FACULTY OF BUSINESS, ECONOMICS, AND ACCOUNTANCY
BT31303 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
SEMESTER 1 SESSION 2021/2022
ASSIGNMENT 1: INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT
RESEARCH TREND IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC
NURHANIFA BINTI HARUN
BB19110865
HE04 ENTREPRENEURSHIP
PREPARED TO: DR. SUDDIN BIN LADA
SUBMISSION DATE: 13 JANUARY 2022
TABLE OF CONTENT
Journal Selection Process (Descriptive Analysis) ………………………………………….
1
Findings …………………………………………………………………………………………………..
2
Overall Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………
7
References ……………………………………………………………………………………………….
8
Appendices ………………………………………………………………………………………………
9
RESEARCH TREND IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC
COVID-19 is becoming a pandemic in the world as stated by World Health
Organization (WHO) since March 2020. For the first time, this virus was detected in
China and became an outbreak in other countries in a very short time. Hence, this
pandemic is impacting human life, including business activities (Craven et al., 2020)
and the global economic situation (Carlsson-Szlezak et al., 2020). Some countries have
officially invited their prominent researchers and experts to develop research
regarding economic development during and after pandemics. Moreover, some
academic journals are also inviting researchers and authors to publish their papers
related to the COVID-19 outbreak.
OUTPUT REPORTING
1. Journal selection process (Descriptive analysis)
Types of Journal
Renewable and Sustainable Energy
(1)
International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality
Management (1)
Journal of Archaeology of Egypt (1)
Review of International Business
and Strategy (1)
Journal of Management (1)
International Journal of Business,
Marketing, and Communication (1)
Journal of Sustainability (2)
Keywords:
 Strategic
 Management
 Strategic management decision
 Covid-19
Year of Publications
 2019
 2020
 2021
Country of origin
Area of study
4
4
7
6
0
2
6
Malaysia (1)
Egypt (1)
Russia (1)
Italy (1)
Cyprus (1)
USA (1)
China (1)
Iran (1)
Management (4)
Economy (3)
Marketing (1)
Tourism (2)
Aviation (2)
Hotel (2)
1
2. Findings
Strategic management is described as the art and science of conceiving,
executing, also estimating cross-functional choices that help a company
accomplish its goals (David & David, 2015). In addition, strategic management
aims to explore and develop new and distinct chances for the future, whereas
long-range planning aims to optimize today's trends for tomorrow (David &
David, 2015).
There are three steps to the strategic-management process, which include
strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and strategy evaluation.
Decisions on what new business to enter, what business to quit, whether to grow
operations or diversify, whether to enter overseas markets, whether to combine
or create a joint venture and how to prevent a hostile takeover are all part of the
strategy formulation process (David & David, 2015). The action stage of
strategic management is strategy implementation, which entails motivating
employees and managers to put developed plans into action across a company
with pride and passion to meet stated objectives (David & David, 2015).
Meanwhile, because most external and internal factors are always changing, the
strategy evaluation considers managers to gain knowledge for future
organization adjustment or modification. Reviewing external and internal
elements that are the foundations for existing strategies, monitoring
performance, and adopting corrective measures are three key strategyevaluation activities (David & David, 2015).
Overall, these strategies are very important in strategic management since
they occur at three levels in a large organization, which include corporate,
divisional, and functional. Strategic management aids a company's ability to
work as a competitive team by encouraging communication and interaction
among managers and employees at all levels of the organization.
Although that, company is not able to avoid the effect Covid-19 brings to its
corporate, and most companies need to adapt to current situations to survive in
the market. The negative effect such as many business operations closed,
limitation business hours and staff in one time, also much worsen lead to
employee’s job cuts. Due to a scarcity of natural resources and the outbreak of
Covid-19, several nations are experiencing varying degrees of energy crises,
ranging from mild to severe (Chofreh et al., 2021).
This study argued that researchers need to understand the previous
research trends in strategic management studies during the pandemic. Through
an integrative literature review, this study would provide several insights for
the development of future research agendas. Therefore, the following research
questions (RQ) can be put forward:
1. What are the main topics developed/discussed in strategic
management literature on COVID-19?
Global energy management needs integrated strategic management,
which recognises that various countries have varied goals, missions, and
methodologies for energy management. The research provide a strategic
management framework that policymakers may use to analyze, plan,
implement, and evaluate global energy strategies (Chofreh et al., 2021). This
issue might result in the closure or limitation of numerous industrial units,
reduced energy availability, increased unemployment, and other negative
consequences for public's life. The major cause of the issues is widening
2
supply and demand imbalance for energy, logistics, financial problems, and
ineffective strategic planning (Chofreh et al., 2021).
The study by Liu and Yang (2021) combines competitive productivity,
capabilities that are dynamic, and the strategic management method
explains how hotels modify their technology tactics for regaining control in
a rapidly changing market and to comprehend how a risk-reduction plan
based on self-service technology (SST) may assist a hotel increase
productivity and competitiveness during the COVID-19 epidemic and its
outcome. This research addresses problems through looking at the selfservice technology approach in many types of hotels, especially its capacity
towards recognize CP foundations. The results demonstrate that before
making changes or executing a plan, hotels should always perform a
comprehensive study and evaluation of it. The changing environment in
which tourist enterprises must function places a premium on strategic
management (Varelas & Apostolopoulos, 2020).
Varelas & Apostolopoulos (2020) study the use of strategic
management concepts in Greek tourist and hospitality enterprises during
economic crises. By studying entrepreneurs' viewpoints and hospitality
business marketplaces, this study highlights the link between 131 tourist
businesses' strategic management techniques and hospitality business
performance (Varelas & Apostolopoulos, 2020).
The paper by Ahmed et al. (2021) was about the COVID-19 pandemic
crisis, which had significant influence proceeding the aviation industry. As
a result, the underlying knowledge learned about how this business deals
with crises by employing strategic management techniques. Analysis of the
financial and administrative repercussions of Covid-19, which halted tourist
traffic and threw the budget estimate off, has become critical (Ahmed et al.,
2021). The researcher used data to construct a study strategy concerning the
function of strategic management techniques during crises such as
pandemics, and how, by embracing standard business processes, strategic
management may make a significant contribution to addressing the threats.
Dilanka Kamali (2021) emphasizes how the strategic management approach
has benefited and will continue to benefit the airline. The conceptual paper
by Dilanka Kamali (2021) explains the strategic management process,
strategic analysis, and its surroundings, as well as describing the
instruments that would be utilized in constructing different levels of AirAsia
strategies. The paper concludes with a discussion of AirAsia's mitigation role
in the event of a global pandemic of COVID'19, as well as the
implementation of a mitigation strategy once the appropriate safeguards
have been taken (Dilanka Kamali, 2021).
Kozachenko et al. (2021) attempt to provide many forms of strategic
reactions that companies use also the various effects. The study led to the
discovery of a new type of crisis-related strategic responses, including
revived stakeholder connections, revived price, and rejuvenated executive
agreement, as well as the results. Entrepreneurial action, managerial
choices, and the choice of a tactic to adapt towards external deviations are
all critical to a firm's existence (Kozachenko et al., 2021).
The pandemic, according to Ketchen and Craighead (2020),
underlined the significance of handling entrepreneurship, supply chain
management, and strategic management concerns in a coordinated manner.
To put it another way, there is a point where all three fields meet. Given how
3
crucial these overlaps were during the COVID-19 epidemic, this is an
opportunity that must be taken advantage of by building an understanding
of cooperate across entrepreneurship, supply chain management, and
strategic management to get a deeper understanding of how organizations
succeed and fail, and to effectively assist managers, particularly in times of
crisis (Ketchen & Craighead, 2020)
2. Are there a common thread and/or intersection between the
different topics analyzed?
The strategy framework is developed using a conceptual research
technique that involves reviewing related literature. Experts commonly
utilize the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT)
analysis and the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and
Environmental (PESTLE) analysis to scan the environment (Chofreh et al.,
2021). Similarly, Ahmed et al. (2021) posed a series of questions for the
company to build a strategy using SWOT analysis, Porter's five forces, and
macro-environmental analysis models to analyze and detect changes in the
external environment. SWOT analysis is also being used by the Air Asia
Company to help it grow and make several recommendations for strategy
(Dilanka Kamali, 2021). It is critical for businesses to maintain their
strengths, especially in light of the ongoing worldwide pandemic and
resulting economic issues. Another way to strengthen an organization's
position is to fix identified vulnerabilities, as well as to strive to exploit
opportunities and, of course, to reduce threats (Dilanka Kamali, 2021).
According to Chofreh et al. (2021), each approach has its logical foundation
and limits, hence none of them can be deemed superior.
Chofreh et al.'s (2021) research use the strategic management process,
which comprises analyzing the existing and future circumstances,
formulating a plan, implementing the strategy, and evaluating and
controlling the strategy. Similarly, Liu & Yang (2021) categorized strategic
analysis, strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and strategy
control are the four phases of the strategic management procedure in
tourism and hospitality. The process methods must be examined then
revised each few years toward keeping trail of energy usage. The method
may be used to retort quickly toward altering worldwide corporate
environments plus concerns.
To regulate the management, the strategy framework process begins
with identifying opportunities and threats as external and internal
environments, which include strengths and weaknesses (Chofreh et al.,
2021). According to Ahmed et al. (2021), it is critical to have a thorough
awareness of the organization's environment to undertake strategic
management. It is critical to recognize both opportunities and threats in the
external environment, concurrently, the manager must determine the
methods and resources necessary to achieve the goals (Ahmed et al., 2021).
To put it another way, strategic reactions remain precise situational
methods adopted by companies to gain from environmental situations that
may jeopardize the company's life, operational capacity, or reputation
(Kozachenko et al., 2021).
The TOWS matrix is commonly used in strategy creation as a
instrument for analyzing, creating, associating, and choosing the best fitting
plan for achieving global energy implementation goals (Chofreh et al.,
4
2021). Liu & Yang's (2021) comprehensive strategic management performs
in response to COVID-19 could serve as useful present and future
catastrophe management techniques mentions and shows hotels should
always comportment a thorough investigation and estimation of a strategy
prior to creating changes or implementing it. Strategic responses are a set
of decisions and activities that lead to the organization's plans being formed
in reaction to a contentious situation in the workplace, with the primary goal
of accomplishing the firm's objectives and profits (Pearce and Robinson’s,
2005, as cited in Kozachenko et al., 2021). Given the risk of pandemics and
other massive disruptions, managers must make strategic decisions for best
practices in the future (Ketchen & Craighead, 2020).
In strategy formulation, corporations employ the strategic
management process to create performance objectives, build policies, and
procedures. Policies are created to ensure compliance with rules and
regulations, give decision-making assistance, and simplify internal
processes operations (Chofreh et al., 2021). The management committee
must next choose who will be in charge of the policy, taking into account the
requisite skills. This framework would help worldwide legislators, local,
nationwide, state, municipal, region, and subdivision levels consistently
manage energy strategy.
A systematic approach to strategy formulation might result in effective
strategies being implemented (Dilanka Kamali, 2021). Varelas &
Apostolopoulos (2020) agreed that strategic management was critical to
improving corporate results. From a theoretical standpoint, the research
undertaken allows the organization's growth of management research in
connection to the epidemic to be seen clearly and systematically (Piccarozzi
et al., 2021).
3. What are the main suggestions for future research in strategic
management literature and how could future avenues of
research be shaped?
To manage global energy, worldwide legislators, and nationwide levels
demand an acceptable strategic management technique (Chofreh et al.,
2021). This technique should combine key parts into a cohesive style of
strategic management and outline the phases aimed at developing global
energy strategic management in a step-by-step manner. This framework
would aid practitioners in designing global energy policies by providing a
thorough structure and procedure. According to Ahmed et al. (2021), the
industry should analyze those successful instances that recovered from
Covid-19 to establish the best technique and strategy. Furthermore,
scientific evidence is critical in bolstering strategic management techniques.
More quantitative study is needed to fully understand the dynamic
capacities of various hotel kinds, as well as to compare and contrast the
technology-induced competitive productivity of diverse sorts of hotels in the
hotel industry that uses artificial intelligence-based self-service technology
(SST) (Liu & Yang, 2021). A future study might look at the technological
plans of worldwide hotel groups and compare the competitive productivity
of subordinate hotels throughout the brand's properties in other regions.
Liu and Yang’s (2021) study stated to look at the hotel industry strategic
management interaction for future research in the research literature.
5
Future academics may enhance the studies by doing extensive
bibliometrics, such as co-citation analysis, bibliographic coupling of
documents, systematic reviews, meta-analysis, and other critical review
approaches, as described in the Kozachenko et al. (2021) publication. The
method types adopted the majority of the research limitations (Piccarozzi et
al., 2021). According to Piccarozzi et al. (2021), one of the most noticeable
flaws is the lack of preliminary ideas for a viable company typical that can
handle with the developments of the previous year. Future scholars might
use a larger set of keywords and synonyms to find more publications on the
subject. Piccarozzi et al. (2021) agreed that in specific the choice of keywords
and the assortment of a single database are the primary drawbacks, which
might be corrected in future studies. Scholars can also use reviews, reports,
scientific papers, or conference scheduleds to get actual information.
Furthermore, academics may apply a supplementary strategy to evaluate
literature, in which publications that were not found during the search but
were mentioned in the model collected might be included for analysis. Data
from Google Scholar, Scopus Web of Science, and EBSCO, for example, may
open up possibilities for future studies to broaden the scope of strategic
management literature research (Kozachenko et al., 2021).
Looking ahead, Ketchen and Craighead (2020) predict that each of the
domains of entrepreneurship, supply chain management, and strategic
management will value initiatives including research that incorporate
principles from the other two fields. From a management standpoint,
research findings that include principles from many fields give greater
insight than those that are based just on one (Ketchen & Craighead, 2020).
Piccarozzi et al. (2021) suggested that future studies look at successful
instances of hotels that have recovered from the COVID-19 issue to identify
the most effective ways. It will be critical if the recommended strategic
management approaches in this paper are supported by future empirical
findings. This might contribute to the existing research and broaden our
understanding of how the hotel business can weather any economic
downturn (Piccarozzi et al., 2021). Looking ahead, the current recovery
initiatives will help to establish a more sustainable and vibrant tourism
sector in the future. This worldwide epidemic provides a chance to rethink
tourism's prospects.
6
3. Overall Conclusion
Based on my findings, most of the collected journal talks about how the
corporate use the strategic management process to determine strategy planning
and take action to survive in the COVID-19 pandemic. The articles that use the
given keywords are mostly in the aviation, hotel, and tourism industry. Perhaps,
this industry received a very large impact as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic.
The trend of research methodologies of literature review on strategic
management during COVID-19 Outbreak varies based on its research models,
data collection methods, and data analysis methods.
Most of the popular research designs which popularly applied by the
researchers are literature review study, conceptual research, interpretive
approach, and bibliometric method. Conceptual inquiry is seen to be a good way
for answering strategy topics that are commonly used to build a new thought or
to interpret current concepts from a new perspective (Chofreh et al., 2021). An
interpretative method is suitable to investigate involvements and connotations
on strategic adjustments remain developed. Liu & Yang (2021) accompanied indepth interviews with corporate directors through inquiring follow-up
interview questions that provide opulent data used to uncover previously
unknown processes. The researcher used in-depth interviews to learn more
about the organizational dynamic capacities connected with each stage of
strategic management. The practice of strategic management was
experimentally explored using arena research that comprised a well-designed
survey in the study (Varelas & Apostolopoulos, 2020). Meanwhile, articles
employed the bibliometric approach use of the writers' keywords to analyze the
theoretical arrangement of a field, known as the co-occurrence of keywords
analysis.
The worldwide extent of the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on
the worldwide economy in a comparatively small amount of period,
highlighting necessity toward research the many sorts of crisis response tactics
used by businesses. Strategic management methods are critical for
management to assess the decision-making process to handle the unpredictable
conditions caused by the situation. Using such a framework, academics and
practitioners from both content and process perspectives may make rapid but
solid strategic management judgments in volatile circumstances (Liu & Yang,
2021). In the present COVID-19 pandemic, practitioners and theorists should
gain a better understanding of present corporate experience in dealing with
indecision in the external surroundings, as the mainstream of companies,
particularly start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), involve stress
and high susceptibility during crises, endangering the achievement and the
survival of organizations. As a result, crisis reactions have become a developing
field that is critical for executive policymaking and a fundamental component
aimed at changing a firm's strategy.
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4. References
David, Fred R., David, Forest R.. (2015). Strategic Management: A Competitive
Advantage Approach, Concepts and Cases, Global Edition (15th). Harlow, England:
Pearson Education Limited.
Ahmed, S. S., Farooq, S., Burney, S., & Iqbal, S. (2021). Strategic Management
Practices in COVID-19 Phase: Aviation Industry Case. PalArch’s Journal of
Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology, 18(8), 269–276.
https://ezproxy.sunway.edu.my/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.
aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=150459460&site=eds-live&scope=site
Chofreh, A. G., Goni, F. A., Klemeš, J. J., Seyed Moosavi, S. M., Davoudi, M., &
Zeinalnezhad, M. (2021). Covid-19 shock: Development of strategic management
framework for global energy. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,
139(June 2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110643
Dilanka Kamali, R. (2021). Covid-19 Pandemic as an External Threat: A Case of
AirAsia. 1(1), 1–11.
Ketchen, D. J., & Craighead, C. W. (2020). Research at the Intersection of
Entrepreneurship, Supply Chain Management, and Strategic Management:
Opportunities Highlighted by COVID-19. Journal of Management, 46(8), 1330–
1341. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206320945028
Kozachenko, E., Anand, A., & Shirokova, G. (2021). Strategic responses to crisis: a
review and synthesis of promising research directions. Review of International
Business and Strategy, 19. https://doi.org/10.1108/RIBS-06-2021-0092
Liu, C., & Yang, J. (2021). How hotels adjust technology-based strategy to respond to
COVID-19 and gain competitive productivity (CP): strategic management
process and dynamic capabilities. International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management, 33(9), 2907–2931. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM10-2020-1143
Piccarozzi, M., Silvestri, C., & Morganti, P. (2021). Covid-19 in management studies:
A systematic literature review. Sustainability (Switzerland), 13(7).
https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073791
Varelas, S., & Apostolopoulos, N. (2020). The implementation of strategic
management in greek hospitality businesses in times of crisis. Sustainability
(Switzerland), 12(17). https://doi.org/10.3390/su12177211
8
5. Appendices
Appendix A: Journals title








Strategic Management Practices in COVID-19 Phase: Aviation Industry
Case
Covid-19 shock: Development of strategic management framework for
global energy.
Covid-19 Pandemic as an External Threat: A Case of AirAsia
Research at the Intersection of Entrepreneurship, Supply Chain
Management, and Strategic Management: Opportunities Highlighted by
COVID-19
Strategic responses to crisis: a review and synthesis of promising research
directions
How hotels adjust technology-based strategy to respond to COVID-19 and
gain competitive productivity (CP): strategic management process and
dynamic capabilities
Covid-19 in management studies: A systematic literature review
The implementation of strategic management in greek hospitality
businesses in times of crisis
9
Appendix B: Turnitin Report
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