Managing restaurants during the COVID-19 crisis: Innovating to survive and prosper

Factors in the disaster mitigation process for micro and small culinary enterprises in Indonesia

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has predisposed most business activities, including the culinary business. The higher the vulnerability rating of a business, the more significant the risk. This study aims to analyse the vulnerability of businesses based on the dimensions of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity to determine priority factors in disaster risk mitigation in order to maintain business continuity. This research was conducted in Surakarta City, Central Java province, Indonesia. The sample was selected using purposive random sampling based on business experience of at least two years, and were not hawkers. Data collection was carried out through structured interviews. This study utilised a qualitative approach using an index. The vulnerability model was developed to assess the vulnerability of culinary businesses to COVID-19. COVID-19 is a threat in the health industry from the macro external environment of business. It is considered the exposure dimension. The sensitivity dimension consists of business characteristics, business owner-manager demographics, and product and supplier characteristics. The demographic dimension of the business owner-manager has high vulnerability and has a high contribution to the sensitivity variable as the most vulnerable variable. The adaptive capacity dimension consists of human capital, economic capital, institutional capital, managerial capital, and supply chain capital. Managerial competencies are an adaptive capacity dimension that has a high vulnerability. The vulnerability of business to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic is a model for culinary business managers and owners in determining priority factors in disaster risk mitigation in order to maintain business continuity.

Contribution

This study analysed the vulnerability of culinary businesses for micro and small businesses. Low vulnerability means high resilience. Business resilience is conceptualised as a production function that is predisposed by various combinations of inputs from exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity variables.

Sentiment analysis of restaurant customer satisfaction during COVID-19 pandemic in Pattaya, Thailand

The tourism and hospitality industry, particularly the restaurant business, has been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. To comprehend customer behavior and preferences during this unprecedented time, it is crucial to analyze online restaurant customer reviews. Thus, this study utilized the valence aware dictionary for sentiment reasoning (VADER) model to examine TripAdvisor reviews of restaurants in Pattaya City, Chon Buri, Thailand, covering the period 2017-2022, which encompasses both pre-pandemic and pandemic years. The findings reveal a significant decrease in the number of reviews and a notable increase in negative sentiments during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to normal circumstances. We noticed two concern areas, i.e., service and staff, and food and taste, that should be addressed urgently. The findings of this study offer valuable insights into customer behavior and requirements, thereby empowering restaurant businesses to enhance service quality, satisfy customer requirements, and strategically plan for a post-COVID-19 future.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Safety Inspection Outcomes in Toronto, Canada: A Bayesian Interrupted Time Series Analysis

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in major disruptions to the food service industry and regulatory food inspections. The objective of this study was to conduct an interrupted time series analysis to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food safety inspection trends in Toronto, Canada. Inspection data for restaurants and take-out establishments were obtained from 2017 to 2022 and summarized as weekly counts of inspections, pass ratings, and total infractions. Bayesian segmented regression was conducted to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on weekly infraction and inspection pass rates. On average, a 0.31-point lower weekly infraction rate (95% credible interval [CI]: 0.23, 0.40) and a 2.0% higher probability of passing inspections (95% CI: 1.1%, 3.0%) were predicted in the pandemic period compared to prepandemic. Models predicted lower infraction rates and higher pass rates immediately following the pandemic, with additional variability compared to the prepandemic period, that were regressing back toward pre-pandemic levels in 2022. Seasonal effects were also identified, with infraction rates highest in April and pass rates lowest in August. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an initial positive effect on food safety outcomes in restaurants and take-out food establishments in Toronto, but this effect appears to be temporary. This finding could be due to the beneficial impact of COVID-19 protection measures in these establishments or other factors such as less volume of customers. Additional research is needed to investigate causes of the identified differences as well as seasonal and long-term inspection trends postpandemic. Results can inform future food safety inspection planning, outreach, and pandemic preparedness.

Islamic Social Funds to Foster Yunusian Social Business and Conventional Social Enterprises

This paper proposes an integrated, comprehensive financial model that can provide startup capital to socially committed business ventures, such as social enterprises and Yunus Social Business (YSB), by using Islamic social funds (ISFs), Zakat (almsgiving), Waqf (endowments), Sadaqat (charity), and Qard Hasan (interest-free benevolent loans). The literature review method was adopted to explain this model’s architecture, applications, implications, and viability. On the basis of logical reasoning, it concludes that ISFs can yield greater social wellbeing if utilised in SEs and YSB than in unconditional charity because both business models work for social betterment in entrepreneurial ways while remaining operationally self-reliant and economically sustainable. Additionally, ISFs can complement Yunus Social Business’s zero-return investment approach to make it more robust towards social contributions. The implementation of the model orchestrated in this paper would enhance societal business practices and, hence, scale up social wellbeing while helping rejuvenate pandemic-stricken economies. It paves the way for new research too.

Vulnerability and Agency in the Time of COVID-19: The Narratives of Child and Youth Care Workers in South Africa

In this paper, we use data generated through one-on-one interviews with 12 purposively sampled Child and Youth Care Workers to examine their narratives of work and life-related vulnerabilities and agency during the peak of the COVID-19 global pandemic in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Our findings show that Child and Youth Care Workers were vulnerable to poor mental health. Indeed, working and socialising during the height of COVID-19 posed a mental toll on the Child and Youth Care Workers in this study, who experienced fear, uncertainty, anxiety and stress. Moreover, these workers faced challenges with working under the so-called new normal, which was instituted as part of a non-pharmaceutical response to slow and curb the spread of COVID-19. Finally, our findings show that Child and Youth Care Workers actively identified and applied specific emotionally-focused and physically-focused coping mechanisms to deal with the burden brought on by the pandemic. The study has implications for CYCWs working during crisis periods.

Remote Work in Peru during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The objective of this research is to investigate the characteristics of remote work in Peru during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the study will allow exploring the advantages, disadvantages, challenges and opportunities that Peruvian remote workers face during this crisis scenario. This was a basic-type, descriptive-level study employing a quantitative approach and a non-experimental design. The sample consisted of 275 workers from two companies located in Metropolitan Lima, and the data were collected in the year 2021. A questionnaire with 30 questions was proposed for data collection; it was validated by three experts, and its reliability was α = 0.85. The findings of the remote work variable place it at a medium level with 40.73%; in the flexibility dimension, the medium level prevailed with 42.55%; the autonomy dimension exhibited a high level with 41.09%; and the productivity dimension exhibited a medium level with 43.64%. In the technology dimension, the low level prevailed with 36.36%, while the psychosocial risks dimension exhibited a medium level with 33.18%. In conclusion, the characterization of remote work in Peru during the COVID-19 pandemic allowed us to establish the most relevant aspects that affected workers who migrated to this form of work.

Burnout and Quality of Work Life among Municipal Workers: Do Motivating and Economic Factors Play a Mediating Role?

This study analyzes the relationship between burnout and quality of work life among municipal workers subjected to higher levels of stress and emotional exhaustion, impacting their occupational health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. With a sample of 459 municipal workers, the relationship between burnout and quality of work life is tested by considering the isolated mediating effect of the feeling of contributing to productivity and the combined effects of two mediators representing the feeling of contributing to productivity and receiving an appropriate salary. The main findings include a negative association between the three dimensions of burnout: emotional exhaustion, feelings of cynicism, and a sense of being less effective, and the mediators: contribution to productivity and appropriate salary. Also detected was an important mediating role associated with the effects of not feeling contributive at work, as well as not being well paid, on the relation between the burnout syndrome dimension of low effectiveness and quality of work life. For future action by public authorities and public managers, the need is highlighted to create innovative human resource management frameworks and flexible work organization, with remuneration plans based on productivity goals and aimed at an improved balance between personal life and work.

Resilience and Depressive Symptoms among Medical Staff in a Military Hospital Dedicated to the Treatment of COVID-19

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is prevalent around the world, and many studies suggest that depression among medical staff is on the rise during the pandemic. This study aims to assess the relationship between depressive symptoms and individual resilience among military hospital personnel responsible for treating patients with COVID-19. Individuals from the Armed Forces Daejeon Hospital who responded to the questionnaires from 8 February to 15 February 2022 participated in this study. Resilience and depressive symptoms were measured via the Korean Resilience Quotient Test-53 and Patient Health Questionnaire-9, respectively. We employed multivariable logistic regression analysis to estimate Odds Ratios (ORs) and 95% Confidence Intervals (CIs) of depressive symptoms. Among 181 participants, the individuals with depressive symptoms and high resilience accounted for 8.8% and 61.9%, respectively. Significant correlations between depressive symptoms and both the low resilience and low resilience positivity groups were found (adjusted OR 10.30 [95% CI 1.74-61.01] and OR 13.90 [95% CI 1.93-100.02], respectively). This study notes a significant inverse relationship between depressive symptoms and resilience even after adjusting for demographic and occupational characteristics. To overcome depressive symptoms among hospital personnel, it is necessary to seek ways to improve individual resilience, especially positivity.