Purpose

This paper aims to propose an approach to examining the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on business, which presents a unique opportunity to study a hitherto-unavailable business scenario.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual framework is suggested to study the ability of a service firm to make adaptations to pandemic conditions based on the nature of its services: namely, the act of production and the type of recipient and the predisposed ability of the customer to accept the service firm’s adaptations to social distancing restrictions. Under this framework, it is demonstrated that service adaptations made due to COVID-19 business restrictions and the customers’ acceptance of them determine whether these changes are likely to become permanent.

Findings

A classification scheme is developed to determine four classes of service firms’ adaptations to their normal course of business made under pandemic conditions and suggestions given on how to project which adaptations may persist beyond the pandemic and why.

Research limitations/implications

A conceptual framework grounded on Lovelock classification to present projections needs to be empirically tested.

Practical implications

Managerial insights based on the study and suggestions for research on what business practices are most likely to be permanently changed in a post-pandemic world for services are offered.

Originality/value

Using two of Lovelock’s dimensions pertaining to the nature of production and delivery of the service, four categories are proposed based on two characteristics: service adaptability and customer acceptance. The Technology Acceptance Model 2 (TAM2) model is extended to predict service adaptations, which are most likely to become permanent in a post-pandemic world.

中文翻译：

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在大流行条件下进行的服务调整的长期影响：新的“COVID-19 后”常态

目的

本文旨在提出一种方法来检查 COVID-19 大流行对业务的长期影响，这为研究迄今为止不可用的业务场景提供了独特的机会。

设计/方法/方法

建议使用一个概念框架来研究服务公司根据其服务的性质适应流行病情况的能力：即生产行为和接受者的类型以及客户接受服务公司的倾向的能力适应社交距离限制。在此框架下，证明由于 COVID-19 业务限制而做出的服务调整以及客户对它们的接受决定了这些变化是否可能成为永久性的。

发现

制定了一个分类方案，以确定四类服务公司在大流行条件下对其正常业务过程的适应，并就如何预测哪些适应可能会在大流行后持续存在以及原因提出建议。

研究限制/影响

一个基于洛夫洛克分类的概念框架来呈现预测需要经过实证检验。

实际影响

提供了基于研究的管理见解和研究建议，以研究在大流行后世界中哪些业务实践最有可能永久改变服务。

原创性/价值

使用 Lovelock 与服务生产和交付性质相关的两个维度，根据两个特征提出了四个类别：服务适应性和客户接受度。技术接受模型 2 (TAM2) 模型被扩展以预测服务适应，这在大流行后世界中最有可能成为永久性的。