Ever since the outbreak of coronavirus, corporations have been challenged with unprecedented crisis communication. Business leaders are forced to adjust their way of engaging global audiences from traditional methods to digital platforms. This unconventional crisis also imposed a heavier workload on communication workers regarding internal and external communication, further shining a spotlight on skillful communicators. The uncertainty of future forced corporations to develop both risk management and strategic management plans that allow them for continuous operation; ultimately, form a comprehensive conceptual framework to prevent similar crises in the future. The pandemic has permanently reformed our future of work and way of communication, transitioning from traditional workplace to digital platforms, the world will eventually adapt into this new way of living.
Majority of the corporations were thrown into confusion right when the pandemic hit. Over a third of the companies did not have any crisis communication planned out initially, while the others had a rough plan that couldn’t fit in the situation specifically. In general, international businesses have experiences in accessing unexpected obstacles since they are involved in a larger market with extended concerns like supply chains management and local commercial services; however, they might be good at evaluating and preventing risks, but not foreseeing the uncertainties. “Current literature focuses on the factors that influences the choice of a particular approach to manage uncertainty but pays less attention to the antecedents and outcomes of the different types of uncertainty and/or the outcomes of international business firms strategies used to manage uncertainty,” therefore, companies’ immediate action especially matters for its continuity. (P. Sharma, et al.) Many small businesses have never accessed uncertainties or risks before the pandemic because people tend to believe that they will not be affected directly according to past experiences (like financial crisis or natural disaster). Therefore, while most of the general public are placed into quarantine and practicing social distancing, many small corporations like cafes, restaurants, and independent merchants instantly faced severe financial difficulties, which additionally led to shut down due to lack of demands and failure in altering their usual way of business. Typically, we expect larger firms to overcome such crises because they have sufficient funds and resources that may help them to lower the loss and keep the company up at times like this; however, COVID-19 hits differently. Many large corporations are as well struggling with their operation that many of them, including Naiman Marucs, Lord & Taylor, J.Crew, and Brooks Brothers, were forced to file into bankruptcy. With almost all global activities slowing down, the world is currently experiencing a de-globalization that involves permanently anticipated changes. At the beginning of March, 2020; most companies didn’t see the urgency and needs in altering their way of communication or operations; a few days later, they started to fluster because of the tremendous speed of the spread of virus. This further illustrates the importance in evaluating and planning for uncertainties. “Managing uncertainty involves strategies that help firms either re- duce (risk management) or cope with (strategic management) un- certainty;” while reduction is about information gathering, networking, and collaborating with partners to lower their loss on both side, coping uncertainty allow corporations to adapt into the big environment and make changes regarding the current market. For being innovative and flexible will additionally help corporations to explore opportunities in various situations instead of feeling resentful about their misjudgement in the past. There will always remain needs on the market, so it is crucial to be open-minded and actively seek for chances while maintaining proper communication with your customers. (P. Sharma, et al.)
Companies’ attitude toward the outbreak is especially related to governments and the World Health Organization. Governments respond to the virus differently: the Chinese government ordered a strict nation-lockdown, along with immediate action taken regarding healthcare and quarantine; while the US government sprawl passive yet loose regulations that further makes the virus unstoppable. For instance, the ability to evaluate the future depends on each corporation in essence; Samsung is a brilliant example in having an applicable uncertainty plan (managing uncertainty) ready even before the pandemic hits. While the pandemic is blocking up the supply chain (which is heavily based in China,) Samsung has already “established a vast manufacturing network over the years with factories in Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Korea, and Vietnam, to fulfill its huge production demand and to reduce its dependence on China.” (P. Sharma, et al) Which it surely lowers it’s loss during the pandemic by being more independent.
Research shows that email has become the top channel of communication during the pandemic as public interaction has significantly decreased with less opportunities to meet people in person (Ragan). Switching into digital platforms leads to concerns in multiple dimensions, a reliable and open communication method is crucial in connecting employees and stakeholders/customers. Yet, an organized internal communication is definitely corporations’ top priority. At the beginning of the crisis, CEOs and executives took the lead in delivering concrete messages to their employees to alleviate their fears and uncertainty for the future, as well as providing them “with the resources they need to continue their jobs, both on and off-site” (Association of Equipment Manufacturers). On the other hand, companies as well tried to make the process of virtual working more comfortable for their employees by making the communication space personal; to create a sense of community on digital platforms, leaders need to make every employee feel included during this most difficult time. As this type of communication became the new normal after a few months into the pandemic, several companies shifted their way of communication from “ informing their employees about the latest updates” with daily emails to clear the way out, to getting “weekly letter or video message by the company CEO”; the frequency has significantly decreases since the community has gradually accepted the new way of livings (Association of Equipment Manufacturers). Transition to a complete digital platform from in person offices can be challenging; therefore, several collaboration platforms have sprouted overtime (as what I previously mentioned about coping uncertainty; being innovative and adapting into the big environment can win a company abundant opportunities). For instance, Yammer is a “social networking service used for private communication within organizations;” with the help of innovative services, companies get to operate more comfortably, compared with how they started. Along with video streaming applications, these communication technologies have been implemented, expected as a long-term solution for companies in the future even when the threat of virus lessened.
What we’ve clearly learned from this pandemic is our way of communication and crisis management at all levels. Global pandemics require attention and cooperation globally, yet the world has failed to learn from pandemics that happened in the past. Even though the world is experiencing a highly globalized era during the last decade, many governments are still practicing regional systems that are ineffective. The guidelines and policies shall be unified across the country and designed with predictive, preventive and personalized methods (P. Radanliev, et al). Different standards among regions is not applicable in this globalized society as people are constantly moving and communicating in various forms.
As we were entering the “temporary” working-from-home mode at the beginning of the pandemic, nobody has ever pictured this as a permanent form of working; this is a serious impact that was not initially predicted. Bhushan Sethi, states that “the role of the office has changed. People aren’t going to go back to five days a week. Offices are going to be hubs of innovation and social interaction.” With the effectiveness of work people have discovered over the quarantine time, the existence and needs of the physical office means less to both the employers and employees. Employees are appreciating the flexibility in life while the employers continue to operate the business more effectively at a lower cost. In addition, since going to work virtually broke the geographical boundaries, the company can bring in more diversity to the “office”. According to Gartner Inc., 82% “of executives say they intend to let employees work remotely at least part of the time” (Agovino). This is suggesting an unconventional way of living that people have never thought about before the virus outbreak; work for communication professionals will be greatly recognized by the time I enter the workplace. However, we are as well facing challenges in developing new ways of communication since this is a form of living that we rarely pictured in the past. Communicators need to learn how to partner with digital platforms in better connecting multiple voices and delivering messages in the future, at the same time, it will be crucial to adapt to the rapid evolvement of technologies.
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