A discussion on organizational resilience in Iranian restaurants during Covid-19

Numerous small and medium-sized businesses were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and suffered losses in Iran as well as in other countries across the globe. Any organization's capacity for intensity and endurance during a crisis is characterized by its resilience. In this study, the effectiveness of restaurant management in Iran is evaluated via the lens of organizational resilience linked dimensions adapted from HealthCheck which is a free self-assessment tool developed by the "Department of Home Affairs of Australia's Organizational Resilience" website. In order to contain and address both short-term shocks and long-term crises or issues, HealthCheck looks into and supports benchmarks about the organization's and the business's flexibility to adapt and evolve in global marketplaces. 52 Iranian restaurants were surveyed as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) within three important cities in Iran via the use of a questionnaire obtained from HealthCheck. The collected data was analyzed via the lens of several parameters derived from HealthCheck to evaluate the organizational resilience of the restaurants that had endured the COVID-19 crisis. These parameters include decision making (DM), network and social capital (NSC), situational awareness (SA), and the employee engagement (EE) within the organization. The organizational resilience (RES) and Coronavirus pandemic experience (CPX) are developed as general, all-encompassing umbrella parameters. An analysis of the survey data indicates the lack of awareness in crisis management and basic management components, and an overall lack of knowledge within managers and employees in terms of risk and crisis management, which is assumed to be a reason for minimal premonition before, at the onset of the crisis and during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is concluded that the participants had no clear or definite plans to face the pandemic within the food and beverage industry of Iran. While the existence of a prognosis and awareness for any crisis leads to the allocation of financial and human resources to address or mitigate the crisis, the survey results show that most resources are not allocated or there is minimal awareness of this parameter. Participants in this survey placed emphasis on the hierarchy and decision-making within the organizations as vital parameters. In addition, it is concluded that implicit or tacit knowledge serves as the basis for the management of Iranian restaurants.