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How to Maintain Compliance Among Host Country Employees as the COVID-19 Pandemic Fades: An Attempt to Apply Conservation of Resources Theory to the Workplace

Author

Listed:
  • Keisuke Kokubun

    (Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan)

  • Yoshiaki Ino

    (IEWRI Japan Co., Ltd., Tokyo 107-0062, Japan)

  • Kazuyoshi Ishimura

    (IEWRI Japan Co., Ltd., Tokyo 107-0062, Japan)

Abstract

As the fear of the spread of COVID-19 has faded, governments around the world are moving to lift strict behavioral restrictions. How should human resource management at overseas subsidiaries adapt to these system changes? To find the answer, this paper clarifies the anxiety of employees working at overseas subsidiaries after the strict behavioral restrictions introduced by governments during the spread of COVID-19 have been lifted, as well as the relationship between psychological and social resources and intention to leave. To this end, we applied and verified the analytical model of “China 2020”, which was conducted on 2973 people in East and South China from February to May 2020, the results of which have been published in previous studies, to psychological questionnaire data from “Wuhan 2023”, which was conducted on 813 people in Wuhan City from January to March 2023. As a result, it was shown that the analytical model based on the conservation of resources theory (COR) can be applied not only to China 2020 but also to Wuhan 2023. This study proposes an analytical framework that can be widely applied across time and place and can be used as a reference for foreign companies that lack local information on disasters that expand while the nature and impact of the damage change.

Suggested Citation

  • Keisuke Kokubun & Yoshiaki Ino & Kazuyoshi Ishimura, 2025. "How to Maintain Compliance Among Host Country Employees as the COVID-19 Pandemic Fades: An Attempt to Apply Conservation of Resources Theory to the Workplace," Merits, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-23, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jmerit:v:5:y:2025:i:1:p:4-:d:1580361
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alessandra Falco & Damiano Girardi & Laura Dal Corso & Murat Yıldırım & Daniela Converso, 2021. "The perceived risk of being infected at work: An application of the job demands–resources model to workplace safety during the COVID-19 outbreak," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(9), pages 1-25, September.
    2. Oetzel, Jennifer, 2005. "Smaller may be beautiful but is it more risky? Assessing and managing political and economic risk in Costa Rica," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 765-790, December.
    3. Stephen J Kobrin & John Basek & Stephen Blank & Joseph La Palombara, 1980. "The Assessment and Evaluation of Noneconomic Environments by American Firms: A Preliminary Report," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 11(1), pages 32-47, March.
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