Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict (Print ISSN: 1544-0508; Online ISSN: 1939-4691 )

Short communication: 2020 Vol: 24 Issue: 2

The Impact of Covid-19 on Organizational Culture, Communication And Conflict Management

Vered Holzmann, The Academic College of Tel Aviv Yaffo, Israel

Abstract

In the last few months all of us have experienced major changes due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. Probably, at least on some levels, those changes will remain with us and will have an impact on the ways organizations are working, and managers and employees are behaving. The Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict are open for papers that will shed light on organizational and managerial implications. First, there is the question of risk management. How should organizations deal with risk management and be prepared for similar situations that may happen in the future. As we have learned from the latest experience, organizations need to ensure business continuity in a dynamic environment, which involves ongoing trusted communication both within the organization and with external partners. We can learn from managers that adopted flexible and agile approaches how to adjust the organizational communication systems to provide sustainable supporting infrastructures and keep high level of motivation among team members and employees. It will also be interesting to investigate how collaborations with customers, suppliers, subcontractors, and strategic partners are maintained in times of dramatic changes.

In the last few months all of us have experienced major changes due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. Probably, at least on some levels, those changes will remain with us and will have an impact on the ways organizations are working, and managers and employees are behaving. The Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict are open for papers that will shed light on organizational and managerial implications.

First, there is the question of risk management. How should organizations deal with risk management and be prepared for similar situations that may happen in the future. As we have learned from the latest experience, organizations need to ensure business continuity in a dynamic environment, which involves ongoing trusted communication both within the organization and with external partners. We can learn from managers that adopted flexible and agile approaches how to adjust the organizational communication systems to provide sustainable supporting infrastructures and keep high level of motivation among team members and employees. It will also be interesting to investigate how collaborations with customers, suppliers, subcontractors, and strategic partners are maintained in times of dramatic changes.

Second, there is the issue of virtual communication. Although previous studies investigated how virtual communication has been applied by project team members, it was usually examined in relation to certain circumstances or a specific type of projects. However, nowadays, virtual communication in organizations is employed on whole different levels of volume and intensity. Virtual communication carries not only technological challenges, but also interpersonal and interpretational challenges. On the hand, there are some opportunities that can be exploited such as availability of participants or sharing and recording relevant materials. New studies on how to communicate effectively, with diverse stakeholders, in the virtual arena, are of great importance.

Third, there is the topic of organizational culture. As many employees are working remotely from home, and there are forecasts that it will be an increasing trend in the following years, organizations will have to redefine or adjust their culture. Some of the related questions (and there are many more) might be: how to maintain a safe and supportive community for the employees? What are the characteristics of remote leadership? How to promote creativity and critical thinking in a disparate and distributed team? How to advance organizational knowledge sharing?

The editorial board of the Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict invites scholars to explore those and other questions on the impact that covid-19 have and will have on organizations. The research topics can be examined from theoretical or practical perspectives to provide meaningful contributions for academics and professionals.

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