Hot Topic _Form

Created by Prof. Cynthia

• Team 1 / Suhyun Byun, Ki Won Choi, Sibaek Eom, Sujmin Gwon, Ariel Han, David Choi
• Week # 2
• Topic Title: “ How has Covid-19 affected the Business?”
• Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/09/01/why-the-business-worlds-road-
back-from-covid-19-wont-take-the-same-route/?sh=38affc522282
• Team Assignment (please see notice below)

How has Covid-19 affected the Business

Suhyun Byun, Ki Won Choi, Sibaek Eom, Sujin Gwon, Ariel Han, David Choi

Cynthia Lee

FM 116

09/05/2021
 The article starts by addressing that the pandemic did not reverse the territory of business, but has

accelerated the pace of the global industry. For instance, an entrepreneur in the article had to implement

what he had drawn on a 10-year road map in only six months (Litt, 2021). When taken to a broader note, it

is apparent that over the past year and a half, enterprises around the world have continued to rush to adapt to

changes: specifically to the new ways of working. Consequently, while this pandemic is thought to be just a

phase, it can be said that businesses have adapted and learned from this situation in various ways.

According to the article, Marc Andreessen already knew that the industry structures and business

structure would “undergo a decade of disruption” (Litt, 2021). He also mentions that “Software was eating

the world” (Litt, 2021) because he knew that these structures were becoming more and more online.

The article is emphasizing that the process accelerated during Covid-19, and many organizations are

trying to adopt the system quickly. However, it was not easy for firms to recover to their pre-covid status.

The article also says that there is one thing we should have realized from the Covid-19, which is the concept

of the term ‘Office.’ In the pre pandemic era, the meaning of the term ‘Office’ was a place where people

physically go.

Before the pandemic, when Litt (2021) was working as an executive, he often had to face people but

he highlights that video meetings have become the main source of communication now. While he believes

that “digital technology has made this a socially accepted way to conduct business” (Litt 2021), others seem

to go against this perspective. For instance, large-scale companies on Wall Street and Silicon Valley want

workers to return to work before the end of September to work in person.

In another instance, “Apple CEO Tim Cook told his employees this summer they would be required

back in the office by September” (Litt 2021). This caused major arguments as the employees of Apple want

to work with more flexibility. Due to this, Apple delayed their “back to the office” date to October. From

this, one emerging concept would be the necessity of working in offices when technological developments

have made it easier for businesses to function remotely.

The author then proceeds to further highlight that the covid pandemic has seemingly caused a shift

in operation methods for firms. Minimizing physical interaction and use of physical space emerged as a

priority due to Covid. Hence, reliance on technology to perform everyday tasks has increased. The article
highlights that the new generation, Gen Z, is far more accepting of this method. Convenience in forms such

as not needing to commute acts as appealing points for new generation employees.

These days, with the rapid development of science and technology, it has become possible to process

tasks inside a computer screen. And in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it can be believed

that the benefits play a bigger role for people.

SaaS, one of the many network services that we use in modern times, means Software as a Service,

which allows us to write software on the web, such as Gmail, Dropbox, and Naver Cloud (Carey, 2021). We

are living in an era where computers in the past did not exist and almost everything was manually solved,

such as metal type, and we are dealing with everything with computers and Internet networks like Saas.

Furthermore, as we enter the Pandemic era, online meetings at almost all organizations, regardless of school,

have become natural because we have to avoid face-to-face contact as much as possible. As a result, existing

services developed for convenience have become indispensable elements in our society and our lives.

When considering the above, it is apparent that the Covid-19 pandemic immensely impacted

businesses in various ways. Currently, with the increasing pace of global industries, businesses continue to

adapt in a form where operation methods further utilize technology. Since the pandemic has accelerated a

drastic shift, it would be significantly beneficial for businesses to explore various ways to adapt to the new

technological developments. One such way would be to acknowledge “the growing importance of E-

commerce” (McAdams, 2021). Examples of methods that businesses may consider using would be investing

in social media advertisements, research for changing consumption patterns due to covid, etc. (McAdams,

2021).

References

Carey, S. (2021, July 22). What is SaaS? Software as a service defined. Retrieved from
 https://www.infoworld.com/article/3226386/what-is-saas-software-as-a-service-defined.

tml

Litt, M. (2021, September 1). Why The Business World’s Road Back From Covid-19 Won’t Take

The Same Route. Retrieved from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/09/01/why-the-business-worlds-ro

d-back-from-covid-19-wont-take-the-same-route/?sh=3422dd3a2282

McAdams, J. (2021, August 24). The Growing Importance of Ecommerce During COVID-19 &

Benefits of Online Selling. Retrieved from

https://www.progress.com/blogs/the-growing-importance-of-ecommerce-in-a-post-covid

19-world

Team N/ Students Name Topic and Comments

Leader
1/ Leader 1. BYUN, SUHYUN How has Covid-19 affected the Business?
2. CHOI, DAVID
3. CHOI, KI WON https://docs.google.com/document/d/17q
4. EOM, SIBAEK hC-
jyc0730Xz_KlGvdPNVr311fTreSY4oeca3tZ
5. GWON, SUJIN
ms/edit?usp=sharing
6. HAN, ARIEL
2 7. HSU, ANDREA I think it’s interesting how it was because of
the pandemic did businesses come to realise
the convenience of technology, and
employees have become accustomed to and
prefer using technology over going back to
how things were pre-covid.

Answer:
Yes, it is really interesting how COVID-19
changed what employees expect from the
businesses. Before the pandemic, employees
were used to physical working. However,
after the pandemic, employees expect and
prefer not to work physically. We think it’s
important to acknowledge and adapt to the
new era of technology.
8. JUNG, JAEWO I was quite impressed that covid-19
accelerated the pace of global industry from
the beginning of the article. Otherwise,
enterprises around the world have
continued to rush to adapt to changes.

Answer:
Indeed, we were also amazed that not only
schools but workplaces were also affected
by the pandemic. Still, a lot of organizations
rush to adapt to the changes and thrive to
create new innovative technology that
 enhance the jobs that people were supposed
to do at the workplace.

9. JUNG, JEWON In the past, technology did not develop, so it

would have been difficult to cope with the
Covid-19, but now technology has
developed a lot and we can have online
meetings in all institutions. Because the
pandemic has accelerated rapid change, it is
interesting to say that companies are
finding and researching various ways to
adapt to new technological advances.

Answer:
We also agree with your statement as well.
Technological development is significantly
growing and it has affected various jobs.
As Litt said in his article, this whole
technology became a new way of working
and people are changing as well. However,
we also share a similar opinion as you. We
should acknowledge that there was no such
thing as technology in the beginning of it
all.
10. KIM, JIYOON It is very interesting to see how Apple and
other Silicon Valley companies want their
employees back offline, whilst Google has
announced to let more of their employees
telecommute. Thanks for the informative
article.

Answer:
You're welcome Jiyoon! In fact, We should
be aware of this situation before we look for
jobs. Knowing what companies expect from
their employees is important for us to adapt
to this new era of technology.
11. KIM, NAHYUN I found the article interesting how
technology has developed and made
changes. I appreciate the
development of technology as it
allows us to deal with the Covid-19.
Numerous changes happen after the
rise of Covid-19 and people should
be able to adapt.

Answer:
We also agree that the pandemic has
changed many aspects of our living.
Significantly, the pandemic has accelerated
the pace of the global industry through
technological development. We think it’s
important for our generations to start
adapting to this new way of working and
aim to thrive in this technological society.
12. KOH, SWEE MAY It was an interesting article that provided
me with an awareness that many
companies, even big technology companies
 such as Apple, only believe the shift to
remotely working due to the Covid-19
pandemic is merely just a phase and that
their employees should return to the office
as time goes on. It goes to show how these
corporations still cling on to such traditional
mindsets that efficiency can only be
achieved when one is physically at the office
when, as this article has stated, that the
converse is true, despite the growing
number of gen-z who are so used to the
convenience of technology entering the
workforce.

Answer:
Exactly! Many companies around the world
still expect their employees to be physically
involved in the workplace. However, the
real problem is that the majority of
employees expect their companies to work
in online workplaces. As you stated, these
traditional mindsets of the workplace are
still not changing, and we should adapt to
this environment.
3 13. LEE, GA HEE First, I was quite surprised at the fact that
some companies want their employees to
work offline in this kind of situation where a
pandemic took over the world, and that
Covid-19 gave huge impacts to the business
industries. Also, this article gave me a
chance to learn that technology has
developed due to the Covid-19, and our
world is adapting to the changes. As I read
the article I wondered how technology will
constantly develop even though we now
have highly developed ones.

Answer:
Surely, many companies still expect their
employees to show to work and physically
work with their colleagues. However, the
majority of employees expect their
companies to work through an online
workplace. The problem is technology has
brought convenient experiences through
our life and employees became less
engaged. Although, we expect people to
adapt and work through this new
environment as our generation-Z is so used
to using technology.
14. LEE, JUMI I think they wrote only the important parts
of the article so that it was easy to
understand. First of all, I was very
sympathetic to the fact that it was not easy
to recover the same tension as before Covid
 19, and I think since Covid 19 has already
happened, we should adapt to that change.
From a corporate perspective, it may not be
good to face Covid 19, but even in covid
situation, to grow the company, they will
have to try to increase its adaptability to
technology and develop it.

Answer:
Thank you for noticing our hard work. We
tried our best to inform you guys of the
most important part of this article. We
agree that we are not the only organization
that has been affected by the COVID-19.
Everyone around the world still struggles to
adapt to this new culture of technology
beneath our lives. Not to mention, the
companies around the world are trying
their best to provide the best environment
for their employees as well.
15. PARK, JIHYE Minimizing physical interaction and
use of physical space emerged as a
priority due to Covid. Hence,
reliance on technology to perform
everyday tasks has increased. The
article highlights that the new
generation, Gen Z, is far more
accepting of this method.

When I look at this, what should

people do in this article, not in Gen
Z? For example, will they tell them
how to use it step by step?

Answer:
Good question Jihye! Not everyone is used
to using high technologies. However, talking
about the whole system of the economy is
different. We cannot expect our economy to
use less technology. However, we believe
that many organizations are doing their
best to find the right solution to this
problem. For example, many programs
support people to learn how to use such
high technological software like Excel,
Adobe, and Logic. I think the best solution to
this problem is to learn how to do so. Our
answer might have sounded cold-blooded,
but in our opinion greater achievement
follows sacrifices.
16. PARK, SEO HYUN
As soon as I read the first line of the hot
topic essay, I thought it was a good
introduction to questioning. Because I have
never heard of the theory that Covid19 has
accelerated the world industry. Most
companies experienced a decrease in sales
due to Pandemics, and some small
businesses even experienced a collapse in
 their management. However, I could
understand the overall context after I read
the paragraph that the global market was
activated in terms of increasing the
frequency of e-commerce. For this reason, I
was wondering about the changed
corporate working process as our world
went through one epidemic and Gen Z, who
are good at using the internet, entered
society. Furthermore, I do not really
understand the meaning of the term ‘Office’
has changed from before the coronavirus
era, so can anyone explain it in detail?

Answer:

Thank you for your compliment, Seo Hyun!

According to Litt, COVID-19 did cause many
casualties, but on the other hand,
accelerated the pace of the global industry.
Additionally, the pandemic brought many
changes to the work environments as well.
The term ‘office’ is defined as a place where
people physically go and cooperate with
others. However, after the COVID-19, many
video technologies like Zoom, Microsoft
Teams, and Skype have become the main
source of communication. Litt believes that
this technology development has changed
the term ‘office’ from the physical
workplace to visual workplaces. We hope
this provides an answer to your question!

17. PARK, SEOWON I think it was an interesting article to read

during the pandemic era. I was surprised
how COVID-19 can affect the business
industry and change the method of the idea
of working at an office in a short period of
time. After the COVID-19 pandemic, do you
think companies will still allow workers to
work remotely? Or will they be forced to
return to the physical office?

Answer:
Great question Seowon! We also think that
COVID-19 has brought many changes to our
working environment. Many organizations
are trying their best to adapt to the changes
that happened after the COVID-19.
However, many companies still value and
expect their employees to return to the
physical office. We believe that this
traditional mindset of the workplace is
unchangeable. The best solution is to be
aware of this current situation and prepare
ourselves to adapt to this expectation.
 18. SHIN, HYERIN In my opinion, it was a nice article.
They organized really well and it
was easy to understand the article
because they wrote very clearly.
Even though COVID-19 gave us a big
depression, I think it also developed
our technology. I think Covid
situation can be a good chance for
somebody to succeed. Do you guys
think that COVID-19 is only a
despair?

Answer:
Thank you for your compliments, Hyerin!
We tried our best to inform everyone
clearly and thoroughly. COVID-19 brought
both positive and negative effects to our
lives. Although there were many casualties,
people around the world gave their best
effort to survive the pandemic to keep
running the industries. We agree with your
statement that COVID-19 wasn’t only
despair, but a chance for us to develop as
well.
4 19. SHIN, JIOH Through this article, I was able to see that
technology is rapidly developing due to
covid-18, and it is interesting for companies
to introduce various changes accordingly. It
seems ironic that covid-19 hurt many
people and made them desperate, but at the
same time accelerated the development of
technology.

Answer:
Indeed, COVID-19 brought many casualties
to our surroundings. However, these
casualties became our chance to overcome
and achieve a new level of development.
20. SONG, HYEIN First, I think it was a good article to read. It
was easy and interesting to read through. I
was most impressed that technologies made
for convenience have now become an
essential element in this era. It is a bit
bittersweet that technology that continues
to evolve becomes a given to us and is
indispensable.

Answer:
Yes Hyein, technology has become an
essential element in our lives. As you
mentioned, technological development
brought electrical devices that we cannot
keep off our hands. In fact, Litt also stated in
his article that software is devouring our
world. These convenience technologies are
still evolving and we cannot imagine what
our future will be like.
21. SONG, YOUN WOO It is interesting that Covid-19 has variously
impacted the business industry and it
 accelerated the pace of the global industry.
Also, I was able to relate while I read the
part which is about the increase of reliance
on technology to perform everyday tasks.

Answer:
We also agree with your statement.
Technological development is significantly
growing, and it has affected our
performance in the workplace. We believe
that technological development brought
both pros and cons to our lives. Technology
can be beneficial to the business. On the
other hand, it has become an essential
element that people rely on too much.
22. WOO, HEECHAN Before reading this article, Corona 19
Pandemic thought it had a bad impact on
the company, but it seems that the
advantage of not having to commute and
the development of science and technology
have made it a great advantage to handle
work on the computer screen. I also think it
is positive that companies and people are
quickly adapting to a changed society.

Answer:
We were also amazed by the fact that
people and organizations adapted to this
situation within a short period of time.
Thanks to the help of technological
development, we are now able to
communicate and learn through video
conferencing platforms.
23. YU, MONICA “pace of the global industry. For
instance, an entrepreneur in the
article had to implement what he
had drawn on a 10-year road map in
only six months (Litt, 2021).”

Could it perhaps be that instead of

accelerating the pace of the global
industry, it is actually the domestic
industry? Because outsourcing to
other countries is no longer as
efficient due to long manufacturing
times/scarce materials, people are
more likely to shop in their domestic
market.

“emerging concept would be the

necessity of working in offices when
technological developments have
made it easier for businesses to
function remotely.”

As a user of zoom before the

pandemic, I saw the mainstream
shift in adopting virtual platforms
 for meetings. Similarly to how
trends are not “fashion” unless they
are adopted by the general public,
usage of virtual meeting platforms
are now normalized in work-culture
due to mainstream acceptance.

“reliance on technology to perform

everyday tasks has increased.”

As reliance on technology continues

to increase, I wonder how many
more jobs will become fully
automated. There are already
technologies in place to replace the
need for sales associates, and like
we learned, replace the need for
trying on real-clothes. I think COVID
also prompted a movement in
comfort and minimalism, which
contrasts the advancements in
technology that we have
experienced post-pandemic.

Answer:
Thank you for going through our article
thoroughly and carefully. We like how you
broaden your viewpoint on this article. We
assume that Litt was adding an example to
his thesis statement to support his thought
about the acceleration of the global
industry. However, just like you, many
people still value their domestic markets.
What Litt was trying to say is that
technological development has accelerated
the pace of the global industries by using
high-tech software.

We were impressed by your broad

perspective of digital conferencing. Indeed,
technology was developing significantly
before the pandemic, COVID-19 did
accelerate the pace of the video conferences
platforms. Now, platforms like Zoom, Skype,
and Microsoft teams have become essential
elements in the majority of organizations.

We strongly agree with your opinion.

Technology development can’t be stopped
and it’s rapidly growing. Litt, in his article,
also mentioned that “software is eating our
world.” Litt stated this by means of an
acknowledgment that we cannot live
without technologies.