Managing Covid-19 pandemic and supply chain disruptions through employee attitude: A cross-country analysis based on the transtheoretical model

In this paper, we examine the attitudinal changes and processes regarding Covid-19 guidelines through the lens of the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) among 932 employees in organisations within the emerging markets of China and Qatar, and the implications for the management of operations and supply chain disruptions. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and hierarchical multiple regression were conducted to validate our measures, confirm model fit, and verify the proposed hypotheses. Our findings reveal that attitude towards the guidelines differ between Chinese and Qatari samples, significantly stronger among the Chinese sample. The TTM dimensions explain a considerable amount of variance in attitude and self-efficacy. Self-efficacy further explains attitudinal changes. Firms should actively source and provide useful and accurate information about COVID 19, including pathological characteristics, propagation, prevention measures, and treatment. Besides, firms should promote the importance of following the guidelines, leaders should set examples, and encourage and empower employees to do so. With the right employee attitude and behavior, firms can manage pandemic-related disruptions within the organization and the supply chain.