BBS003-1: Business Management Report on COVID-19 Impact on LTR

This report examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Luton Town Residences (LTR), a housing association. It discusses the challenges LTR faced, including remote working issues, declining motivation, and the increased reliance on technology. The report highlights key issues identified by d...Read More

Foundations of
Business Management
(BBS013-1)

Executive summary
In the current business environment, it is identified by organisations that they are facing
many problems due to COVID-19. It is the virus that propagated in the entire world and due to
this governments put lock-down in the world so that they can stop the propagation of virus. This
gives a negative impact on every sector as they hare restricted to not open their stores and having
a fear of virus. In the case of housing property, they are facing a heavy declining in their
business. This report will be discussing the impact of COVID-19 on LTR. In this report, all the
impact of pandemic will be discussing with key issues that faced by LTR. Along with the key
issues, this report is find out the solutions that how LTR is overcoming with their issues.

Table of Contents
Executive summary..........................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................4
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on organisations............................................................4
Key Issues present at LTR......................................................................................................6
Recommendations..................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................9
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................11
Personal reflection................................................................................................................11
REFERNCES:................................................................................................................................14
Books and Journals:..............................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Day by day the complexities of business environment is increasing due to many factors.
Factors can be external as well as internal. One important challenge that comes from external
factor is COVID-19 pandemic in the entire world (Riekkinen and et. al., 2021). Due to this, it is
identified that pandemic situation is negatively impacted on many sectors or industries from
which property industry get adversely affected. In this context, LTR which is the acronym of
Luton Town Residences. It is the Housing association that provide housing for local
communities for those people that are not able to afford expansive houses. They are facing many
challenges due to the impact of pandemic situations. So that's why this report will be discussing
the impact of pandemic on LTR and also discussing the key issues (Reisig, 2018). It will be
discussing the recommendations which are necessary for an organisations.
MAIN BODY
TASK 1
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on organisations
This report is based on LTR which is Luton Town residences where they are providing
residential houses to the vulnerable individuals. For that purpose, they are separated into two
blocks that are General Purpose Housing and Supported Housing. In General Purpose Housing,
they are providing four blocks in different locations in Luton with their separate individual
management office (Van Leuven and Smith, 2019). Whereas supported housing, they are
categorised into three housing that includes emergency hostel, transitional flats, and two hostels.
They are running their business very well before pandemic situation, but after pandemic they are
facing lots of problems. That means Covid-19 pandemic gives a negative impact on LTR. It
caused a disruption in day to day activities of LTR. When the employees of LTR gets to know
that government was imposed a lock-down and that's why the director of LTR announced that
most of the employees need to do work from home and remaining should present on on-site
locations for the purpose of maintenance. It is very necessary for organisation that they have to
take a right measures as the pandemic gives a negative impact on organisation but some of the
organisation that get positive impact such as IT companies (Dongbo and Bowen, 2019). The
LTR is providing residential housing and they get impacted due to pandemic situations. There
are some points which are mentioned below that shows how pandemic gives impact on LTR:

Remote working
It is identified that during pandemic, governments imposed lock-downs in which they
restrict the people to come into contact as it is the communicable diseases which is increasing by
contacting with other people. So that's why they imposed a lock-down that results in work from
home for majorly people (Zatevakhina, Dedyukhina and Klioutchnikov, 2019). Almost 90% of
population was doing work from home which is the synonym of remote working. It is found that
due to this, people are doing work from home with the use of net and remaining people that are
servicing in essential goods need to do work at on-site locations. In the case of LTR, some
people get work from home and remaining of them are doing work from on-site locations. It is
found that pandemic gives a great impact on LTR as they get positive as well as negative impact
due to remote working. It is found that remote working is reducing the sickness levels but at the
same time it increases the challenges of mental health and well-being.
Motivation
Motivation is also get impacted due to pandemic as it is found that LTR is facing a heavy
declining in their business performances. Due to lock-down, none of the people are in the
condition to purchase house which results in reduction of profits and revenues of LTR. It is
found by LTR that their market value get declining as now the economic growth is decreasing
continuously (Ugwu and Ugwoke, 2020). All people who are working in LTR gets affected due
to the decreases in market value. This is very necessary for LTR that they should analyse the
impact as their employees get demotivated due to decreasing in economic growth. Pandemic also
increase a threat of losing their jobs as the business gets adversely impact and due to this, the
owner of organisation needs to fire their employees. This will lead to unemployment that also
reducing their purchasing power. Due to pandemic, the employees' motivation is adversely
impacted and it is analysing that it affects their work efficiency also. It is identifying that day by
day the anxiety level is increasing and gives a great impact on motivation of people. They get
unhappy by fear of pandemic and also reduction of employment opportunities.
Use of technology
It is identified by organisations that COVID-19 altered world in many ways in which
most important is digital transformation. This is very necessary for an organisation that they have
to masters in use of technologies due to pandemic situation (Tang, 2021). It is found that there is
a rapid increasing in use of technologies as government imposed many restrictions for reducing

contacts by physically. The use of technology is becoming very necessary for every organisation
and for that purpose they have to expert in use of technology. In the case of LTR, it is found that
they gave work from home to the employees so that they cannot contact with each other . Work
from home is possible only because of the use of technology. Day by day the use of technology
is increasing not only in organisations but also in many sectors such as school, etc. LTR is using
many software so that they can gave work to their employees. Employees of LTR is continuously
doing work from home with the help of using Zoom. They are using Zoom in which all meeting
is possible or them. But it is found that it will increase the negative impact on people as they get
affected due to increase the use of screen.
Above discussion of some important points, it is analysed that there is a great impact on
LTR. Due to pandemic, it is found that it was impact on remote working, use of technology, and
motivation (Myers and et. al., 2021). They are negatively as well as positively impacted. This is
necessary for every organisation that they should understand the impact so that they can take
corrective measure in order to reduce the negative aspect. Company needs to understand that it is
not necessary for them that impact was always negative as they have to understand they can
change the impact if they are adopting right step. So that's why above discussion is very helpful
that how remote working is influencing by impact of COVID-19. For example, due to the impact
of remote working people get work from home that results in cost saving (Posthuma, Charles
Campion and Campion, 2018). Cost saving in terms of transportation cost, electricity, etc. due to
restrictions of government. So it provide positive impact to employees as well as organisations.
Key Issues present at LTR
LTR is get affected by COVID-19 and that's why they have to faces many issues. Their
employees are doing work from home which is not easy for them to manage and complete their
work on time. In this time, they are analysing that it becomes very tough to manage their work in
an efficient manner (Schneider, 2017). So that's why they need to look all issues in order to find
the solutions. Managing Director of LTR was conducting a meeting that named was All-
Company Town Hall Meeting in which they are analysing that what are the issues that faced by
different team members. Some important issues are explained below:
 The employees of LTR are expressing of major frustrations due to remote working,
collaboration systems, internal communication at LTR.

 They are raising a hand as they feel unhappy due to constant connected nature in which
employees need to available at all time which becomes impossible at home.
 They are realising that overloads of email is increasing unmanageable level.
In addition to the above issues there are some more issues that are explained according to
the management team:
Senior Management Team
Senior management team members analysed that email is the poor method of checking
operational status. They are facing problem in the process of checking the status of their projects.
For example, LTR is making many residential house but it becomes very problem for their senior
management that how they can look out for their operational status in which they need to regular
inspecting that work should be proper executed in a planned manner (Kyakulumbye, 2018). But
due to pandemic, it becomes possible for LTR that how their senior management team is able to
check the status because they are not allowed in lock-down to move from one location to other
one. Due to remote working, LTR's team is facing issue as they are unable to inspect the sites.
Facilities Maintenance Team
In the case of Facilities maintenance team, they felt that email is not the right option for
their organisation a way of communication. It becomes impossible for all people that how they
can manage their conversation on emails (Carvalho and et. al., 2020). Due to pandemic, the use
of technology is increasing but in the case of LTR, they are still using email for the purpose of
communication. The facilities maintenance team members analysed that communication is very
necessary for them as they have to coordinate as well as collaborate with each other which is not
possible with the help of email. They have to use some important tools and techniques of
technology in order to communicate with members of other departments.
Customer Services Team
It is found in LTR that their Customer Services Team felt that their members are taking
more time updating their documents and also find information in number of documents that
covered Word, Excel and plain text files. It will increase a problem of reduction in the
productivity of employees (Ireland, 2017). It is very necessary for LTR that they should update
their software. After pandemic, it is very necessary for LTR that they should analyse the impact
of pandemic on technologies as it will increase during pandemic. There are many more software
get develops in the business environment which are able to overcome with this issues.

The Finance Team
In the case of LTR's Finance Team, they felt it becomes impossible for them to reply on
time due to the use of email. They analysed that requests for information in LTR and their
responses by email was becoming tough to manage. It is identifying that Finance team of LTR
were unable to give reply as this is not easy for them to manage their mails (Duboz and et. al.,
2018). They are not giving reply to the staff outside of the department and getting late which can
be lost the opportunity of profits. Due to insufficient time, it becomes very necessary for
organisation that they should use important tools and techniques. Many staff members of LTR
argued that their staff members facing a problem of frequent video conferencing through Zoom
Meetings becomes very lengthy. They analysed that ZOOM meetings are not efficient in order to
conduct the meetings.
Recommendations
After analysing the issues in their meetings, it is necessary for them that they should take
a corrective measure. So that's why there are some recommendations that are mentioned below:
 It is found that due to remote working people are suffering from mental sickness and
well-being challenge (Rawlings Lester, Allanson and Notar, 2017). So it is suggested to
the organisation that they should adopt work based culture in which they have not
significance of timing but the should give importance to the efficiency in their work. It
will help them to reduce the mental sickness.
 Communication is very necessary in organisation as they cannot achieve their goals and
objectiveness without communication. It is not possible for any organisation to complete
the task without communication. But due to the impact of lock-down when all people are
doing remote working and it is not easy for them to communicate so it becomes
necessary for them that they should communicate with each others. It is recommended to
the organisation that they should invest in technologies as their employees are feeling
problems in communication due to the use of emails. This is necessary for an
organisation that they need to find out the ways which are effective in communication as
their employees get information on time. Along with this, it is also recommended to LTR
that they need to appoint experts in IT so that they can find best solutions regarding with
the problems that their teams are facing.

 Everyone knows that during pandemic it is very impossible for every person that they
meet with each other as they need to take care of social distancing. Due to this, it gives a
great impact on the organisational operations as well as functions. This is necessary for
the companies that they check their operations but due to lock-down it is not possible.
This created a big problems for organisation that how they can manage their operations in
an effective manner. It is suggested to LTR that they should take all precautions and
trying that no physical contact is required in order to check the operational status of
project. This is very necessary for organisations to find out the methods in order to check
the operational status. For that purpose, it is suggested to the organisation that they send
two person in a month or week to check the operational status.
 Companies are analysing that remote working gives a negative impact on the efficiency
and productivity of employees. It is analysed that their employees' morale and motivation
is declining due to the impact of COVID-19. This becomes more negative as they are
living at one place all time. So that's why it is suggested to the organisation that they
should conduct motivational and fun sessions that provide peace and happy to their
employees. With the help of this suggestion, their employees get self motivation which
increases their motivation as well as productivity level.
 It is suggested to LTR that now they should use social media platforms as a digital
marketing methods so that they can increase their business activities. With the help of
digital marketing, LTR is able to directly interact with their clients and able to understand
their tastes and preferences in respect of housing. In the pandemic situation, the use of
digital media is becomes very important and that's why it become the need of every
organisation. This is necessary for companies that they should appoint a marketing
manager that has expertise in different marketing methods. It will helps in overcoming
with the losses that they get in pandemic situations.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above discussion that COVID-19 gives a great impact on
LTR. LTR is the organisation that provides residential housing for vulnerable people. It becomes
very necessary for an organisation that they should analyse the impact as their employees get
remote working. The employees of LTR get affected in term of use of technology and their
motivation due to the impact of COVID-19. This report also discussed the key issues that faced

by LTR such as they had a issue of communication which was not possible on emails. They also
faced issues of not getting proper operational status on their site locations.

TASK 2
Personal reflection
In the present scenario of business environment, it is found that day by day the
complexities are increasing due to the impact of pandemic (Putri and Lestari, 2018). Pandemic
situation gives a great impact on every nation that means it affects on global nations.
Organisations are facing many issues due to the impact of pandemic. It is found that global
economy growth rate gets decline due to the impact of pandemic that's why every person is
getting suffer from this situation. This is analysed that there is no single person and industry is
available in the market which is not get impacted by pandemic. It is found in my experience that
pandemic gives a lesson in which people get understand the importance of nature as well as
development of skills. In organisations, it is found that employees need to develop some
important skills so that they can overcome with the challenges that arise due to pandemic
(Roman, ROMAN and Gerstner, 2018). This can be better understand with the help of my
personal experience. For my personal reflection, I will be use reflective model so that everyone
can easily grab the motive and purpose of my experience. So I will be use Gibbs reflective
model.
Gibbs reflective model is the reflection model that developed by Graham Gibbs in 1988.
This model gives a structure in which a person can show their period from learning to experience
(Caleffi, Cacciapuoti and Bianchi, 2018). It is the important framework in which an individual is
express their experience in a systematic manner. It covers an important 6 stages that are
description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan. It is the model that is
beneficial for organisations as well as employees in order to grasp some good things so that they
can achieve their goals and objectives. This model provides clarity in the reflection by explaining
experience in a systematic manner so that none can confuse with their experiences. With the help
of this model I can express about my experience that what I learnt and develop my skills and
knowledge. So below are the 6 stages that reflect my personal experience:
 Description: I analysed that pandemic becomes very tough not only for people as they
lost the income source but also for organisations. This things I can say this because I am
the employee in LTR which providing residential housing. I analysed that pandemic time
was very critical for every person. Due to the pandemic, all stores and offices are closed

for maintaining social distancing. These are the orders of government as they imposed
lock-down in every nations for stopping the propagation of virus. That's why LTR gave
remote working in which they provide work from home to each employee. This is the
situation in which I cannot understood that what was happen in that time.
 Feelings: Due to the remote working, I felt that it was complex situation for me because I
was unable to manage the things. I was unable to contact with my colleagues which is
necessary for me in order to compete the task. This is necessary for organisation's success
and growth that they should communicate with their employees in terms of providing
goals and objectives. In this process, employees need to communicate with each other so
that they cannot create any ambiguity and duplication of work. For that purpose, I felt
that communication cannot possible with the help of mails so that's why I tried to find out
ways which assists in reducing the communication problem. In that time, I felt that It is
very necessary for everyone that they should develop some ICT skills so that they can
find the best options in order to communicate efficiently. In addition to this skill, I also
felt that collaboration and coordination is very necessary in order to work with other
members. I felt how much collaboration is necessary that we can develop in the working
environment. But generally people are neglecting to talk with others. In pandemic time, I
felt and learnt that working with others is very necessary as it is not possible for me to
complete the task properly.
 Evaluation: My experience in pandemic situation was good as well as bad. I learnt many
things in which I analysed that communication skills, ICT skills are very necessary and I
developed during pandemic period because the meetings are conducted through ZOOM. I
analysed that it was good for me as I realised that person should be multitasking and able
to work in a critical situations. But along with good experiences, I also faces bad
experience. One of my colleagues was firing due to the pandemic. This was very
shocking for me as in the pandemic, job is very necessary for every person as no one has
options to get job in the market.
 Analysis: I analysed that pandemic gives bad as well as good impact in everyone's life. I
analysed that it becomes positive for those person who have not time to give to their
family. With the help of remote working, I get attached with my family which was very

good. But I also analysed that many of the people was in the depression due to lock-
downs as they are lost their jobs and opportunities.
 Conclusion: I concluded that it was good for me as I learnt many things in which on
important thing that I learnt is everyone should not lose their hopes even in worst
situations. Along with this, it is very necessary for everyone that they should stop their
learnings. That means it is very necessary for people to learn and develop skills so that
they can overcome with the bad situations (Alami and et. al., 2020).
 Action plan: For the purpose of developing some skills such as communication, ICT,
problem solving, numeracy and working with others, it is very necessary for making an
action plan. Action plan is very helpful for people in which they are able to develop their
skills. For the development of communication skills, I make an action plan in which I
decided that I have to take classes for improving my communication skills. For
development of ICT skills, I decide to take course, whereas working with others skills
can be developed by more engagement with people.

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