Title: The indirect effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on multinational companies' competitiveness and resilience through work from home

Authors: Sara Abhari; Alireza Jalali; Mastura Jaafar; Thripurasundere A/P K. Maharaja

Addresses: School of Hospitality and Service Management, Sunway University, Malaysia ' C103, Department of Management, Sultan Qaboos University, Seeb, Muscat, Oman ' Quantity Surveying Department, School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia ' Quantity Surveying Department, School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

Abstract: This study considered the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the competitiveness of multinational corporations (MNCs) by examining the mediating role of work from home (WFH). A self-administrated questionnaire collected data from 170 professionals who work in human resource departments in MNCs in Malaysia and the responses were analysed through partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to test the proposed hypotheses. According to the study findings, the current pandemic is directly and significantly affecting the level of work from home in MNCs. On the other hand, work from home exhibits a significant and positive influence on MNCs' competitiveness, demonstrating the positive and indirect effects of COVID-19 through work from home. These results can provide managerial implication insights for MNCs to retain competitiveness in their performance by implementing appropriate human resource management and workplace resilience strategies such as work from home.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; work from home; WFH; multinational corporations; MNCs; competitiveness; international human resource management; IHRM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWE.2023.134519

International Journal of Environment, Workplace and Employment, 2023 Vol.7 No.2, pp.104 - 120

Received: 19 Jul 2022
Accepted: 07 Feb 2023
Published online: 26 Oct 2023 *

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