Educational and Organizational Handling during COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Changes

ABSTRACT


INTRODUCTION
This study focused on educational institutions and organizations' challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. This virus has been categorized by the World Health Organization as a worldwide emergency with a very high probability of transmission and impact [1]. Therefore, schools and organizations must change their working methods [2]. Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic affects agriculture, politics, education, society, and the environment. Significant dangers to business, industry, politics, agriculture, and especially the sphere of education have been posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Online platforms have replaced physical learning and teaching. This method of instruction was designed primarily to benefit individuals pursuing higher education [3]. There have been several cancellations and reschedules of exams, tests, and assessments [4].
Interestingly, many nations experienced severe corporate and firm bankruptcies, increasing unemployment [5]. Cambodia's ability to retain its socioeconomic standing is limited. Undoubtedly, those most impacted by the significant socioeconomic effects of COVID-19 are the most vulnerable groups, such as women and young people [6]. Moreover, change management is crucial for organizations to thrive during pandemics, stay highly competitive, and develop into better organizations [7]. The methods needed to manage organizational transformation primarily depend on human resources [8]. Human resources rely heavily on the techniques required to manage organizational transformation [8]. COVID-19 introduced new organizational working methods, separating office-and home-based staff and encouraging social estrangement. The first concern with organizational change is how people or individuals adapt to the changes [2]. Furthermore, a study by David Morgan & Rachid Zeffane [9] in 2003 examined management trust and employee involvement in organizational change. The findings showed that any change has a detrimental impact on people's trust in management. This demonstrates how workers respond to any change. They are averse to change since it will probably have a detrimental effect on their professional and personal well-being, which includes their ability to maintain a healthy work-life balance and feel satisfied in their jobs. The readiness of employees for organizational change was also examined by Samaranayake and Takemura [10], who discovered that when staff members have confidence in their superiors and peers, they are more eager to embrace organizational change.
Donthu and Gustafsson [11] claim that while some businesses struggle during the epidemic, others are doing well. This is true for many Internet-based businesses, such as those that provide services for remote work, food delivery, online shopping, online education, and online entertainment. Furthermore, the survey entitled Looking for Opportunities during the Crisis [12] draws on the observation that larger companies will better cope with the storm than smaller privately owned companies. However, to meet the issues posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Caligiuri et al. [13] examined the applicability of current research in international business and education, particularly the work on international human resources management. Researchers discovered that decision-makers in multinational corporations used a variety of steps to lessen the pandemic's effects.
The primary objective of this study is to determine, from the employees' viewpoints, how schools and organizations handled change due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The following research objectives will facilitate the achievement of this aim such as 1) to identify educational and organizational challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic as experienced by its employees, and 2) to find out changes undertaken by schools and organizations to cope with the challenges as perceived by its employees. Moreover, this research will answer the following research questions such as 1) What are educational and organizational challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic as experienced by its employees? Furthermore, 2) how did schools and organizations cope with the challenges perceived by their employees?

METHOD
The methodologies employed in this investigation were qualitative. In qualitative research, a broad question is posed, data is gathered in words, photographs, videos, etc., and then examined in search of themes. This research tries to investigate a question without attempting to quantify variables or look at potential links between variables quantitatively.
For two sets of focused group discussions, there were 12 participants, while in Key Informant Interviews, there were only 6 participants. There were 5 participants in one FGD group and five in the other FGD group. Purposeful sampling is used to select FGD and interview participants for the study based on their capacity to share and produce the information-rich output [14]. In this instance, participants were specifically chosen because they had noticed changes at their places of employment due to the pandemic.
Secondary data on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on organizations were gathered from older and more recent studies. Focused group discussions (FGD) and key informant interviews (KII) were employed to gather primary data. The research questions were used to frame the questions for the FGD and KII. The KII and FGD sessions were held at the same time. Significant statistics were taken from the interview transcript and briefly presented to offer a foundational discussion. The information was collected after being triangulated, categorized by topic, and visualized. According to Fussell et al. [15], a visual context is any effort to use visualization to help people understand the meaning of data. Patterns, trends, and correlations are more evident and straightforward to spot in data visualization than they could be in text-based data.

Demographic Data a. Key Informant Interviewee Profile
A thorough profile of each of the six participants in the critical informant interview is provided in Table 1 below. There are two females and four males, respectively. One participant is 35 years old, two are 26 years old, three are 28 years old, and three are 26 years old. Five interviewees are finishing their master's degrees, while one is finishing a Ph.D. One person holds a position as a Logistics Assistant, another holds a Junior Management role, a third holds a position as a Government Official, and the final member holds a position as a Full-Time Student. The suggested number of years of work experience is six, five, three, two, one year and three months, and zero. A thorough profile of the group members in the focus group discussion is shown in Table 2 below. There are two females and five males, respectively. Three participants are 28 years old, while the remaining individuals range in age from 24 to 37. Six participants have previously earned a bachelor's degree, while one is working toward a master's. The participants' occupations range from shop assistants to government officials, passenger ground handlers, manager's assistants, agricultural intervention managers, bankers, and teachers. Two people have stated that they have two years of professional experience. Two more claimed to have three years of professional experience. Others claimed to have 4, 10, and 16 years of employment history.  Finally, the sixth interviewee said almost everything is processed online. The respondent also added that shifting education to online platforms can teach students and teachers to learn new things in the 21 century.

Group Discussion 1
The majority of participants, according to the results, expressed concern about how the pandemic might impact businesses, particularly those that depended on the income of individual employees. Previously, we had our first in-person meeting, but we can now connect via Zoom, Skype, and other social media. In addition, the last sixth interviewee responded that it was a significant failure to address the issue, and poor management handled the crisis poorly. The power of staff was used both directly and indirectly. However, the issue was eventually resolved, the company was stabilized, and its interests were upheld. The company can successfully manage COVID-19 despite not experiencing any financial losses from lost profits or interest. Despite a significant change in the working system, business operations continue as usual.

Group Discussion 1
Most participants indicated that the organization's adoption of social distance norms and hygiene procedures was the improvement it made in response to the problems it had discovered. Few participants mentioned lowering employee salaries and increasing business activities to maintain operations during the pandemic. It was noted that 50% of the participants' workplaces had switched to online working platforms (Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Team) and engaged in digital processes on complicated documents concerning social distance regulations.
Everyone in the discussion agreed that social isolation and good cleanliness habits would help stop the COVID-19 outbreak. Two expressed the following: The corporation tried to cut costs by sending expatriate employees, who were paid higher salaries, back to their native nations. The corporation initially employed one regional manager to oversee activities in five to six nations. The business generated some revenue while implementing hygienic methods to safeguard employees from the virus, such as requiring them to wear protective clothing, masks, and other restrictions. In order to address sustainability issues, there is no other option than to cease operations because there will not be any clients outside those who have a great desire for travel.

Group Discussion 2
According to the FGD with five participants, the participant's organization has made modifications to deal with the situation. First, 4 participants concurred that their companies have adapted to the new work schedule by implementing staff rotation shifts and work-from-home policies. Employees must use social media platforms like Telegram and WhatsApp to interact with their coworkers and management team while working from home. Second, the participants noticed that to survive, their businesses or organizations had to modify their budget plans due to an overwhelming decline in sales and income. During the conversation, it was also brought up that their organizations had reduced the size of the organizational chart by letting go of some people. One of the participants who worked in school mentioned that their organization has adapted to an e-learning platform. The company employs the Internet platform for communication with staff, students, teachers, managers, principals, and parents. Another participant, who works for a real estate firm, observed that his business had implemented a new strategy for extending its clients' due dates. In order to protect their staff members and clients from the virus, all participants agreed that their businesses or organizations should adhere to the Covid-19 preventive instructions from the Ministry of Health.

Discussion
The above findings are also supported by McEntee's [16] observation that the world is responding and adjusting in their supervision and work; namely, managers and employees are both becoming aware of the task ahead to sustain company continuity and ensure a successful continuation of work and business as a result of employers requesting that employees work from home in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. Working from home may help organizations and people in the short term, but if they are not ready, it may not work for them in the long run. The results also suggested that these social distance rules provide organizational problems beyond cultural issues. Organizations may function in culturally distinct environments, but this does not exclude them from social distancing-related difficulties. This implies that firms must adjust and implement steps to help individuals and the entire organization overcome this difficulty.
Ironically, this outcome demonstrates how the epidemic challenges societal and economic norms. It suggests that organizations need to reinvent themselves to achieve both individual and group well-being [17] as well as develop coping mechanisms to deal with delicate situations [18]- [20].
Additionally, teaching and learning were conducted on different virtual platforms, as found by Sey et al. [21]. Sey [22] also added that Cambodian students were moderately ready for their online classes since it is new to Cambodians. Sey [22] continued that although students were online during the COVID-19 pandemic, they seemed concerned about the qualifications obtained from online platforms such as Zoom. According to Schmid et al. [23], organizations must change the workplace to implement social distancing. They must also adjust to changes in employee schedules, provide support for continued teleworking, make physical adjustments, lessen physical touch and in-person encounters, account for changes in travel restrictions, and give managers and staff training on social distancing. Besides, Zhao [24] also found similar findings with this study; in other words, Zhao pointed out that schools must change to online supervision and instructions. Without flexibility, schools will be stopped. However, Zhao et al. [25] emphasized that the COVID-19 pandemic gave educational institutions a golden opportunity to develop and change schools. Hoofman and Secord [26] additionally addressed the effects on education during this challenging time. However, schools still had to adapt to new situations.
Interestingly, McQuirte [27] also explored the challenges and some changes that schools had to equip the classroom with technology during the pandemic. The study conducted by Ng [28] also supported the above findings. Singapore had moved education to online platforms, which was a good change. As part of this study, Azorín [29] found that schools would never be closed during the pandemic. This is a good lesson learned from the world. We have to adapt and adapt to the changes. Tabatadze and Chachkhiani [30] explored the schools in Georgia that had to implement emergency remote teaching practices because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tabatadze and Chachkhiani [30] added that it was pretty challenging, yet it was a good chance for schools toward the changes.
In short, challenges and changes were everywhere during the COVID-19 pandemic. Educational institutions and other companies would be bankrupt without changes and adjustments. This is a good lesson learned by the world. Hence, educational institutions should update and change based on contextual situations.

CONCLUSION
It is appropriate for various organizations to adapt. Leaders and staff have learned to update and modify their working and leading ways due to a shift for the better, such as the COVID-19 epidemic. Organizations, educational institutions, and other businesses will go bankrupt if nothing is changed. Changes are, therefore, essential to the development of organizations. The COVID-19 epidemic is a good experience from which all organizations can gain. The subject of further research should be the attitude of employees toward organizational changes.