Organising During The Coronavirus Crisis

This book investigates the use of digital technologies for social organisation during the Covid-19 pandemic, interrogating the specific relationship between digital technologies and social movements. Drawing upon Marx’s theory of alienation and Antonio Gramsci’s concepts concerning common-sense, good sense, hegemony and praxis, the author examines the effectiveness of digital technologies in filling the social void created by the pandemic. A series of in-depth interviews across a spectrum of areas – from community activism, mental health, trade union organisation, the creative arts, and resistance movements – reveal how digital technologies flourished during the pandemic crisis, facilitating new ways to communicate. However, the interviews also throw into sharp relief the inadequacies of digital technologies. The book challenges conventional wisdom concerning the beneficial impact of digital machines on our lives. This book will have a broad appeal to anyone researching or teaching the societal, ethical and political implications of digital technologies, particularly from a qualitative perspective. It also has relevance for a wider readership concerned about the influence of social media.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to radical transformations in the organisation and delivery of health and care services across the world. In many countries, policy makers have rushed to re-organise care services to meet the surge demand of COVID-19, from re-purposing existing services to creating new ‘field’ hospitals. Such strategies signal important and sweeping changes in the organisation of both ‘COVID’ and ‘non-COVID’ care, whilst asking more fundamental questions about the long-term organisation of care ‘after COVID’. In some contexts, the pandemic has exposed the fragilities and vulnerabilities of care systems, whilst in others, it has shown how services are organised to be more resilient and adaptive to unanticipated pressures. The COVID-19 pandemic presents a rare opportunity to examine empirically and to develop new theoretical frameworks on how and why health systems adapt to such unusual and intense pressures. International contributors consider how responses to COVID-19 are transforming the organisation and governance of health and care services and explore questions around strategic leadership at local, regional, national and transnational level. The book offers unique insight and analysis on the dynamics of policy-making, the organisation and governance of care organisations, the role of technologies in governing, the changing role of professionals and the possibilities for more resilient care systems.

"Managing Organisations During the Covid-19 Vortex is a comprehensive book to help leaders navigate their organisation through the Coronavirus crisis. From managing day-to-day practicalities, to scenario planning and sense-making, this book offers guidelines from over 20 leading experts to help executives deal their most pressing challenges."--Publisher's description.

Managing Organisations During the COVID-19 Vortex is a comprehensive book to help leaders navigate their organisation through the Coronavirus crisis. From managing day-to-day practicalities, to scenario planning and sense-making, this book offers guidelines from over 20 leading experts to help executives deal with their most pressing challenges:- How to manage uncertainty and complexity - Leadership excellence in the COVID-19 crisis- Promoting mental wellness in the workplace- Sense-making for better decision-making in a crisis- Effective crisis communication- Economic and social scenarios- Business contingency planning during COVID-19- Retaining resilience in chaotic conditions- How to navigate lockdowns with certainty- Best practices for managing virtual workers- The legal implications of COVID-19 for employers- And more!This book is essential reading for any executive who is grappling with how to deal with the complexity, uncertainty and unpredictability of this vortex. Trusted, bold and courageous leadership is required to navigate this crisis. Managing Organisations During the COVID-19 Vortex will give leaders the context, tools, guidelines and perseverance needed to face this crisis head-on and lead their organisations into a future beyond the Coronavirus.Key chapters include:- Black swans and the butterfly effect: The keys to understanding COVID-19 - COVID-19: Economic and social impact - Managing uncertainty, complexity and chaos in a crisis vortex- Sense-making for decision-making: A futures thinking perspective for executives in times of crisis - Revisiting, reframing, resetting and re-starting: Navigate crisis lockdowns- Crisis leadership excellence: Navigating in, beyond and through a crisis - Leadership in a time of crises: A challenge for the middle- Business continuity planning during a pandemic: Coronavirus 2020 - Crisis communication: Lessons learned from a pandemic- Remaining resilient in traumatic and chaotic conditions- Promoting personal and workplace mental health in the age of COVID-19- Stress: Manage it and build resilience- Virtual working practices - Tencent responding to the coronavirus- Coronavirus in a fractured democracy- The coronavirus vortex: Employment - The coronavirus: Implications for employers- The day after COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic provides an illustration of how chaotic changes to large systems are caused by small, seemingly insignificant environmental events such as the initial case(s) of COVID-19 in China. From this small starting point for the pandemic, there have been (and continue to be) millions of lives lost and trillions of dollars spent trying to alleviate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. World government and corporate leaders are striving to deal with this pandemic, but uncertainty is felt across the globe. Unprecedented strategies (e.g., the United States government’s multi-trillion-dollar stimulus package (s)) have been used to halt the spread of COVID-19. These small events cascade throughout larger and larger systems leading to unforeseeable consequences. Organizations must experiment and make decisions on how to react. Decisions must be made and implemented to see what the effects of these decisions are. The chapters in this volume provide important insights for all organizations during this time of crisis. The chapters express bottom-up and top-down approaches to a crisis-initiating environmental change by organizations. The chapters provide insight into the way organizations perceive the effect of COVID-19 as 1) a permanent or transitory change in the organization’s environment; and 2) as a crisis or opportunity. Taken together, the chapters provide both scientists and practitioners with a starting point for understanding the impact of COVID-19 on organizational theory and on management practice for readers.

New Zealand (NZ) offers an astonishing story regarding its Covid-19 response. This book argues that NZ offers lessons for business and management actors across various geographical and political contexts in the world. In this book, we draw attention to problems and challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic from a functional management and organisational perspective.

Roland Benedikter and Karim Fathi describe the pluri-dimensional characteristics of the Coronavirus crisis and draw the pillars for a more “multi-resilient” Post-Corona world, including political recommendations on how to generate it.

This book is a response to the loss of learning experienced by children and young people during the Covid-19 crisis. It examines the measures which were taken to fix the disruption of education and their limitations particularly in reaching marginalised groups. Drawing on data and experiences from around the world, the book examines education systems as ecosystems with interdependencies between many different components which need to be considered when change is contemplated. Chapters explore the challenges involved ensuring continuity of education for all learners in times of crisis and disruption and set out practical solutions that are relevant when preparing for natural disasters and disasters caused by humans as well as for climate change challenges and future pandemics. The focus throughout is on building the sustainability of learners’ education into education systems to ensure educational continuity for all learners in times of disruption and crisis. Including tools for planning, prompts for reflection, and future possibilities to consider, Education for All in Times of Crisis will be valuable reading for school leaders, educators and policy makers.