Theorizing the Initial Response of Countries in Bringing COVID-19 Pandemic under Control: The Effect of Change Readiness of Countries
Theorizing the Initial Response of Countries in Bringing COVID-19 Pandemic under Control: The Effect of Change Readiness of Countries

Author(s): M. Mahdi Moeini Gharagozloo, Farinaz Sabz Ali Pour, Chen Chen, Mozhgan Moeini Gharagozloo
Subject(s): Social development, Health and medicine and law
Published by: Scientia Moralitas Research Institute
Keywords: Change readiness; Global Pandemic; Spread of COVID-19; Resiliency
Summary/Abstract: Pandemic crises can bring the biggest and deepest shocks to countries around the world. In the first quarter of 2020, a global pandemic named “COVID-19” spread all over the world and not only took so many lives and created so much fear but also brought a tremendous financial pain as a result of shutting down economies to fight with this unknown contagious virus. This paper examines how countries’ change readiness enables them to bring the spread of an international crisis under control. We propose that higher levels of change readiness would help countries to cope with risks and uncertainties generated by the changes and shocks in the environment. Therefore, higher levels of change readiness help them bring a crisis under control. This characteristic of a country shows its influence, especially in facing pandemics. Overall, this study improves our knowledge about mechanisms through which change readiness of countries might impact their capability in facing international crises. This study contributes to the literature on risk mitigation in global crises. It is one of the first to look closely at the role of countries’ change readiness in helping them to respond to shocks generated by an international crisis.

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