Elsevier

Journal of Business Research

Volume 136, November 2021, Pages 602-611
Journal of Business Research

COVID-19 and digitalization: The great acceleration

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.08.011Get rights and content

Abstract

Inspired by burgeoning scholarly interest in the role of digitalization in the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper examines how the COVID-19 pandemic is driving or constraining the digitalization of businesses around the globe. We contend that COVID‐19 is “the great accelerator” in fast-tracking the existing global trend towards embracing modern emerging technologies ushering in transformations in lifestyle, work patterns, and business strategies. Thus, COVID-19 has evolved to be a kind of “catalyst” for the adoption and increasing use of digitalization in work organization and the office, alongside presenting foreseen and unforeseen opportunities, challenges, and costs—leading to negative and positive feedback loops. In this article, we develop and advance a conceptual model by linking the different forces for and against digitalization in response to the pandemic. Our analysis indicates that adoption of emerging technologies may be hindered by vested external interests, nostalgia, and employer opportunism, as well as negative effects on employee well-being that undermine productivity, work–life balance, and future of work. Whilst digitalization may bring new opportunities, the process imparts risks that may be hard to mitigate or prepare for. Finally, we draw out the wider theoretical and practical implications of our analysis.

Keywords

COVID-19
Work and organization
Digitalization
Business model
Business strategies
Emerging technologies

Cited by (0)

Joseph Amankwah-Amoah is a multi-award-winning Professor of International Business at the University of Kent, UK. Joseph has consistently published in many journals of international repute, including British Journal of Management, Industrial and Corporate Change, Business History, Long Range Planning, International Business Review, Journal of Institutional Economics, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Journal of International Management, Decision Support Systems, Management International Review, Thunderbird International Business Review, R&D Management, Business Strategy and the Environment, Transportation Research Part E, Computers in Industry, Journal of Rural Studies, Group and Organization Management, International Journal of Production Economics, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management and Journal of Business Research. In all, he has published over 120 articles.

Zaheer Khan is Professor of Strategy & International Business at Aberdeen University Business School, University of Aberdeen, UK. His research focuses on global technology management, alliances and internationalization of emerging markets’ firms. His work has appeared in the Journal of International Business Studies, International Business Review, Human Relations, Journal of World Business, Global Strategy Journal and British Journal of Management, among others.

Geoffrey Wood is DanCap Chair in Innovation Management at Western University, Canada. Prior to this he was Dean and Professor of International Business at Essex Business School, University of Essex, UK. Geoff's research interests center on the relationship between institutional setting, corporate governance, firm finance, emerging market MNEs, and firm-level work and employment relations. His work has appeared in the Academy of Management Perspectives, Journal of International Business studies, Journal of World Business, Human Resources Management, International Business Review, Socio-Economic Review, Journal of Organizational Behvior, Work, Employment and Society, Management International Review, International Journal of Management Review, British Journal of Management, and International Journal of Human Resource Management, among others. He is Editor in Chief of the Academy of Management Perspective and Human Resource Management Journal.

Gary Knight. Professor Knight has extensive experience in international business in the private sector, especially regarding Europe, Japan, and Mexico. For 15 years, he was professor of international business at Florida State University where he developed the university’s business study abroad programs in Europe and Japan. He was a visiting Fulbright Scholar at McGill University, Canada. His research emphasizes international strategy, emerging markets, and internationalization of small and medium enterprises. Professor Knight has authored six books and 40 refereed articles in academic journals, including Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of World Business, International Executive, and Management International Review. The U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Small Business invited Professor Knight to provide expert testimony on international management topics. He has been an invited speaker at numerous universities worldwide. In addition to graduate degrees, Professor Knight attended the University of Paris in France and Sophia University in Japan and is fluent in French, Japanese, and Spanish. Personal interests include world affairs, reading, writing, international travel, and learning foreign language

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