An empirical research exploring the human resource practices in the Lebanese businesses after the October 17th event

Abstract

This research aims to explore the preparedness of Lebanese businesses facing the economic crisis and the various human resource practices implemented after the October 17th event. Lebanon has been witnessing an economic and currency crisis, hence, citizens called out for a revolution against the corrupted government on October 17th, 2019. Furthermore, businesses were hindered, sales were dropping, and employees absenteeism increased due to the business disruptions. This research focused on exploring the impact of the economic crisis on Lebanese businesses, the measures taken to lessen the negative impacts, and the changes in human resource practices applied facing the crisis. In order to deepen the knowledge about crises and business preparation, the study has considered the various types of business crises, crisis management planning, and the role of human resources in crisis management, specifically the different practices that were applied in previous crises. Following a qualitative approach, the researchers have conducted semi structured phone interviews with top management in different Lebanese businesses and analyzed the findings utilizing the thematic analysis. The findings of the study present that the dollar exchange rate, the bank restrictions, and the blocking of roads by protestors have negatively impacted the different businesses, which led them to change the strategy or switch to another focus. The majority of businesses were not prepared for such a crisis, even though Lebanon is a very dynamic and turbulent environment. In an effort to reduce the damages, the firms applied many actions, such as decreasing the budgets across all departments, increasing their exports, or postponing pending plans. This study also identified various human resource practices applied, such as stopping the recruitment, switching to working from home, giving forced annual leaves, or reducing the working hours resulting in the decrease of salaries. This research has contributed to the existing knowledge of the changes applied facing a crisis in Lebanon and could be used as a reference for current and future business entrepreneurs to invest in crisis management planning and to take into consideration the importance of people involved in the business.