Download This PaperThe Paradox of Distance - New Zealand Businesses during COVID-19
in International business in times of crisis: Tribute volume to Geoffrey Jones, Rob van Tulder, Alain Verbeke, Lucia Piscitello, and Jonas Puck (Eds.). Progress in international business research Vol. 16. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing Limited, 431-447. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1745-886220220000016
16 Pages Posted: 13 Oct 2021 Last revised: 31 May 2022
Date Written: January 5, 2022
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has quickly transformed the notions of crises and of living in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world into a lived experience. This chapter offers a perspective on how New Zealand’s businesses experienced and reacted to COVID-19 related management from a distance and with a mindset that was informed by the government’s focus on health and well-being and ‘being kind’. Our exploratory findings from a sample of New Zealand exporters show that technology-supported management of digital distance and trust, infused with a partner-specific exhibition of empathy, fostered successful business relationships during these challenging times.
Keywords: COVID-19, Digital Distance, Trust, Virtuality Trap, Relationship, Empathy
JEL Classification: M1, M16
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Benjamin Fath
University of Auckland Business School ( email )
12 Grafton Rd
Private Bag 92019
Auckland, 1010
New Zealand
+6499238313 (Phone)
HOME PAGE: https://unidirectory.auckland.ac.nz/people/profile/b-fath
Antje Fiedler
University of Auckland Business School ( email )
12 Grafton Rd
Private Bag 92019
Auckland, 1010
New Zealand