1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS
The novel coronavirus disease, Covid-19, pandemic made its breakthrough in
December 2019 and quickly spread around the globe affecting all the five continents in the
world. According to (Chowdhury & Paul, 2020; Khan et al., 2019; Suhi et al. 2019; Paul et al.
2019a; Khan et al., 2020; Moktadir et al. 2020), the Covid-19 has affected areas such as
operations of supply chains, sustainable economic growth, and the environmental
performance of supply chains. Among the many industries that have been affected, the
food business industry has also been greatly impacted by the negative side effects of Covid-
19 due to the travel bans resulting in lack of tourism and restrictions imposed by local
authorities resulting in less customers. The Food business industry forms part of an
environment that changes with a fast pace and due to the various changes in environment
of food business, there needs to be a comprehensive plan to adapt to those changes (Zarei,
M., & Paghaleh, M. J., 2011). Bruzzone et al. (2013) & Sharma & Singhal (2018) stated that
there were several studies about the food industry and there were recent researches
conducted to study the effects of Covid-19 on the food business. For example, a research
conducted by Deaton and Deaton (2020) investigated about the impact of the pandemic on
food security in the Canadian’s agricultural system. However, there are no research that
explored the strategies used by the food business industry to cope and overcome with the
detrimental effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, this research contributes to
investigate the case of the food business in Langkawi Island, Malaysia.
1.2 ISSUES RELATED TO BUSINESS
Similarly, to all food industries, Malaysia also received a huge blow from the global
recession induced by COVID-19 pandemic. As published by an international journal of
research in business and social science (2147- 4478), small and medium enterprise (SME)
,have reported declined earnings and faced challenges to remain open during the
Movement Control Order (MCO) period imposed by the Malaysian government due to the
Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. SME decision-makers were observed to be making
changes regarding their day-to-day operations and management strategies to mitigate
MCO restrictions. According to the research by Associate Professor Dr Daniel Chong, the
tourism industry is expected to rebound in a V-shaped pattern in 2022 as countries reopen
their borders, with domestic travel accounting for a large portion of that growth. However,
an improvement in tourism recovery does not always translate into higher profits and
revenues for hospitality players. Instead, as a result of labor shortages and rising raw
ingredient prices, some in the tourism industry are facing higher overhead costs. In
Malaysia, since the outbreak of the pandemic, border restrictions have aggravated the
country's long-standing labor shortage in the hotel and restaurant industries. Customers
are experiencing a drop in service quality, even as they recognize and understand the
challenges that businesses face. The food business in Malaysia has attempted to mitigate
the impact by speeding up digitalization and technology adoption, but there are limitations.
Malaysia has used a strategy of recruiting foreign workers to alleviate labor shortages, from
February 15 onwards, the Malaysian government has started accepting applications for the
recruitment of foreign workers in permitted sectors.
According to UNWTO projections, international tourist arrivals could increase by 30
percent to 78 percent in 2022 compared to 2021. However, the surge in oil prices, increase
in inflation, potential rise in interest rates, high debt volumes, and continued disruption in
supply chains may put additional strain on the effective recovery of international tourism in
Malaysia, leading to a slow recovery of the food industry here.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
Restaurants and hotels businesses were stopped temporarily during the pandemic
and some establishments managed to survive while others have completely shut down as
at that time there were no return on investment. Langkawi island which depends mainly
upon the tourist sector was shut down and no tourists were allowed to visit Langkawi
, depriving the whole island from their main source of income. However, according to an
article from Tan( Oct, 2021), when the countries began to recover from the pandemic,
Langkawi island was the first place to reopen for business on the 16th September 2021 and
it would be open for fully vaccinated tourists. The aim of this study is to identify the
strategies used by the food business sector in Langkawi to overcome the Covid-19
pandemic and quickly recovered to start back their usual business in a short period of time.
In this study we will make use of a qualitative approach because numerical data is not
available and it will also help to narrow down a wide field of research into a more
researchable topic. The finding of this study can be helpful to the other food businesses,
who are still struggling due to severe loss, to improve their strategic plan and to quickly
recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
As no studies have explored the strategies to overcome the pandemic, the current study
presents the following research objectives.
RO1: To identify the potential impacts of the Covid-19 on the Food business in Langkawi.
RO2: To identify the strategies used by the food business in Langkawi to overcome the
impacts of Covid-19
RO3: To identify the specific strategies used to address to each particular impact.
2.0 METHODOLODY
2.1 ANALYTICAL CONCEPT USED
In this study, qualitative approach was adopted because it relates to the purpose of
the research objectives where to evaluate the current strategic positioning of food business
in Langkawi, Malaysia and to recommend some strategic options for future development.
In broad terms, qualitative approach is an approach that allows the researchers to examine
1.1 BACKGROUND DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS
The novel coronavirus disease, Covid-19, pandemic made its breakthrough in
December 2019 and quickly spread around the globe affecting all the five continents in the
world. According to (Chowdhury & Paul, 2020; Khan et al., 2019; Suhi et al. 2019; Paul et al.
2019a; Khan et al., 2020; Moktadir et al. 2020), the Covid-19 has affected areas such as
operations of supply chains, sustainable economic growth, and the environmental
performance of supply chains. Among the many industries that have been affected, the
food business industry has also been greatly impacted by the negative side effects of Covid-
19 due to the travel bans resulting in lack of tourism and restrictions imposed by local
authorities resulting in less customers. The Food business industry forms part of an
environment that changes with a fast pace and due to the various changes in environment
of food business, there needs to be a comprehensive plan to adapt to those changes (Zarei,
M., & Paghaleh, M. J., 2011). Bruzzone et al. (2013) & Sharma & Singhal (2018) stated that
there were several studies about the food industry and there were recent researches
conducted to study the effects of Covid-19 on the food business. For example, a research
conducted by Deaton and Deaton (2020) investigated about the impact of the pandemic on
food security in the Canadian’s agricultural system. However, there are no research that
explored the strategies used by the food business industry to cope and overcome with the
detrimental effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, this research contributes to
investigate the case of the food business in Langkawi Island, Malaysia.
1.2 ISSUES RELATED TO BUSINESS
Similarly, to all food industries, Malaysia also received a huge blow from the global
recession induced by COVID-19 pandemic. As published by an international journal of
research in business and social science (2147- 4478), small and medium enterprise (SME)
,have reported declined earnings and faced challenges to remain open during the
Movement Control Order (MCO) period imposed by the Malaysian government due to the
Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. SME decision-makers were observed to be making
changes regarding their day-to-day operations and management strategies to mitigate
MCO restrictions. According to the research by Associate Professor Dr Daniel Chong, the
tourism industry is expected to rebound in a V-shaped pattern in 2022 as countries reopen
their borders, with domestic travel accounting for a large portion of that growth. However,
an improvement in tourism recovery does not always translate into higher profits and
revenues for hospitality players. Instead, as a result of labor shortages and rising raw
ingredient prices, some in the tourism industry are facing higher overhead costs. In
Malaysia, since the outbreak of the pandemic, border restrictions have aggravated the
country's long-standing labor shortage in the hotel and restaurant industries. Customers
are experiencing a drop in service quality, even as they recognize and understand the
challenges that businesses face. The food business in Malaysia has attempted to mitigate
the impact by speeding up digitalization and technology adoption, but there are limitations.
Malaysia has used a strategy of recruiting foreign workers to alleviate labor shortages, from
February 15 onwards, the Malaysian government has started accepting applications for the
recruitment of foreign workers in permitted sectors.
According to UNWTO projections, international tourist arrivals could increase by 30
percent to 78 percent in 2022 compared to 2021. However, the surge in oil prices, increase
in inflation, potential rise in interest rates, high debt volumes, and continued disruption in
supply chains may put additional strain on the effective recovery of international tourism in
Malaysia, leading to a slow recovery of the food industry here.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
Restaurants and hotels businesses were stopped temporarily during the pandemic
and some establishments managed to survive while others have completely shut down as
at that time there were no return on investment. Langkawi island which depends mainly
upon the tourist sector was shut down and no tourists were allowed to visit Langkawi
, depriving the whole island from their main source of income. However, according to an
article from Tan( Oct, 2021), when the countries began to recover from the pandemic,
Langkawi island was the first place to reopen for business on the 16th September 2021 and
it would be open for fully vaccinated tourists. The aim of this study is to identify the
strategies used by the food business sector in Langkawi to overcome the Covid-19
pandemic and quickly recovered to start back their usual business in a short period of time.
In this study we will make use of a qualitative approach because numerical data is not
available and it will also help to narrow down a wide field of research into a more
researchable topic. The finding of this study can be helpful to the other food businesses,
who are still struggling due to severe loss, to improve their strategic plan and to quickly
recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
As no studies have explored the strategies to overcome the pandemic, the current study
presents the following research objectives.
RO1: To identify the potential impacts of the Covid-19 on the Food business in Langkawi.
RO2: To identify the strategies used by the food business in Langkawi to overcome the
impacts of Covid-19
RO3: To identify the specific strategies used to address to each particular impact.
2.0 METHODOLODY
2.1 ANALYTICAL CONCEPT USED
In this study, qualitative approach was adopted because it relates to the purpose of
the research objectives where to evaluate the current strategic positioning of food business
in Langkawi, Malaysia and to recommend some strategic options for future development.
In broad terms, qualitative approach is an approach that allows the researchers to examine
