An abrupt decision and an alternative plan to deal with Corona pandemic

.and beyond

In a light of the situation prevailing in all parts of the world, small and medium-
sized companies, as well as large enterprises, face many problems and challenges. We
are talking here about the Corona pandemic (Covid-19) and it is impact on the
corporate economy, how this matter was dealt with, and what happened to some
companies that were unable to deal with this pandemic. And taking sudden decisions
.considering this current situation

Corona virus does not need to define; we all know what is and what it`s harms are.
Corona pandemic has dealt a stroke severe blow to the world. We have traveled
through time to ancient times. as if the land empty of people, the Coronavirus struck
an economy that is already suffering from chronic turmoil and crises. we are under
financial and economic pressures as well as psychological pressures. the lockdown
continued to be the best solution to limit the spread of coronavirus. selling, buying,
and even education has become online. the world turned into the electronic games led
and managed by communication and internet companies. let us not also forget the
positive side of it, as it is okay to feel some hope under these circumstances, and we
.will talk about this aspect later

let`s now talk about our topic, which is the impact of Corona on companies, and the
nature of correct and wrong decision-makings for some companies. Dr. Sudfa
Mahmoud emphasizes that the real opportunities waiting the companies whose leaders
succeed in formulating a clear vision for the future. In her study, published by the
Future Center for Research and Advanced Studies in Abu Dhabi, she emphasized, the
Coronavirus pandemic has had unprecedented effects on the world. In addition to the
severe health and humanitarian crisis caused by the outbreak of the virus, managers
executive around the world face enormous economic challenges, including demand
shock for goods and services (shortage or significant increases in demand), disruption
.to supply chains, unemployment, and economic recession

While the virus has caused heavy losses to some companies, others have succeeded
in facing challenges and starting to reap the benefits of good planning for the crisis, it
does not depend success of companies in responding effectively to the crisis, but also
depends on the ability of companies to develop a plan that enables them to prepare
well. For the next pandemic or challenge. Telework (via the Internet) had helped
companies continue their work, preserve the health of their employees, and save their
transportation costs to and from work. However, some companies have taken on the
burden of providing new systems and technologies that enable employees to complete
.their work remotely

There are some questions about the future of companies after the end of the Corona
pandemic, which makes it necessary for all companies to locate them after the end of
the crisis, and prepare for the next, and it does not only psychological and intellectual
preparation, But the real planning for the possibility of another crisis. Therefore, they
must, first: Form a crisis management team, and grant them the powers to respond
fully and quickly while seeking to achieve the highest level of flexibility in how the
scenarios are implemented on employees, suppliers and customers. Second: Investing
in the current crisis in bringing about the desired change. Third: Preparing for the
recovery phase that focuses on how the company will move to business as usual,
when the crisis begins to slow down or end. Fourth: Enhancing the ability of
companies to adapt, by return their operations and investments to prepare for the next
epidemic or challenge and enhancing their ability to deal with sudden shocks. Fifth:
Providing clients with clear information about what exactly happened, the new
controls, basically for companies to adhere to the principle of transparency in dealing
with the main stakeholders. Because this can boost their confidence, and maintain the
connections between companies and their employees, customers, suppliers, and
society. Sixth: Enhancing the technological competitiveness of companies. This is
because if technology contributes to increasing companies' support for the remote
work system; This will have consequences for equipment, office real estate,
transportation, and more. Seventh: the cooperative approach in facing the common
problem (teamwork). Therefore, business leaders need to play in a quick and
competitive role in addressing the challenges they face, by engaging with all
1
)1( .stakeholders and moving from discussion to action

Let us talk about advance planning and its effectiveness if it is accompanied by

good organization and work, or to say how the long-term vision that must be present
in every president, manager or leader, as some call it (ghost headquarters) it`s
buildings constructed in several areas for long years in silence and secrecy. Because
of the possibility of any natural disaster or terrorist attacks, Demrovsky says that the
features of the plans that the companies have put in place over the past few years, to
prepare for and prepare for the face of crises, were determined based on an event,
which is the September 11 attacks. After terrorists struck the United States in 2001
and destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade and the current situation has
increased the demand for these alternative headquarters so that companies can
complete their work in secrecy, such as the SunGard Availability Services Company,
says Patrick Morley, deputy director of the products department that markets this
company globally: We have clients in all regions who use our facilities this has never
happened before.” There are institutions with huge budgets that can rent or buy spaces
allocated them without partnering with some companies. Not to mention that
companies that have alternative headquarters benefited from completing their work, it
also benefited from some companies that rented some of their headquarters. In my
opinion, these companies were not affected and lost out like others in this pandemic,
Baraniuk, www.bbc.com( .but they were rewarded for mastering long-term planning
)2020

And now I want to tell you about a company like thousands that have been affected
by the Corona epidemic and how they dealt with this situation, Prelude: It is an
Oxygen Company, a shoe company with branches in the State of Kuwait and the
United Arab Emirates, it depends on the seasons trade, as there are summer
merchandise seasons, festive seasons, winter seasons, and the holiday season is the
strongest season, As the profits are high, and the quantities sold are also high.
Preparation for this season is done months in advance, and ensuring that the goods
arrive on time, then comes the summer season for the duration of all the summer,

)al-Hamamsi, Muhammad 2020( )1(1

)Baraniuk, www.bbc.com 2020(

and the concern for the presence of the goods at the beginning of the season before
February, And the sale of the largest amount of goods before the travel season, where
.the holiday season is for residents and expatriates, which affects the sale significantly

This pandemic swept the world in January 2020, and the Arab region had a share in
that, and it began in March, the biggest problem that the company faced was that the
pandemic occurred at the beginning of the two seasons of the summer season and the
season of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, this period between March and July represents
45% of the company's sales, and since the goods, which represent 70% of the
company's purchases, were in warehouse from February, the stock volume was at its
.peak

The beginning of the problem was when the government announced quarantine
measures, and the complete closure of shops from March to June. This period is what
the company considers its peak sales, it represents 45% of its sales during the year,
then it was followed by the partial quarantine during the months of July and August,
and then followed by the fear of people to go out to the market for fear of contracting
.this disease

It`s owner and manager, Omar Sami Musleh Daifallah, analyzed the problems and
planning for it, and the problems were as follows: The first and major problem: sales
stoppage, the second problem: shop rents. the third: the employee salaries, and the
.fourth problem: related to bank loan obligations and payment method

After the problems were identified, Omar organized to solve them, in the first
problem, which is the suspension of sales, E-selling has been used, and selling
through social networking sites which helped the company pay off some of its
employee obligations. And this matter made the company rethink the expansion of
shops and invest more in electronic sales that may be required in the future, as we
.here see that it is possible for the stores to become a page on the Internet

The second problem is the shop’s rent, the owners of the property were contacted
and negotiated with them on exemption, even partial, from the rental value, some
agreed, and some refused, depending on the property's location. The cost of rent was
reduced, and some shops were closed. These actions are part of minimizing and
.partially solving the problem
With respect to the employees ’salaries, they were contacted, and a part of the salary
was deducted until the exit from the crisis, and to ensure that they are reassured and
not to end their services, but rather to communicate with them in a fraternal way to
work to overcome this crisis and compensate them later, because ending their services
will cause them psychological and economic problems due to lack of job
.opportunities

The last problem, which is the banks, has been negotiated with the bank to
reschedule debts, to be careful to pay and not to evade obligations, as credibility with
.banks is very important

The problem that was not mentioned as a fifth point because it is fundamental is
the size of the huge stock and how to deal with it. In these crises, the manager or
dealer must deal wisely in solving this major problem and not be reckless but rather
plan wisely and for a long time, Because the decision is important at this stage, many
companies have worked to burn prices in order to reduce inventory, and this measure
will incur future losses, it is better for the company not to display the entire stock and
keep the price constant and reduce its purchases in the next season. Exiting the crisis
.with few losses is better than getting out of it catastrophically

I would like to end with some positive, as I said previously. We will see the
positive side apart from the topic, and it is a lot of many positive. I will mention some
of them, we have learned in this crisis the importance of family, and the importance of
saving money, rather, we have learned humanity, we went through a time when we
were all the same, The rich, the poor, the white and the black, the long, and the short.
This made us feel a are not different. We felt how many blessings we had not seen
before. If you look at the other side, you will see how many positives are behind each
.negative

Hope it was not just a boring article, I tried to talk

.to you with words, have a good time
.By: Mariam Sami Musleh Daifallah
References
)1

al-Hamamsi, Muhammad. middle-east-online.com. 5 18, 2020. https://middle-east-

online.com/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86-
%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%86%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%B0%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86-
%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A9-
.%D9%83%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86%D8%A7

(2)Baraniuk, Chris. www.bbc.com. March 23rd, 2020.

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200320-how-firms-move-to-secret-offices-
amid-covid-19.