Fast-response measures to mitigate the COVID-19 health and economic impacts within the organizations: the case of Thyssenkrupp Elevator Brazil

Gomes, Rodrigo Frank de Souza; Gauss, Leandro; Lacerda, Daniel Pacheco

doi:10.1590/0103-6513.20200062

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Research Article • Prod. 31 • 2021 • https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-6513.20200062 copy

Fast-response measures to mitigate the COVID-19 health and economic impacts within the organizations: the case of Thyssenkrupp Elevator Brazil

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

Paper aims

This paper aims at investigating the efficacy of fast-response measures to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 in an essential service organization that continued to operate despite the pandemic.

Originality

Although the number of studies associated with COVID-19 has grown exponentially, insufficient attention has been paid to how organizations should rapidly respond to overcome the trade-off between worker’s health and economic activity.

Research method

A five-step case study design is carried out in this research. The efficacy of measures is assessed through the amplitude and agreement level among respondents as well as a statistical comparative analysis to evidence the significance of the results.

Main findings

Our findings indicate that the mitigation measures implemented within the factory were well-accepted by employees and empirical evidence attests to the efficacy of the actions implemented, even though further studies are needed.

Implications for theory and practice

The study expands the literature about Business Continuity Planning and highlights the Evaporating Cloud (a tool of the Theory of Constraints) as a mechanism to broaden the capacity to analyze conflicts. For practitioners, this research presents a useful body of knowledge to deal with trade-offs at the enterprise-level.

Keywords
COVID-19. Mitigation measures; Business continuity planning; Theory of constraints

Group	Areas
		Employees on-site	# of Respondents	%
1	Administrative and Commercial (HR, Legal, Purchasing, Quality, and Sales)	58	18	31.03
2	Engineering (Industrial, Projects, Technical Support, and Specification)	110	20	18.18
3	Management (Coordinators, Managers, and Directors)	29	18	62.02
4	Production and Logistics	285	45	15.8
5	Others (Not listed into other categories)	38	4	10.52
Total		520	105	20.19

Conditions	Action
$\tilde{x} \geq 3$ and $k_{f r e e} \geq 0.41$	No identification of moderating variables $(M V_{i})$ is required.
$\tilde{x} < 3$ and $k_{f r e e} \geq 0.41$	Identification of moderating variables $(M V_{i})$ is required.
$\tilde{x} \geq 3$ and $k_{f r e e} < 0.41$	No identification of moderating variables $(M V_{i})$ is required.
$\tilde{x} < 3$ and $k_{f r e e} < 0.41$	Identification of moderating variables $(M V_{i})$ is required.

Code	Mitigation measure	Definition
MM1	Crisis Management Team (CMT)	A multi-disciplinary group of employees composed of senior executives (Legal expert (LEX); Procurement and Supply Management (PSM); Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)) to coordinate the fast-response actions against COVID-19 spread.
MM2	Directives for travel restriction and H&S protocols for travelers	Directives for travel restrictions and protocols to travelers arriving from risky areas.
MM3	General Protocol for Health and Safety at work	General recommendations and protocols for personal hygiene, suspected cases, confirmed cases, home office policy, social distancing definition for employees into risky groups (age of 60+, cardio-respiratory diseases, and some others).
MM4	Temperature screening	Daily routine at the factory’s entry, wherein 100% of employees or visitants is asked to have the body temperature screened.
MM5	OHS Protocol for field and ‘in office’ work	Protocol and guidelines for field services (maintenance and installation) and ‘in office’ work.
MM6	Protocol for N95 masks and other PPEs.	Protocol for the use and application of N95, face shields, and face masks, including table of risk services’ level.
MM7	Protocol for transportation and changes in the canteen lay-out.	Protocol for new routines in commuting (in company collective transportation).
MM8	APP for tracking health self-assessment and B.I. dashboard	An app for tracking the health self-assessment of employees interested to report how they are feeling.
MM9	Temporary reduction in production level	50% reduction in production levels for two weeks from March 16^th to implement appropriate mitigation measures.

Mitigation measures	Moderating variables	Group 1			Group 2			Group 3			Group 4			Group 5			Total
(MM)	(MV)	(n=18)			(n=20)			(n=18)			(n=45)			(n=4)			(n=105)
		x̃	k_free	f	x̃	k_free	f	x̃	k_free	f	x̃	k_free	f	x̃	k_free	f	x̃	k_free	f
MM1 (Q11)		4	0.85	-	4	0.15	-	4	0.72	-	4	0.32	-	4	0.11	-	4	0.40	-
	MV7	-	-	0	-	-	2	-	-	0	-	-	1	-	-	0	-	-	3
MM2 (Q04)		4	0.71	-	4	1.00	-	4	0.85	-	4	0.73	-	4	0.33	-	4	0.79	-
MM3 (Q03)		4	0.85	-	4	0.75	-	4	0.59	-	4	0.40	-	4	1.00	-	4	0.59	-
	MV1	-	-	0	-	-	0	-	-	0	-	-	1	-	-	0	-	-	1
	MV3	-	-	0	-	-	0	-	-	1	-	-	2	-	-	0	-	-	3
	MV4	-	-	1	-	-	0	-	-	0	-	-	1	-	-	0	-	-	2
MM4 (Q08)		4	0.72	-	4	0.38	-	4	0.61	-	4	0.48	-	4	0.33	-	4	0.53	-
	MV8	-	-	0	-	-	1	-	-	0	-	-	1	-	-	0	-	-	2
MM5 (Q07)		4	0.30	-	4	0.47	-	4	0.37	-	4	0.24	-	4	0.11	-	4	0.32	-
	MV1	-	-	0	-	-	0	-	-	0	-	-	3	-	-	0	-	-	3
	MV4	-	-	0	-	-	0	-	-	0	-	-	2	-	-	0	-	-	2
MM6 (Q06)		4	0.51	-	4	0.36	-	4	0.85	-	4	0.37	-	4	0,33	-	4	0.47	-
	MV2	-	-	0	-	-	1	-	-	1	-	-	4	-	-	0	-	-	6
MM7 (Q09)		4	0.85	-	4	0.24	-	4	0.72	-	4	0.40	-	4	0.33	-	4	0.49	-
	MV4	-	-	0	-	-	2	-	-	0	-	-	3	-	-	2	-	-	7
MM8 (Q05)		3	0.43	-	3	0.19	-	3	0.28	-	3	0.21	-	3,5	0.11	-	3	0.25	-
	MV6	-	-	0	-	-	2	-	-	0	-	-	3	-	-	0	-	-	5
MM9 (Q10)		4	0.33	-	4	0.45	-	4	0.85	-	4	0.25	-	4	0.33	-	4	0.35	-
	MV5	-	-	1	-	-	0	-	-	0	-	-	2	-	-	2	-	-	5
Group totals		4	0.62	2	4	0.44	8	4	0.65	2	4	0.38	23	4	0.33	4	4	0.46	39

Code	Mitigation variable	Definition
MV1	Agglomeration	The concentrated number of employees resulting from poor visual communication about the safety protocols.
MV2	Discipline on PPE use	Lack of discipline on the use of facemasks by in-office employees.
MV3	Risk groups scope	Questioning about the scope of the risk group applied by the company regarding the criteria compared to those recommended by health authorities.
MV4	Inspection routines	The lack of inspection routines of safety protocols.
MV5	Overtime	The overtime performed by employees who kept working during the reduced production to make up for the absence of the others.
MV6	APP and BI existence	The unaware of employees about the APP and BI existence.
MV7	CMT’ role	The misunderstanding of the CMT’s role within the organization.
MV8	Temperature screening efficacy	An inaccurate trust level of the temperature measurement process was implemented.

Context	Intervention	Mechanism	Outcome
Organization in general, covering 100% of employees, subcontractors, and visitors.	MM1 - Crisis Management Team (CMT).	Daily meetings to analyze scenarios and make contingency decisions to mitigate risks.	Increased speed of the decision-making process.
Business travelers, employees on international holidays, and any employee returning from corporate or private travel from risky areas.	MM2 - Directives for travel restriction and H&S protocols for travelers.	Travel restrictions, increased use of conference calls, suspension of management meetings requiring travel.	Substantial reduction of business and private travels.
Organization in general, covering 100% of employees.	MM3 - General Protocol for Health and Safety at work.	Procedures, routines, intensification of personal and collective hygiene, intensification of the home office regime in supporting areas, and classification of risk groups.	Clear guidelines for different scenarios, reduction of the number of employees at work, and strict hygiene routines within the organization.
Organization in general, covering 100% of employees, subcontractors, and visitors.	MM4 - Temperature screening.	Daily measurements at the beginning of the workday and active search during working hours.	Preventing symptomatic people from entering or remaining within the company.
Fieldwork employees, subcontractors, and back-office workforce.	MM5 - OHS Protocol for field and ‘in office’ work.	Rules, technical procedures, and guidelines.	Clear rules and procedures for safe work at job sites, and back-offices activities.
Employees exposed to a mid and high-risk level based on the Protocol applied to fieldwork.	MM6 - Protocol for N95 masks and other PPEs.	The usage of N95 masks accordingly to the risk area.	Protecting employees from airborne particles and liquid contaminating the face.
Employees using chartered transport routes, and canteen.	MM7 - Protocol for transportation and changes in the canteen lay-out.	Redesign of layouts, reduction of available seats, and lunchtime extension.	Absence of agglomerations on transport routes, and lunch hours.
Organization in general, covering 100% of employees.	MM8 - APP for tracking health self-assessment and B.I. dashboard.	Online monitoring of the health status of employees.	Identification of initial symptoms status for intervention by occupational doctors and nurses.
Productions and Logistics areas.	MM9 - Temporary reduction in production level.	50% reduction in production levels for two weeks.	Preparation and implementation of the new protocols to remain active.

Context	Normality test	Total cases/population (% Ratio)		Deaths/1M population
Context	Kolmogorov-Smirnov (n=311)	As of Jun 25^th	As of Dec 31^st	As of Jun 25^th	As of Dec 31^st
Brazil	D=0.0871; p-value=5.5e-06	0.58%	3.65%	261.5	927.6
State of Rio Grande do Sul	D=0.1965; p-value<2.2e-16	0.20%	3.95%	43.9	779.8
Case unit (Thyssenkrupp)	D=0.5347; p-value<2.2e-16	0.00%	1.53%	0	0

Kruskal-Wallis test		Dunn post-hoc test
Kruskal-Wallis test		n1	n2	Group 1	Group 2	p-value adj.
Kruskal-Wallis chi-squared	537.43	311	311	BR	RS	0.377
df	2	311	311	BR	TK	^** ****** Without significance.
p-value	< 2.2e-16	311	311	RS	TK	****

Period	Mea $\bar{x}$	SD	CV	Normality tests (α=0.05)		Hypothesis test
Period	Mea $\bar{x}$	SD	CV	Shapiro-Wilk	Kolmogorov-Smirnov	T-test (2020~2019)
2019 (n=9)	327	35.42	10.8%	W=0.87166 p-value=0.1281	D=0.24743; p-value=0.1156	p-value=0.9293
2020 (n=9)	333	38.17	11.5%	W=0.96231 p-value=0.8222	D=0.13058; p-value=0.9293
2019-2020 (n=18)	330	35.86	10.9%	W=0.95410 p-value=0.4928	D=0.16775; p-value=0.1986

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