COVID-19

Due to the COVID-19 travel ban and the introduction of home office solutions, the usage of online communication tools has been accelerated. The emergence of virtual presence would appear to have been substantiated like never before by this crisis in an economic climate that has adopted online collaboration tools like no generation before. Out of necessity, the personal touch of business which has been the backbone of sound etiquette and integral trade has been replaced by the living room virtual office.

But, as the rate of globalization and internationalization continues to increase, with companies operating across multiple nations, this crisis presents EnterAnGo with the unique opportunity to explore how the future level of corporation and the standards of communication might be impacted post the COVID-19 era. By critically examining historical trends and the impact of previously travel disrupting catastrophes we discover the extent to which COVID-19 has acted as a catalyst to usher a new era of the digital meeting.

Traditionally, face-to-face meetings all around the globe have been at the heart of information exchange and communication but have come at a cost. Most prevalent is question of company ecological footprint but equally important, if not less reported is the impact on the personal health of frequent flyers. The cost of travel and doing business is also now at a substantial premium.

In order to identify whether historical events might be a good indicator of the future and to better understand what the nature of business in the aftermath of COVD-19 might look like we conducted an academic literature review and outreach survey focused on the importance of online vs face-to-face meetings for companies operating at this time. The surveys were based on semi-structured interviews with decision makers from various industries in various countries We assessed the perceived impact on business relationships for those companies and compared to that of global businesses in the present century pre-, during and post crisis.

We make recommendations for future best practices to ensure continued effective and efficient international collaboration.

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