The COVID-19 pandemic ruthlessly affected almost all aspects of human life—the industrial sector as well. The pandemic also severely affected the large-scale firms in Nepal. Despite the severe effects of COVID-19 on these firms, the intensity of the impacts on them have not been uniform; different firms have been affected to different degrees. In this context, this study aims to assess the impact of COVID-19 on large-scale firms, to identify the factors moderating its impact on these firms, to discover the new policy/strategic initiatives of the firms for coping with the challenges created by the pandemic.
The necessary data for this study were enumerated from 102 large-scale firms in Nepal using an online survey form. Multiple regression models were run in order to identify the factors moderating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the firms.
The study revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic had negative impacts on the production, sales, profit, and employment in the large-scale firms in Nepal. A large majority of these firms changed their business model in order to reduce being directly in direct physical proximity with customers, and therefore both firm employees and customers were safe and the employees could work and customers could receive the goods and services even during the pandemic. The study discovered that the managerial skills and managerial foresight appeared to positively moderate the production of the firm during the pandemic. The work experience, age of the firm, being service- and tourism-based firms tended to negatively moderate the production of the firm during the pandemic. The sex of the managers or higher authorities (being male) and managerial skills seemed to positively moderate the sales of large-scale firms during the pandemic. The work experience of the managers or higher authorities, total capital, firms having partnership ownership, being private, being service- and tourism-based firms tended to negatively moderate the sales of large-scale firms during the pandemic. The work experience, managerial foresight of the managers and higher authorities, age of the firm, firm having individual ownership, being manufacturing and energy-based firms appeared to positively moderate the profit of large-scale firms during the pandemic. The age and educational qualification of the managers or higher authorities and total capital of the firm tended to negatively moderate the profit of the large-scale firms during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal. The large-scale firms in Nepal have adopted several mixed policies in order to cope with the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic such as maintaining social/physical distance in the workplace, COVID-19 insurance for the workers, working from home, decreasing production, furloughing workers, investment in new digital technologies to work from home, and so on.
Based on the findings, this study suggests
- The firm owners to hire managers or higher authorities with longer work experience, and strengthen the managerial skills and managerial foresight of the current managers or higher authorities of the firms;
- The government to initiate policies to encourage manufacturing and energy-based firms in the future in order to be relatively less affected by the effects of such pandemics on profit in the future.
- The newcomers in the large-scale industrial sector to opt for manufacturing and energy-based firms to be relatively less affected by the effects of such pandemics on profit in the future.
