Talisha Smith

Professor Brielle Buckler

Business 311-1801

Covid-19  and its Effect on Businesses during the Pandemic

Covid-19 took everyone by surprise, not only did it cause millions of people to get sick across the world, it also killed millions of people. Because of this it caused a lot of businesses to shut down for months and when they were able to reopen a lot of restrictions were placed on them. Do to this a lot of businesses have lost a lot of money.  Although the united states suffered from other pandemics in the past it happened decades ago so todays businesses were not equipped to deal with it.

Some of the challenges that a lot of businesses face are bad reviews via social media. In the past businesses only had to worry about a bad review via word of mouth but every since social media has become so popular amongst people negative reviews travel a lot faster then before. All it takes is one unsatisfied customer to comment and others seem to follow suit. When this happens it makes future customers second guess a purchase and can create a decline in sales. To prevent this I think that businesses should get back to unsatisfied customers promptly and find out why they weren’t satisfied. Then they should try to rectify the problem and offer a half off discount for future purchases.

Another problem businesses faced was having to work from home. Due to the pandemic a lot of people had to start working remotely if they weren’t considered essential workers. Due to this factor a lot of important information is being kept on laptops and can be accessed through Wi-Fi and peoples information can be leaked. This causes people to be scammed and for their accounts to be hacked leading up to charges and purchases made by the hackers. People’s identities are not protected and that isn’t safe. To prevent this from happening the company can put software in place to prevent hackers from hacking into systems while employees are working from home.

Since the pandemic started businesses are operating with less capacity, which means companies are losing money. Gov Cuomo put this plan into action to lessen the blow of the virus and to stop it from spreading so rapidly. I think that businesses should set up appointment slots so that  people can book them accordingly. another plan is to offer online services for small businesses who depended solely on people coming to the store.

covid 19 did not affect me at all. I am an essential worker and i work in the ER. It was a scary situation for me at first but as the days went by I was able to overcome my fear. We have to wear protective gear at all times such as eye wear, n-95 masks as well as a surgical mask and we also have to wear scrubs under or gowns. I kind of hated working for the hospital in the beginning because I was afraid of catching the virus and losing my life, but I am proud to work in the health field and make a difference

Amadou Bah

April 18, 2021

Prof: Brielle Buckler

Spring semeste

In 2020 modern companies had face a lot of challenges. Especial the pandemic companies weren’t ready for it, employees were laid off, the position was a loss. However, there are still some challenges companies face for example like new technology, climate change, cyber incident. I believe every company should have these things new technology, climate change, cybersecurity.

Organizations can prevent these risks from coming to fruition. By taking actions, for example, climate change. I believe that if we don’t take care of our plant, we will experience more disasters coming in the future, like fire forest, tsunami, weather change. For this reason, amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has invested 10billion in climate change. Another problem is that companies need to start adapting to new technology because some companies don’t like to bring in new technology. And that kind affects the business and the consumers. Finally, cybersecurity companies need to invest more in security making that consumer information is safe. Because they’re a lot of hackers that take people’s information online and use it. Later on that he/she faces the consequence.

These threats affect my comfort at work because is going to be hard to trust organizations and in the future. For example, not just companies need to take actions for climate change I believe everyone should take action against it. There need to be a plan or projects to avoid these things. The organization I would like to work with is amazon because the company is willing to invest in climate change, new technology, and cybersecurity.

Cancel Culture

In today’s the biggest treat an organization can face is cancel culture. Cancel Culture is a social media group that take anything that could be used to make a organization or person look bad and try to make the businesses go out of business. The social media group can take something that was said or a product roll out and take it out of content since today’s society is more sensitive when it comes to certain topic because there are trying to make change or bring awareness to a problem, so this group would take advantage of that and try to make people turn against the organization. One example of this would be H&M when they put an African American kid in a T-Shirt that said “coolest monkey in the jungle”, this could’ve been taken as not racist or racist but the company came out and apologies for that and state that they did not mean it in that way. In the case of H&M it was up to the society to decide if what H&M did was wrong or not. In other cases, the Cancel Culture has try canceling organization that deserved it. One of the Organization that was canceled for the right reason, like Tommy Hilfiger when Tommy Hilfiger himself said that he did not like “black people” wearing his clothes.

One-way companies and organization can avoid from being “cancel” is by being very clear with what they mean when releasing a product and if they had said or put any product out that can be taken in a negative way before, they should come out and address it before the it could be taken out of content or used against them. For future project Organization should stay away from doing project that may involve cultures, race, or sexuality without doing research and without taking an approach that won’t hurt or offend anybody that’s part of that group.

Cancel culture can affect the employee in different ways some employee may feel like their right of freedom of speech may have been taken away from them to a certain people because if they say something that can be taken in the wrong way it could affect the company they work for and even cost them their job.

There are several new risks that companies are facing in 2021 that were not as obvious in the last decade. With companies relying more and more on digital technology to attract new customers, increase efficiency, and remain competitive, cyber security has become increasingly more important. Many companies have had to restructure the way they do business and allow employees to work remotely post-Covid which has made this threat even more significant. As companies slowly transition to commuting back to office work, the presence of a comprehensive return to work guide and the appropriate execution of safety protocols and guidelines will be extremely important. Another issue many companies will have to deal with is how to deal with the economic slowdown and recovery due to Covid-19. Lastly, companies must also worry about protecting their brand and reputation in an environment where the increasing presence and use of digital platforms and applications gives people the ability and freedom to post negative information about companies’ work culture and practices that can negatively impact their bottom line.

Some of the top data security risks companies must concern themselves with today are the installation of malware, phishing scams, and password theft. When employees are working physically in the office, the IT Administrator makes sure to remain vigilant, maintain anti-malware programs up to date, and run tests to make sure the company’s system is always protected. However, with employees working from home, there is now an increased security risk. What employers can do to prevent this from happening is to provide trusted anti-malware programs for all employees to download to their personal computers and set it to automatically scan the computer system daily to prevent any type of malware from infiltrating the system. The cost of paying for licenses for all employees will be a lot less than the potential damage and financial loss that any of these issues can present. Employees should also receive training to recognize fraudulent emails to prevent phishing scams and change their passwords regularly to avoid password theft.

According to the New York Times, there have been, “At least 29 new coronavirus deaths and 2,589 new cases were reported in New York City on April 18. “. The total number of reported cases to date in New York City is 904,199 with total deaths are listed at 32,114. While we expect that these numbers will hopefully decrease as people are vaccinated, we know that we have not seen the end of the Coronavirus yet. The presence of a comprehensive return to work guide and the appropriate execution of safety protocols and guidelines is essential to the prevention of transmission among employees. Some of the protocols and procedures employers can implement are the taking of body temperature for each employee as they enter the building, closing off kitchens and lunchrooms, installation of cameras at all employee desks so that everyone can continue to communicate digitally and reduce traffic inside the office, placing directional signs on the floors and elevators to instruct workers of the direction that they are required to travel in, limiting the amount of persons allowed in elevators, providing contactless dispensers with hand sanitizer gel, soaps and paper products, placing sanitizing sprays and disinfectants near all shared equipment with signs instructing employees to use before and after each use, placing plastic separators/protectors at all desks and conference rooms. In addition, increased cleaning and wiping down of all public areas to reduce the possibility of transmittal and contamination should be performed every couple of hours as added protection.

Covid-19 has caused a severe economic slowdown and recovery worldwide will be slow. Many companies have been forced to close their doors for good and others are struggling to stay open. Those companies that have been fortunate to weather the financial losses caused by Covid-19 should use any capital they have on hand to prepay overhead expenses to try and bring down their monthly expenses so that income generated month to month can be used to cover salaries and future expenses. Many companies are taking advantage of the protections offered by Chapter 13 filings to assist them with financial restructuring while they wait for business to pick up and things to get back to normal.

One of the issues that companies are dealing with today that was not present before is the use of social media platforms by consumers and the public that allows them to post both positive and negative information about your company. This is especially problematic when you have a disgruntled customer or employee who posts harmful content about your company’s practices and/or work culture. This can be detrimental to a company’s image. For example, a disgruntled customer can go online and complain that they did not receive good customer service or that the quality of the product they ordered was of inferior quality than what was offered. This could cause a decrease in sales or drive away new business. Another example would be when a disgruntled employee posts negative comments about practices within your company on Indeed or Glassdoor. Applicants may be hesitant to apply for a job at a company where employees are not happy. This can cause a company to have a difficult time recruiting new talent. Companies need to be vigilant and constantly monitor feedback online that could affect their reputation. They should address all customer complaints head on and in an expeditious manner to try and change the public’s perception and turn the negative feedback around. With regards to disgruntled employees, this is why it is important for companies to have fair practices and HR managers who do their best to promote a positive work culture and keep employees engaged so that negative feedback can be avoided.

References
Bown, Jessica. “How Social Media Could Ruin Your Business.” BBC News, BBC, 8 July 2019, www.bbc.com/news/business-48871456 | Accessed 18 April, 2021.
Pandise, Emily. “One Year into Pandemic, Main Street Bankruptcies Continue.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 9 Mar. 2021, www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/which-major-retail-companies-have-filed-bankruptcy-coronavirus-pandemic-hit-n1207866 | Accessed 18 April, 2021.
The New York Times. “New York City Coronavirus Map and Case Count.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 May 2020, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/nyregion/new-york-city-coronavirus-cases.html | Accessed 18 April, 2021.
“Top 10 Global Business Risks of 2019 and How to Mitigate Them.” The One Brief, 1 Nov. 2019, https://theonebrief.com/2019s-top-10-risks-new-risks-emerge-established-risks-evolve/ | Accessed 18 April, 2021.
“Top 15 Types of Cybersecurity Risks & How To Prevent Them.” Executech, 30 Sept. 2019, www.executech.com/insight/top-15-types-of-cybersecurity-attacks-how-to-prevent-them/ | Accessed 18 April, 2021.

BUS 311 Risk Assignment

Jaylen Santana                                                                                                            April 18, 2021

Bus 311                                                                                                                       Prof. Buckler

Cyber Risk Management

It is no secret that COVID-19 has taken its toll on the world and continues to take a toll on the world. Within businesses we have seen that many of them have had to go remote in order to safely continue operating which in and of itself has brought about its own complications. A major issue that businesses have now had to worry about more than ever is a cyber incident which could be extremely damaging to a company if the cybersecurity risks are neglected.

The restrictions that have been imposed by governments in response to the coronavirus pandemic encouraged employees to work from home, or better yet stay at home. As a direct consequence of this, technology has now more than ever become important to both our working and personal lives alike. Despite the drastic need for technology, many companies still do not provide a cyber safe working environment. Reported figures from the June 2020 NCSC (National Cyber Security Center) showed that there were 350 reported cases of cyberattacks which included phishing, fraudulent web sites, direct attacks on companies, etc. in April compared to the norm of 100-150. The pandemic alongside the increase in working from home were seen as a major cause of this increase.

Cyber-attackers see the pandemic as an opportunity to really put their criminal activity into overdrive by using the vulnerability of employees working from home and capitalizing on people’s strong interest of coronavirus-related news such as fake coronavirus related websites. It is also important to consider that the average cost of a data breach resulting from remote working could be as much as $137,000. On July 8^th, the City of London Police reported that January 2020 more than 11 million dollars had been lost due to COVID-19 scams and in Switzerland, 1 in 7 respondents to a survey had experienced a cyberattack during the pandemic period. This becomes apparent when you bring up the fact that 47% of individuals fall for a phishing scam while working at home.

How companies can prevent these cyberattacks from occurring include providing employees with a license to antivirus and malware software for use on their personal computers which does not provide fail safe protection, but it eliminates many low-level attacks. Another way that companies can prevent cyber-attacks from occurring include cyber security and phishing awareness which implies that staff should be briefed on the best practices and procedures to regulate the sending of emails or other content to private email addresses and checking the authenticity of the sender’s addresses when receiving emails. Some more advanced measures that can that companies can take include applying new technology and tools such as host checking (a tool to check the security posture of an endpoint before authorizing access to corporate information systems) to reinforce the security of remote working and intelligence techniques meaning businesses should encourage the use of cyber threat intelligence to identify relevant indicators of attacks and address known attacks.

As for my willingness to work at an organization I think that due to these new threats I am going to stay away from big companies or organizations because its personally makes me feel uneasy and unsafe knowing that most companies are not equipped to handle many cyber-attacks. On the other hand, I think it is good that the pandemic has brought light to the cyber security issues that companies have had but had not put much focus into since before going remote.

I know that the biggest risks companies are facing this year is COVID but, there are many more risk that are unlock because, of COVID. Millions of people are working from home around the world as the coronavirus pandemic spreads and authorities plead for people to stay at home to slow the rate of contagion. Though people staying and working from home helps stop the spread of the virus, it increases the likelihood of companies getting hacked through weakness in employees home networks and misuse of VPN. Because people are working from home, they’re also more likely to answer their phone when an unknown number calls, or be more susceptible to calls faked to look like their own phone numbers. They might think a co-worker is calling or their defense might be down with kids at home and a general heightened level of stress.

To avoid companies from getting hacked, it starts with the boss of it to take control so that they will never seem like their defense is down. The first thing I recommend them to implement is to check up on their employees every hour to make sure their not getting distracted. Give your employees time frames that they should meet, while working at home, make sure they know just because their home doesn’t mean to slack off. To approach the solution this way you can call your employees on the company phone to see how they doing, how the work getting alone and if they have any questions or problems with their work. Another way is to sign in to your computer and look at their work through your screen, like to spy on them without them knowing. This is a good way you to make sure your employees is not slack off, that way your company will be on notice with everything going on. The second thing I recommend is fir the company to install their own vpn in their employees house to lower the risk of getting hacked. This way will save the trouble to keep checking up on your employees but, will cost you just to keep your company up and running. VPN will be your best bet for your company not to be hacked by anyone, it’s the best defense of line for you.

By placing these solutions into your company systems you are giving yourself the upper hand on these hackers that are trying to break into your security and damage your company as a whole. These two solutions are the best two that you can use to make sure your company doesn’t go three that. Even though one is greater than the other it’s still the top two. Now that the world is going through a pandemic that has the state taking a turn on how things are getting run, new problems are escalating in the world to damage companies. You have to have your head on the swivel, nobody’s safe and you can’t trust nobody either. With this pandemic in the world it’s to easy for hackers to get into companies and break them down inside out.

This risk with affect companies and employees both. For the employees they will be out of a job, they will lose their only type of source of money to pay their bills and take care of their family. The company will take the biggest affect because, they will have to rebuild everything back up from scratch and have to make it back up to the top. This pandemic is really hurting the economy and making businesses go out of business, we have to take the necessary precautions to eliminate the risk on the economy and grow back to what we once were.

Richard Ledesma                                                                                                                April 18^th, 2021

Bus 311                                                                                                                 Professor Brielle Buckler

As we have seen in 2020, It is true that organizations are facing an increase need for managers, as risks organization increase. There are many problems and risks that effect many businesses and companies in different ways. Obviously there has been risks for a long time but are slowly changing. One new risk business is facing now would be Coronavirus pandemic. Businesses need to try and work on making their businesses or companies have healthy conditions and a safe workplace. Companies have an issue of putting their employees and clients at risk for getting Coronavirus. Protecting their employees will have an effect on their reputation. A company that doesn’t pay attention to the virus can seriously be impacted on their reputation and not wanted to take a part of. Giving employees and providing them with safe practices can and will help them understand how the virus can really affect and impact the people as a whole and the workplace. Seeing the way, the Corona virus impacted many businesses, Executives need to help manage all these issues coming from the virus. This is very important step for businesses and companies must take to be successful during this pandemic.

There are many ways that organizations can prevent these risks from coming into fruition. One way these companies can prevent these risks would be cleaning and making sure they are safe should be the main goal. There are definitely way more than a dozen people going around and touching lots of things in businesses and companies, Businesses should make cleaning their number 1 priority to try and keep everyone safe. Cleaning from when they open to when they close should be the goal. Like how many businesses today are making sure that everyone who enters the business or store should be wearing masks to not only keep themselves safe but everyone around them is another way that organizations can prevent risks. Checking the customers temperature whether it is from the forehead or the wrist whenever they come in can also be a way to prevent risk. This has to be taken very seriously alongside make a strong statement in the work environment, so every employee knows where the business is and has to be towards this pandemic.

This virus is very serious, and people don’t take it as serious as it should be taken, yes there may be a lot of mixed opinions but one thing everyone should acknowledge is that this is very serious, and businesses must take precautions to keep everyone safe. I have honestly always tried and be as safe as possible whenever I can when I go out or go to places, following the protocols is very important. These new threats will affect a lot of workers decisions. As for me personally going into work and asked to do something has always been my priority. Personally, I can deal with anything they ask me to do, and I will get it done. If I personally don’t feel safe or well, I would just simply reach out to the organization and let them know that I don’t feel safe or I feel bad in some sort of way, I would do this in order to prevent anything more than what it is. Talking and helping other people may not be as easy as how it was before. This is because we don’t really know where people have been or what they have been doing outside the workplace. Obviously, we have to be safe so that is complicated but with all safety precautions taken we can make it much easier and safer. At the end, no one really has control over what happens around their surroundings. By taking these precautions you are doing everything possible to bring safety to your own health and everyone around you.

The cruise ship sector was one of the fastest-growing industries within the last two decades. It has faced many challenges ranging from ship outbreaks to strange death situations and even navigation errors, which results in the damaging of the ships. Even with all those situations, the current pandemic has caused the industry’s uncertainty making a full recovery within the next 5 to 10 years. The cruise line industry never thought that something could halt their operation for more than a year in the prior decades. The risk that many companies in this industry face are the possibility of bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy is not a new situation; it is something that many would not have thought was possible in the cruise line industry unless they had a large lawsuit. But, in this pandemic, it is now a possibility. There is also the situation of the permanent loss of thousands of jobs due to this situation. Many people use the cruise industry to see different countries in a couple of days. They use this as an opportunity to relax and explore other countries’ cultures for either or couple of hours or even days. The ability to not have a care or worry in the world has been the idea of taking a cruise. Now with the pandemic, there are other worries. These range from, is it safe to be in such a confined space with the current pandemic? Would the staff be adequately trained in the proper safety precautions for the spreading of the virus, or would there be limits to the usual offerings of the cruises? There is also the worry of the cost for the cruises if or when they become operational. For the industry, what would the competition look like regarding how many companies are full or partially operational?

The cruise industry can help itself from filing bankruptcy by creating plans with safety for staff and guests at the forefront. They need to look at ways to strategically keep everyone safe while still offering the type of fun and luxury they have always offer. The industry also needs to unite and decide the requirements of staff and guests before boarding the ship. These are things like vaccination, temperature test, constant sanitation, and testing of employees. The industry or the different companies needed to look at the cost for all these different things they need to consider and create ways to be cost-effective while staying in business. They need to look at what countries will create a treat to their business. They need to consider; how many guests can be aboard at one given time along with the staff. They even need to consider how many ships in their fleet can effectively run simultaneously. This budgeting will allow them to know the cost they can operate under without losing everything by filing bankruptcy.

Though the idea of strategizing the best steps to help the company stay in business is important to them moving forward, I would not want to be part of that team or the team of staff that works on the ship. The team, which has the task of strategizing, needs to consider all the pros and cons and all possible outcomes for all the different scenarios. They need to think objectively and logically about everything. I would not like to be in a position where any incorrect decision can cause the life of others. Regarding the on-board staff, working on a ship is already a very active job, and it has a heavy flow of work. Being a previous employee of this industry, understand the work involved in the staff, creating the best experience for all the guests. With this current situation, the staff will have to work much harder to ensure that all safety measures are met and all protocol designed is always done. There will be no room for human errors. I do not want to be working under these stressful measures as it will be a situation where people will constantly be looking at you and scrutinizing everything you do.

The pandemic has caused different situations and effects for many different groups of people and companies.

References

Bykowicz, J. (2021, April 2). CDC wants cruise ship workers vaccinated for Covid-19, but doesn’t say when voyages might resume. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/cruise-lines-fear-another-lost-summer-11616405401?mod=searchresults_pos10&page=1

Bykowicz, J., & Mann, T. (2021, March 22). Cruise Lines Fear Another Lost Summer. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/cruise-lines-fear-another-lost-summer-11616405401?mod=searchresults_pos10&page=1

Trentmann, N., & Sebastian, D. (2021, March 1). Royal Caribbean CFO to bolster liquidity, could pay down debt after share sale. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/royal-caribbean-cfo-to-bolster-liquidity-could-pay-down-debt-after-share-sale-11614644999?mod=searchresults_pos1&page=1