Abstract
The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of government support through digital capabilities on increasing the resilience and de-learning capacity of the Education Organization of Yazd city. The present study is applicable in terms of purpose, and descriptive-correlational in terms of method, and of a survey research type. The statistical population of the research includes 90 personnel of all employees of the Education and Training Organization of Yazd city. Sampling in this research is simple random. The collection tool in the present study is the questionnaire of Gao et al. (2022). To examine the reliability of the research tool, the Cronbach's alpha method was used, and the results show that its value in the present study is higher than 0.7. Also, the validity of the test was confirmed by the content and construct methods. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS and PLS software. The findings indicate that direct and indirect government support has a significant impact on digital capabilities in the Education Organization of Yazd. Direct and indirect government support also has an impact on organizational resilience capacity in the Education Organization of Yazd, considering the mediating role of digital capabilities.
Introduction
Around the world, the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in 2019 has led to some fundamental changes in social and organizational interactions. Around the world, various systems have been in chaos with significant vulnerability, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity in social (e.g., quarantine, social distancing) and economic (e.g., deteriorating market order, limited demand, disorganized supply chains) contexts (Gao et al, 2022). Hence, education has not been immune to these conditions. The coronavirus pandemic shut down many schools in 188 countries, and according to UNESCO, more than one and a half billion students (more than 91% of the world's students) have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and their education systems have also undergone serious changes; changes that were made publicly or by schools and educational institutions (Bagheri et al, 2020). In this context, organizational resilience, as the ability to absorb pressure and maintain or improve its performance despite adversity (Xie et al, 2022), is crucial for organizations to “cope effectively with unexpected events”. Organizational resilience capacity indicates the degree of preparedness of companies in the face of a crisis (Hillmann & Guenther, 2021). Therefore, organizational resilience is a key element in adapting to and coping with an uncertain and challenging crisis such as a pandemic (Khan et al, 2021).
In these circumstances, and due to the aforementioned adversities that threaten the income and survival of organizations, affected companies generally lack the financial and managerial resources necessary to strengthen their resilience capacity (Ardolino, 2022), or have nothing to offer. Therefore, government support, such as financial (e.g., tax cuts and subsidies) and non-financial (e.g., law enforcement and favorable policies) support for organizations, is essential (Gao et al, 2022). This is because governments can play a fundamental role in providing first-hand services to communities in reducing the impacts and vulnerability to crises (Dodange, 2020).
In addition to government support, digital technologies; namely the Internet of Things, megadata analytics, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing, are effective tools to cope with changes and adversities (such as quarantine and social distancing, offline-online shift in demand, supply, and internal operations) during the COVID-19 pandemic (Gao et al, 2022; Hanelt et al, 2021). Since the establishment and promotion of digital capabilities of enterprises relies on the construction of digital infrastructure, the adoption of digital technologies, and the cultivation of digital mindsets and talents; it depends on the continuous investment and financial resources of organizations, and the resulting burden becomes more severe during the pandemic. Therefore, it is difficult for most enterprises to independently establish and develop digital capabilities, and therefore applying for government support can be considered as a feasible solution for enterprises (Gao et al, 2022).
Considering the above issues, the purpose of this study is to answer the question of whether government support has an impact on organizational resilience capacity during COVID-19 with regard to the variables of digital capability and organizational de-learning in the Education Organization of Yazd City.
Theoretical Framework
Digital Capability
Digital capability is the ability of organizations to use digital-related technologies, infrastructure, and resources to achieve entrepreneurial goals (Khin & Ho, 2019).
De-learning
Organizational de-learning is a prerequisite for effective organizational learning activities to occur (Cetindamar, 2021). The concept of organizational delearning refers to the fact that moving towards change and adapting to the environment requires letting go of old unhelpful beliefs and rules (Rajabi poormeibodi et al, 2018).
Government Support
Government support refers to the resources, policies, and other favorable behaviors that central and local governments provide to eligible organizations (Huikkola, 2022). It aims to foster enterprise development, drive industrial upgrading, and stimulate economic growth, as well as absorb shocks and disruptions when unexpected events occur in the areas of education, public health, economic systems, and national security (Caleb et al, 2021).
Resilience Capacity
Organizational resilience seeks to identify the characteristics that allow organizations to survive and even thrive despite experiencing disruption or stress, because organizations in every sector face complex operating environments with dynamic risks. These complex environments force organizations to think about how they can manage operational risk and the resilience of critical business processes and services (Aghina et al, 2016).
Dubey et al, (2023) in their article titled Dynamic Digital Capabilities and Supply Chain Resilience: The Effective Role of Government, examined the impact of government support on the impact of dynamic capabilities on supply chain resilience; and based on qualitative and survey-based data analysis, their findings show that digital adaptability is an important driver of digital agility. In addition, the results show that government effectiveness is very important for increasing supply chain resilience by increasing digital adaptability and agility. This research makes useful contributions to the dynamic capability perspective by increasing theoretical understanding of the role of the government in creating digital capabilities in uncertain times to improve supply chain resilience.
Khodaparast et al, (2022) examined the presentation of an appropriate model for the psychological resilience of stock exchange brokerage employees in Tehran. The research findings showed that confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to confirm the final research model. According to the results obtained, the factor loading of all three components of "using creativity and innovation in the workplace", "cognitive tendencies of socialization in the workplace", and "creating capacity for greater resilience" were higher than the recommended values, and the model fit indices showed acceptable values.
Research Methodology
The present study is applicable in terms of purpose, and descriptive-correlational in terms of method, and of a survey research type. The statistical population of the research includes 90 personnel of all employees of the Education and Training Organization of Yazd city. Sampling in this research is simple random. The collection tool in the present study is the questionnaire of Gao et al. (2022). To examine the reliability of the research tool, the Cronbach's alpha method was used, and the results show that its value in the present study is higher than 0.7. Also, the validity of the test was confirmed by the content and construct methods.
Research Findings
Data analysis was carried out using SPSS and PLS software. The findings indicate that direct and indirect government support has a significant impact on digital capabilities in the Education Organization of Yazd. Direct and indirect government support also has an impact on organizational resilience capacity in the Education Organization of Yazd, considering the mediating role of digital capabilities.
Conclusion
The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of government support through digital capabilities on increasing the resilience capacity and de-learning of the Education Organization of Yazd. The results of this study are consistent with the results of Heredia et al, (2022), Gao et al, (2022), Zhang & Zhong (2019), Dubey et al, (2023), Khodaparast et al, (2022), Goa et al, (2022), Karimi et al, (2022), Tahmasbi et al, (2021), Najafi et al, (2021), and Bagheri et al, (2020). Dubey et al, (2023) showed in their paper that digital adaptability is an important driver of digital agility. Furthermore, the results show that government effectiveness is crucial for increasing supply chain resilience by increasing digital adaptability and agility. This study makes useful contributions to the dynamic capability perspective by increasing the theoretical understanding of the role of government in building digital capabilities in uncertain times to improve supply chain resilience.
According to the results of the research, the following suggestion was made:
It is suggested that with direct government support such as financial assistance, the shortcomings of the education and training organization should be addressed and digital capabilities in the education and training organization of Yazd city should be increased.