Analysis of GDS Corporate Best Practices: COVID-19 and Health

This report examines the corporate best practices of Global Distribution System (GDS) companies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It explores how these companies are adapting to health challenges, ensuring employee well-being, and navigating regulatory changes. The report highlights the importance of employee and stakeholder engagement, showcasing examples like Travelport's response site and webinars. It covers key areas such as travel restrictions, social distancing, and the need for real-time responses to the fluid nature of the pandemic. Furthermore, it recognizes the challenges GDS companies face, emphasizing their reliance on governments and partners. The report also references the impact of global distribution systems on travel agencies, and underscores the importance of adapting to the current situation.

GDS Corporate Best
Practice
A CASE OF COVID 19 RESPONSE

Best practice regarding health
 Companies are incentivized by regulations and their duty to employees,
the community and shareholders to operate in a way that safeguards
all stakeholders
 Operations address and minimize occupational hazards for employees.
 Employers take active steps to promote the physical and emotion
health of employees, while also enhancing their social connections, and
cultural expression where appropriate.
 Companies also engage employees and other stakeholders when
formulating their response to health and related issues

Best practice regarding health contd
 The best company response to best practices on health includes a
careful blend of organizational aims and needs, with employee health
measures. These responses need to have maximum employee
participation and ownership, especially when they do involve the
employees, to ensure their success. The use of senior and midle level
management as champions helps the implementation of such plans.

Corporate response to covid-19
 Covid-19 is a respiratory illness that originated in China, and is
currently in almost every part of the world.
 It has disrupted the way companies work, with governments putting
measures to restrict assembly and movement.
 Governments are also requiring companies to take strong measures in
relation to the pandemic, such as enforcing social distancing – through
work-from-home arrangements, for instance
 The free movement of people and goods is also highly restricted in
most parts of the world, posing another headache for GDS companies.

Corporate response to covid-19
contd
 The Covid-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented disruption of
commerce around the world. Apart from employees in many cases
being to work from home, the movement of goods has also suffered, as
countries try to limit imported cases of the illness. This means that the
operations of GDS companies have been heavily affected, as they may
sometimes be unable to distribute cargo and satisfy customer
expectations.

Response to illness
 Companies must restrict all but essential travel for their employees.
Employees who have recently traveled need to self-isolate for 14 days,
which is the incubation period for the illness
 Companies need to restrict physical interaction between employees,
and between employees and customers, unless it is absolutely
necessary to do so.
 GDS companies need to encourage their employees and customers to
take all health authorities’ regulations seriously, by sanitizing their
hands, not touching their face, and maintaining social distancing at all
times

Response to covid-19, contd
 GDS companies are increasingly engaging their stakeholders, especially
customers, to find the best ways through which they can be served.
 Travelport has created a response site, and also runs regular webinars
to engage customers on the status of service provision.
 Within the company, Travelport has strongly encouraged employees to
take charge of their personal and team health, by observing all
regulations
 GDS companies realize the fluid nature of regulations, and try to
empower their partners to better deal with the economic fallout
resulting from covid-19.

Challenges
 Covid-19 response and the adoption of industry best practice is not a
preserve of GDS companies. As these companies try their best, they
depend on governments, and partners to succeed.
 The situation is fluid and changing by the minute, meaning that these
companies must have real-time responses to align their policies with
the prevailing situation.

References
 Jovic, J., Radovanovic, P., & Andreeski, P. (2016). The impact of global
distribution systems on travel agencies business efficiency.
Researchgate, 13.
 Travelport. (2020). COVID-19: Travel industry response. Retrieved from
travelport: https://www.travelport.com/covid19