.1.3. Human Resource Management and Work-Life Balance

In the competitive corporate environment of today, when remote work has become the norm, HR

managers confront the challenge of maintaining work-life balance of employees. This is due to

managers having to manage distant personnel and teams that they have never managed before

(Gartner, 2020). Employees had to cope with childcare during the pandemic since schools and

training were suspended, as well as the increased workload that comes with the switch to remote

working. Due to the increased duties, according to Giurge and Bohns (2021) it might be difficult

to set appropriate boundaries between work and family life.

In addition, according to Carnevale and Hatak (2020), when the employment setting presents a

new environment that does not meet these demands of optimal functioning, employees'

objectives are drastically affected and they may not adequately fit-in work context, as in the case

of the current pandemic, resulting in incongruences in work and personal life.

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2.4 Theoretical Framework

The General System Theory, Resource- Based View Theory and the Dynamic Capability Theory

were used to describe the constructs under exploration in this work.

2.4.1 The General System Theory

Ludwig von Bertalanffy introduced "General Systems Theory" with lectures in 1937, followed

by publications beginning in 1946 (von Bertalanffy, 1967). Bertalanffy's Systems Theory is built

on the notion that nothing can be explained by disassociating a system component. Systems

Theory aids in establishing a knowledge of the system in which one is involved and how

changing one part of that system may affect it. The General System Theory is based on several

assumptions, some of which are: the composition of sub-systems; the ability to serve as gestalt,

synergism, and wholeness; the supposition of open systems; homeostasis, steady state, and

dynamic equilibrium; the capacity of any system to pursue several goals at once; and the ability

of systems to reach desired states by various and alternate approaches (Kast & Rosenzweig,

1972).

A system is described as an entity that is a unified whole (Ng, Maull, & Yip, 2009), with a

boundary recognized around it to identify internal and external parts, as well as to define input

and output pertaining to and arising from the entity (Aldrich, 1979). Beer (1972) considered a

system as an entity that can adapt to survive in a changing environment. Systems thinking comes

from the shift in attention from the part to the whole (Checkland, 1997; Weinberg, 2001)

considering the observed reality as an integrated and interacting unicuum of phenomena where

the individual properties of the single parts become indistinct. In contrast, the links between the

components and the events they create as a method of interaction become significantly more

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essential, resulting in "system parts being logically coupled" (Luhmann, 1990) towards a shared

objective. Many subsystems have been built on the basis of Generic Systems Theory. Some

examples are 'Open System Theory, Viable System Model, and Viable System Approach.'

2.4.1.1 Theory of Open System (OST)

This reflects on the ability of organisations to adjust to changes in external conditions (whether

or not information processing is necessary) (Boulding, 1956; Katz & Kahn, 1978). According to

this theory, entities that can comprehend information about their own individual surroundings are

more adaptable to changes in contextual situations. There are two orders of adaptive levels

recognized, "counteraction – first level (processing information from an organism's environment),

related to the ability to steer through personal purposeful behavior (Ashby, 1958);

amplification – second level, related to constructivism theory (as opposed to realism), leading to

work on self-organisation" (Von Foerster, 1981).

2.4.1.2 The Viable System Model (VSM)

The VSM allows for the scientific design of an organisation as a system with the regulatory,

learning, and adaptive capabilities required to ensure its survival (viability) in the face of

changes that may occur in its environment over time, even if they were not anticipated in its

design. To achieve this survivability, the VSM proposes an invariant systemic structure based on

the definition of five components, referred to as Systems One to Five, that are considered

sufficient and necessary conditions for dealing with the system's operating environment's

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complexity. System 1–3 (Brain of the Firm, pg. 167) are focused on the current functioning of

the organisation, System 4 is focused with the 'there and then' - strategic responses to the

organisation's external, environmental, and future needs (Brain of the Firm, pg. 181). System 5 is

concerned with striking a balance between the 'here and now' and the 'there and then' in order to

deliver policy directions that keeps the organisation afloat (Brain of the Firm, pg. 201).

2.4.1.3 The Viable System Approach (VSA)

The VSA was developed within the Italian scientific community (Golinelli, 2000, 2010; Barile,

2000, 2009) and is based on an upgraded version of Beer's Viable System Model (Golinelli, 2000,

2010; Barile, 2000, 2009). As previously stated, the VSA emerged from the early works of

Barile (2000) and Golinelli (2000) in the disciplinary field of business management, following a

rich research stream of systems theories such as the theories of open and closed systems (von

Bertalanffy, 1968), socio-technical systems (Emery & Trist, 1960), the law of requisite variety

(Ashby 1958), and systems dynamics (Forrester 1994). Two key variables can affect the

dynamics and complexity of a system, both of which are driven by value co-creation with clients

(Vargo, Maglio, & Akaka, 2008). First, component knowledge (for each type of transformation);

and second, architectural or system knowledge (for understanding integration and how the value

proposition will enable value co-creation with customers) (Ng, Maull & Smith, 2011).

Its overall schemes are helpful for interpreting the concept of complexity because they

emphasize its systemic nature and aid in the investigation of its implications for decision making

(Barile, 2009). When acting in complex situations, the VSA enables identifying (and qualifying)

pertinent stakeholders who influence decision making and the actions that must be taken to

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achieve long-term performance. In addition, this approach proposes a new interpretation of

consolidated strategic organisational and managerial models: sub-systems and supra-systems.

Sub-systems analyze the relationships between the internal components of enterprises, whereas

supra-systems analyze the connections between enterprises and other influencing systemic

entities in their context (Golinelli, 2005; Barile, 2008).

The researcher believes that the notions and principles of General System Theory will assist in

establishing the insight necessary for recognizing a firm's activities and processes as a coherent

entity. According to General System Theory, decisions to update aspects of a firm's business

systems or develop new business models as a response plan to external situations must take other

elements or systems into consideration in order to achieve effective functioning. For example, in

order to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic by implementing various survivalist techniques

(such as the use of digital technologies and the implementation of new business designs, among

others), organisations must be well focused on their human capital resources, including

employees, whose well-being may be directly or indirectly affected as a result of those strategic

responses to the COVID-19 pandemic to attain a state of equilibrium.

2.4.2 The Resource- Based View Theory

This theory was first introduced by Barney (1991). It tries to establish a link between diverse

resources and competitive advantage. The ideology was inspired by Penrose's (1959) study, in

which she emphasizes managerial resources as a crucial source of growth. According to Penrose

(1959), internal management resources are both accelerators and constraints to the expansion that

any one organisation may pursue. Since Barney's (1991) article laying out the core theoretical

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framework and standards for determinants of sustained competitive advantage, the RBV has

been by far the most often adopted theory within Strategic Human Resource Management, both

in theory creation and as the justification for empirical research (McMahan, Virick & Wright,

1999). The RBV has had a considerable impact on academic study as well as business strategy.

It also analyses the internal sources of long-term competitive advantage in order to explain

variances across enterprises in the same industry (Kraaijenbrink, Spender & Groen, 2010).

The RBV Theory emphasizes that resources must have different characteristics to provide

advantage. As per Habbershon and Williams (1999), Barney (1991) identified four features of

such resources. This includes "(a) it must be valuable in the context that it exploits opportunities

and/or neutralizes risks in a firm's environment, (b) it must be uncommon among a firm's present

and future rivals, (c) it must be imperfectly imitable, and (d) there should not be strategic

equivalent replacements for this resource that are valuable" (Barney, 1991 as cited by

Habbershon & Williams, 1999). "The RBV Theory explains competitive heterogeneity by

assuming that close rivals differ significantly in their resources and capabilities across time"

(Helfat & Peteraf, 2003).

According to Wernerfelt (1984), a resource is "everything that may be viewed as a strength or

weakness of a particular organisation whose tangible assets are connected "semi-permanently" to

the business." Barney (1991) expanded this definition to "all assets, capabilities, organisational

processes, firm traits, information, knowledge, and so on that enable the business to create and

implement strategies that enhance its efficiency and effectiveness." According to Barney

(1991) the three forms of resources are physical capital resources, human capital resources, and

organisational capital resources. Fixed assets, brand names, technology, and geographical

location are examples of physical capital resources. Individual managers' and workers'

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experience, skills, and intellect are examples of human capital resources. Organisational capital

resources comprise the structure, planning, controlling, and coordinating processes of the

organisation. These valuable resources according to Barney (1991) and Amit and Schoemaker

(1993) are termed strategic assets. The RBV Theory, like many other management science

concepts, has been subjected to many types of criticism, with some researchers claiming that it is

only a point of view rather than a theory (Arend & Lévesque, 2010; Kraaijenbrink, Spender &

Groen, 2010). Nonetheless, despite the concerns, RBV continues to inform a significant amount

of research in organisational and strategic management. In applying the RBV Theory to this

study, it serves as a means to demonstrate an explanation of the managerial approach used to

determine the strategic resources or capabilities a firm can exploit to achieve long-term

competitive advantage. As a result, since organisations are confronted with COVID-19 and

adopting new business models that they believe are necessary for enhancing survival and

creating a competitive edge, it is worth emphasizing that organisations who are able to leverage

on the resources that Barney (1991) believes provide a firm critical strategic advantages over

other rivals in terms of these traits such as being rare, valuable, inimitable, and non-substitutable

are capable of preserving sustainability and competitiveness.

However, given the difficulties that the occurrence of COVID-19 has brought to firms and their

operations, it is critical to understand that understanding the RBV Theory as a means of gaining

a competitive advantage is not enough, particularly now that the market space is regarded to be

dynamic; firm's resources must also change over time to remain relevant to changing market

conditions. Teece, Pisano, and Shuen (1997) contend that this is mostly due to the firm's

dynamic capabilities. Dynamic capabilities are firm processes that employ resources, especially

procedures to incorporate, reorganize, accumulate, and utilize the resources. While RBV focuses

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on the sorts of resources and capabilities that are strategic in nature, dynamic capability focuses

on how such organisational capabilities must alter or update over time to remain relevant in a

changing economy. As a result, knowing the Dynamic Capabilities Theory, which provides a

deeper grasp of how businesses achieve long-term competitive knowledge in dynamic situations,

is essential.

2.4.3 The Dynamic Capabilities Theory

Teece and Pisano (1994) opined that Dynamic Capabilities Theory is an extension of the firm's

RBV Theory (Barney, 1986, 1991) wherein the RBV Theory is considered immobile and

incapable of describing a firm's distinct competitive edge in dynamic business conditions (Priem

& Butler, 2001). Thus, researchers have suggested that for a firm to achieve competitive

advantage, it must establish distinctive capabilities and engage in continuous learning (Hammer,

2001; Jashapara, 1993) particularly in dynamic and unpredictable market environments (Wilden,

Gudergan, Nielsen & Lings, 2013). This theory's key assumption is that an organisation's core

capabilities should be leveraged to build short-term competiveness that can be turned into long-

term competitive edge.

Teece, Pisano, and Shuen (1997) defined dynamic capabilities as a firm's capacity to integrate,

build, and reconfigure external and internal expertise. Further to that, Zaefarian, Forkmann,

Mitrga, and Henneberg (2017) defined dynamic capability as “the continuous renewal of an

organisation's business processes or operational capabilities in order to match the company's

resources with the changing business environment”. It suggests that the organisation establish

strategic partnerships in response to changing business demands. As a response, when global

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competitive dynamics shift industrial settings, the dynamic capabilities approach becomes

extremely important.

The early proponents of dynamic capabilities claimed that, they have a direct connection with

firm performance (Teece et al., 1997). The direct link between firms’ performance and dynamic

capabilities has been studied by Zollo and Winter (2002). However, Eisenhardt and Martin

(2000), for example, suggest that dynamic capabilities by itself does not ensure a firm's

competitive advantage. Rather, the organisation and positioning of the firm's resources as a result

of dynamic capacities is more competent than competition. According to Eisenhardt and Martin

(2000, p. 1117), the only way these dynamic capabilities may provide a competitive advantage is

if they are deployed "sooner, more succinctly, or more serendipitously." Clearly, the ability to

employ dynamic skills "quicker or more succinctly" is a capability in and of itself.

Therefore, it is pivotal to stress that Resource-Based View Theory and Dynamic Capabilities

Theory are not mutually exclusive; rather, they are major elements in understanding competitive

advantage, mainly in a rapidly changing context (Ambrosini & Bowman, 2009; Barreto, 2010;

Wang & Ahmed, 2007; Eisenhardt & Martin, 2000).

2.5 Review of Empirical Studies

2.5.1. COVID-19 Pandemic and Digitalization of Work Systems

During the COVID-19 outbreak, Naab and Bans-Akutey (2021) conducted a study on the use of

e-business practices by SMEs in Ghana. Using a sample size of 62 respondents from Tema and

Ashaiman districts, they observed that the pandemic's presence pushed numerous SMEs to adapt

new business models. According to them, the pandemic has moved SMEs' focus to incorporating

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or expanding virtual dynamism into their operations for the benefits it provides, such as

continued sales and enhanced visibility. However, according to Naab and Bans- Akutey' (2021),

many of these initiatives to embrace new business models have been hampered by challenges

such as financial limits, internet connectivity, and knowledge technical expertise. They

mentioned that training in ICT, hiring an expert with ICT skills, and requesting government

financing are some of the options available to business owners to deal with these challenges.

Besides this, Thierry, Mihai, and Timber (2020) conducted a comparative study to assess how

the business models of Romanian and Dutch organisations have altered under the COVID-19

pandemic and discovered that both Romanian and Dutch organisations have significantly

adapted their business models to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis by implementing technology

innovation or variety of digital methods in their value creation and delivery. Furthermore, a case-

based study conducted by Chanyasak, Koseoglu, King and Aladag (2021) on hotel

owner/managers in Chiang Mai, Thailand, discovered that the hotels in the study adapted their

business models by cutting costs through discontinuing non-essential initiatives, intensifying

non-room earnings and adding new sources of revenue, bringing in earnings from advance

bookings, securing financial support from creditors, leveraging government support, and training

employees for the "new normal". Further to that, Polinkevych, Glonti, Baranova, Levchenko, and

Yermoshenko (2021) discovered that business models of Ukrainian insurance companies have

changed from traditional to innovative, hybrid, and digital-oriented under the influence of the

pandemic, with the main changes in insurance company business models being integrated digital

communications such as the launch of chatbots, and big data.

Krouk and Almeida (2020) also employed a qualitative study approach to investigate the impact

of COVID-19 on the sustainability of the airbnb business model. They found that, while the

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COVID-19 has touched all sectors, it has had a particularly negative impact on enterprises who

use a shared economy model in the tourism industry. However, the potential provided by digital

technologies and the pandemic for firms to re-invent their business models have been limited by

impediments like organisational inflexibility, digital divide, and unequal impacts on employee

welfare. Seetharaman, (2020) also presented two intriguing topics for future study on the

transition pathways that organisations have taken to undertake business model upgrades. Second,

she inquired about the firm's agility and dynamic capacities in capitalizing on the possibility for

change that the COVID-19 situation provided. Moreover, in a series of six qualitative research

on teaching staff involved in online teaching and learning at a university in Scotland, Webb,

McQuaid, and Webster (2021) found that the COVID-19 epidemic has increased the rate at

which digital methods of working have become embedded in organizational life and service

delivery, including new forms of learning.

A qualitative study by Addae, Amponsah and Gborti (2021) analyzed students' experiences with

the COVID-19 situation in Ghana and found that instructors used digital platforms in the

educational process adequately. Their research also found that the high cost of data and the

unpredictability of the internet point to a widespread issue throughout the African continent. This

also emphasizes the economic inequality and the uneven pattern of growth in agrarian and inner-

city areas. For Jattan and Chaudhary (2015), as cited by Paul and Lal (2018), there is little doubt

that technology-mediated instructional practices may enable curriculum change and creative

assessment approaches in response to changing instructional objectives. However, according to

Paul and Lal (2018), "digital developments in higher education are prevalent," implying that

"technology has the capacity to profoundly disrupt conventional education when used to the

teaching and learning process" (p. 18). The advent of the virus demonstrated the unavoidable

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trajectory toward digitalization in teaching and learning. Despite the obvious advantages of

digital technology in such scenarios, Hartzog (2020) believes there may be an inclination to roll

it back in the face of inadequate formulation and management.

In addition, Kronblad and Pregmark (2021) explored the quick shift toward digital business

models in Sweden in the retail and service industries. The results of a qualitative design indicated

four types of organisations (crisispreneurs1, accelerators2, endurers3 and thrivers4). Each category

has unique problems and exhibits varying degrees of intensity in their upgrade. For

example, firms who were previously on a digital path but were not yet prospering (accelerators)

tend to be the ones that anticipate that both their newly gained capabilities and their newly -

formed work and business models would persist. The authors argue that the quick shift to digital

business models will have long-term consequences since businesses have obtained

transformative skills that will last, and that the digital trajectory has, as a result, changed forever.

According to Kronblad and Pregmark (2021) analysis, while there may be a temporary spike of

quick digital adoption, a new normal has been formed, and the pace of digitalization will be

steeper and faster than previously predicted. Some writers suggest that, while a digitalization

may help firms to survive the crisis and generate new value, the digitally enabled organisations

would employ fewer people than before, resulting in a quick increase in unemployment (Kim,

Kim & Lee, 2017; Frey & Osborne, 2013). Chernoff and Warman (2020) demonstrate that

1 Crisispreneurs are organisations that have managed to release entrepreneurial capability in the current crisis and
have been creative in the development of digital value propositions not only to overcome the crisis but also in the
long run.

2 Accelerators: Are organisations that could have transformed crisis, but lacked a sense of urgency.

3 Endurers are organisations that have little chance of innovating themselves out crisis.

4 Thrivers: these organizations are fully digitalized in terms of their business model, including a digital delivery of
the service.

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COVID-19 has resulted in such impacts, with the extent of labour automation increasing

throughout the crisis. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the adoption of emerging

technologies, according to Amankwah-Amoah, Khan, Wood, and Knight (2021), may be

hampered by entrenched external interests, sentimentality, and employer competitive intensity,

along with negative effects on employee well-being that erodes effectiveness, work–life stability,

and the future of work. Amankwah-Amoah, et. al. (2021) remarked that, while digitalization

creates new possibilities, it also introduces hazards that are difficult to manage or plan for.

Furthermore, the study of Amankwah-Amoah et. al. (2021) identifies certain challenges to

digitalization adoption. Technology infrastructure, institutional restrictions, security and privacy

issues, and organisational level limits are examples of these. Rosalsky (2020) states that, some

people's long-held opinion that digital and audio-visual platforms are inferior to physical offices

is a barrier to digitalization. Some scholars feel that human resource and capacity restrictions are

another major impediment to digitalization (Effah & Nuhu, 2017), while others argue that

budgetary limits, institutional bottlenecks, and a lack of commitment from top management are

impediments to digitalization. Therefore, because of digital working, there may be concerns

about increased scrutiny, danger, and collaborate balance difficulties.

Digitalization may be a critical component of post-pandemic industrial strategy, but it may also

pose several concerns and challenges. According to some hopeful reports, digitalization may

increase business competitiveness while boosting worker status (Shibata, 2021). COVID-19 has

heightened the stakes in terms of digital access and participation. Some online engagement may

subside when new measures become available, allowing for more in-person contacts. However,

in areas where the pandemic has worked as a motivator, like as telework and e-commerce, it is

likely to continue to rise. This keeps pressure on building high-quality networking while also

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enhancing people's and businesses' capacity to employ more complex digital solutions (OECD,

2020).

2.5.2. COVID-19 Pandemic and Digitalization of HRM Practices

Vnoučková (2020) conducted a study on the impact of COVID-19 on human resource

management, highlighting some changes in HR practices that create challenges for top

management to develop a response team, strategize work, reflect, and modify policy and

activities to current situation on a daily, if not hourly, basis. According to Vnoučková (2020), the

changes in human resource due to COVID-19 influence on human resource procedures has had a

substantial effect on their business particularly in organisations that lack the adaptive capacity to

these improvements.

Aurelia and Momin (2020) also examined COVID-19's influence on human resource

management. In terms of training and development, according to Aurelia and Momin (2020), the

COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way companies train in novel ways. Organisations of all

sizes and sectors are looking at technology solutions to help with their training and development

initiatives. This is supporting the increasing demands for technology-driven training programs.

Meaning that, core competencies have shifted, necessitating the development of new skills.

Employers, managers, and corporate leaders are all under pressure to retrain and reskill. The

majority of them claim COVID-19 and the ensuing economic crisis have increased the need to

learn new skills. Emerging technologies, in particular, are playing an important role in helping to

create novel methods to enable individuals of all ages improve knowledge and skills (Mulvie,

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2021), and have nearly become the only accessible choice to ensure staff development during the

COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, Mikołajczyk (2021) carried out a qualitative study in Poland. Utilizing 19 in-depth

interviews with professional HR managers to probe the direction and extent of changes in the

approach organisations have taken to employee development because of the COVID-19

pandemic, discovered that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted developmental processes in

organisations. Mikołajczyk (2021) also observed lower employee involvement and exhaustion as

a result of the utilization of many online development programs.

According to the fundamental conclusion of a research done in August by The Association for

Talent Development (2020), the global health and economic crisis has had three key

consequences on the state of labor skills. To begin with, it is boosting the demand for new

skillset. Second, it limits opportunities for skill development. Third, it is reskilling and however,

increasing the workforce's stress and vulnerability. According to several recent study findings,

creating a lifelong learning mentality in employees improves both actual and perceived career

success (Drewery, Sproule & Pretti, 2020), and employee professional development also boosts

job satisfaction and decreases turnover (Glazer, Mahoney & Randall, 2019).

According to several recent study findings, creating a lifelong learning mentality in employees

improves both actual and perceived career success (Drewery, Sproule & Pretti, 2020), and

employee professional development also boosts job satisfaction and decreases turnover (Glazer,

Mahoney & Randall, 2019). It should be underlined that researchers should recognize an

expanded realm of development activities and include employee-driven development into

classical development theory (Dachner, Ellingson, Noe & Saxton, 2019). According to Stefaniuk

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