Key sur(VIR)val factors in water supply companies: some lessons from Poland

Paweł Chudziński,Szymon Cyfert,Maciej Zastempowski,Wojciech Dyduch

doi:10.2166/aqua.2020.067

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents the outcomes of research on managerial decisions that were made as a first reaction to the economic crisis caused by the SARS-Cov-19 virus (the coronacrisis). The research was carried out among 116 companies from the water supply sector operating in Poland that includes water supply and sewage. The results indicate which elements were perceived by managers as key factors for survival and further functioning. It is clear that the most frequent managerial decisions made were reducing investments and sending employees for home office work, as well as prolonging the payment deadlines. Interestingly, investment reductions were accompanied by sustaining the R&D expenses, as the researched organisations desired to stay competitive and innovative right after the crisis. Only a few of the water supply companies decided to make workers redundant, as the majority declared the intent to protect the workforce, e.g. by sending employees on leave. The research has also shown that the companies approached the coronacrisis rather methodologically and systematically, which indicates a good level of managerial decision-making under pressure, overall enterprise preparedness for crisis situations, as well as staff involvement. Based on our research, we offer some recommendations concerning how the water supply sector organisations can prepare for similar crises in the future. Our research indicates that the decisions made had the following goals in mind: protecting workforce and sustaining cash flow, as well as securing competitive position after the crisis. Our research also focuses on the necessary decisions to be made in water supply companies before the next crises.

Highlights

The high level of uncertainty and risk resulting from crises means that in the face of crisis factors threatening the survival of organisations emerge, negatively affecting the ability of managers to make rational decisions and challenging the development of adaptive management solutions.Similar mechanisms can be observed for epidemic crises
The objective of this paper is to present the results of research on managerial decisions that were taken in water supply companies in Poland as the first reaction immediately after the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic
The factors selected for this study are correlated with one another, which confirms the statistical significance of Barlett’s test

Summary

Introduction

The high level of uncertainty and risk resulting from crises means that in the face of crisis factors threatening the survival of organisations emerge, negatively affecting the ability of managers to make rational decisions and challenging the development of adaptive management solutions.Similar mechanisms can be observed for epidemic crises. The high level of uncertainty and risk resulting from crises means that in the face of crisis factors threatening the survival of organisations emerge, negatively affecting the ability of managers to make rational decisions and challenging the development of adaptive management solutions. The limited response time to unexpected phenomena means that in an epidemic, the identification and assessment of key survival factors become critical. There is no doubt that the complexity of operations requiring a crisis response depends on the dynamic capabilities of organisations that require coordinated action at different levels of the organisation (Lai ). The objective of this paper is to present the results of research on managerial decisions that were taken in water supply companies in Poland as the first reaction immediately after the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic. Our research indicates which of the factors were perceived by managers as key factors of survival and further functioning

Objectives

Methods

Results