Estimating Risk Perception Effects on Courier Companies’ Online Customer Behavior during a Crisis, Using Crowdsourced Data

Damianos P Sakas,Ioannis Dimitrios G Kamperos,Panagiotis Reklitis

doi:10.3390/su132212725

Damianos P Sakas, Ioannis Dimitrios G Kamperos + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212725

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Nov 17, 2021
Citations: 15	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Agricultural University of Athens

Abstract

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a real challenge for courier companies on a global scale and has affected customer behavior worldwide. This paper attempts to propound a new methodology in order to predict the effect of courier companies’ e-commerce on customers’ risk perception regarding their online behavior after the outbreak, and the final effect of their behavior on the global ranking of the company’s website, utilizing passive crowdsourcing data from five world-leading courier companies as representative examples of their respective business sectors. The results will allow supply chain risk management (SCRM) managers to make effective strategic decisions regarding the efficient allocation of resources to mitigate the corporate risk to their organization during a novel crisis. In our paper, we monitored five key performance indicators (KPIs) over a 24-month period (March 2019–February 2021) as the first of a suggested three-level analysis process using statistical analysis and fuzzy cognitive mapping techniques. We propose that courier service companies should manage the risk of a potential novel crisis by improving the reputation and brand name of the company, since customers tend to trust an established brand.

Highlights

IntroductionViewed from a broader perspective, risk management refers to the coordinated activities of an organization in order to control risk [1]
The following section describes the first period of the COVID-19 pandemic globally (December 2019 to March 2020), as well as its impact on courier service e-commerce clients’
We suggest that the number of worldwide deaths from COVID-19 had a similar effect on the key performance indicators (KPIs)-related variables as the number of COVID-19 cases variable, resulting in an improved global ranking of the courier companies’ websites through increased nonbranded and branded traffic, with the latter demonstrating a stronger response to the crisis escalation in terms of the number of deaths worldwide

Summary

Introduction

Viewed from a broader perspective, risk management refers to the coordinated activities of an organization in order to control risk [1]. If we want to focus more on enterprises it would be more appropriate to seek definitions for enterprise risk management (ERM) in particular, referring to all the activities of an organization to minimize the effects of risk on its capital and earnings. For a risk management process to be effective, certain principles must be applied. The most common set of principles suggested for successful risk management are known by the acronym PACED [2], standing for: Proportionate to the level of risks within the organization

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Conclusion