Title : Assignment 1 and 2

Submission Date :
Lecturer : Dr Asnidar Hanim

CENTRE FOR POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS
Name Student ID#
Mosab Mohamed 110049310
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 Table of Contents

Assignment 1..............................................................................................................................3
Question 2..................................................................................................................................3
Question 3..................................................................................................................................3
Question 4..................................................................................................................................4
Question 5..................................................................................................................................5
Assignment 2..............................................................................................................................6
Question 2..................................................................................................................................6
Question 3..................................................................................................................................6
Question 4..................................................................................................................................9

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Assignment 1

Question 2
Comprehend on types of businesses that have decline in sales during Covid
19 outbreak.

The Covid-19 has already taken the lives of many and is also taking. COVID19 has a
wide- reaching effect on e-commerce, technology, business travel, and the economy.
It In addition to this, every country follows the lockdown procedures as a means of
preventing measures and Malaysia has also adopted the same. It seems both
private and the public sector are messed up due to this virus. The fact is unavoidable
that the effect of novel coronavirus will have a significant effect on the country,
economy, and society. The increasing threat of novel coronavirus is a public health
crisis and hampers the macro economy as a whole. It has also cut off the supply
chain of the business. The production and the manufacturers are expected to be
hampered more. Retail sales in March were also down 6.2% annually, as the
coronavirus is taking a toll on the industry by forcing many merchants to close their
stores and causing consumers to shop less. And the decrease in spending appears
to be impacting the financial services industry too, considering JPMorgan Chase and
Wells Fargo reported drops in card transactions in Q1 2020. While retail's overall
performance dropped, damaging several product categories. A number of product
categories saw massive drops in sales, likely creating financial struggles for a variety
of sellers that could ultimately change the retail landscape. Furniture and home
furnishing stores, clothing and accessory stores, department stores, and a few other
categories all saw their retail sales drop more than 20% year-over-year (YoY) in
March. Categories like apparel, which have already had their sales slide, will likely
see their performances dip further since more stores will be closed or restricted and
more consumers may limit their spending. This drop will likely make it difficult for
some merchants to pay rent, handle debt, and continue to operate overall. This
means the pandemic could lead to a surge in bankruptcies and permanent closures
in these categories over time, potentially thinning out retail's competitive landscape
in the future.

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Question 3
Specify types of businesses that show positive increment in sales during
Covid 19 outbreak.

Businesses that show positive increment in sales during Covid 19 outbreak are:
• 4.3% : Health and personal care stores
• 7.6% : Building material, garden equipment and supplies dealers.
• 9.7% : Non store retailers
• 7.5% : General merchandise stores
• 28% : Food and Beverage stores

Question 4
Based on the article, it can be seen that some of the businesses face
difficulties during the Covid 19 pandemic. From the viewpoint of business
management, elaborate two (2) types of challenges that the businesses
encounter.

Businesses are seeing big challenges because of the virus, both good and bad, as
coronavirus spreads throughout the world, The world is currently witnessing an
unprecedented event. COVID-19 is closing businesses globally, pubs and
restaurants are shutting their doors and our emergency services are predicted to be
overwhelmed by an influx of sick patients. Companies feeling the impact of the virus
are finding it difficult to adapt, and many are struggling to protect workers from losing
their jobs. Unprecedented financial measures have also been announced to ensure
that businesses and people continue to function.

One of these is the state of the market for supplies and workforce that are vital to
contain and combat the pandemic. Goods and services are not readily available, and
we’re seeing price inflation as demand across the globe far exceeds the supply.
Under normal circumstances, the global market regulates itself. But we are now in an
unprecedented situation, where there is neither an automatic correction of the
markets nor a global regulation in place to address market failures. And as COVID-
19 is progressing very rapidly, new cases are being reported in many countries
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across the world, which makes the assessment of needs very difficult. Impact on
ongoing operations: Procurement processes may be delayed or cancelled in some
ongoing projects because of COVID-19. The procurement specialists are advising
countries on actions to take, but there is a strong possibility of contracts being
delayed or terminated due to force majeure situations, as contractors and suppliers
are not able to carry out their contracts due to border closings or self-isolation.
Impact on procurement staff: Home-based work and cancellation of mission travel
are necessary measures to contain the spread of the virus. But these pose big
challenges. The heightened attention on procurement processes for critical goods
and services puts added pressure on staff and counterparts. It’s harder to find the
right solutions given the unprecedented global crisis, as well as to manage team
dynamics under tight deadlines and remote work mode.

Question 5
Assume yourself as a Marketing Manager for a boutique which experienced
drop in sales due to the situation of the outbreak. Based on your judgement,
develop one (1) business strategy to help sustain your business during the
tough times like this.

If you haven’t already, be sure to leverage your in-store customer data in your online
marketing campaigns to specifically communicate with those who have been
affected by store closings. Introduce these customers to the convenience of your
online experience and loyalty benefits, and educate them on the perks of connecting
with you digitally. By combining offline with the rest of your cross-channel data, you
can then cross-sell and recommend items to your brick and mortar customers via
your website, email, app or even mobile push that are similar to or complement their
in-store purchases. Retailers can also engage in-store shoppers during this time by
reminding these customers that the consumable products and perennial favourites
they’ve previously bought in person can easily be repurchased or refilled online.

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Assignment 2

Question 2
Summarize five (5) important points from the article’s abstract.

The Five important points from the article’s abstract are:

1. The key objective of this research is to determine the impact of coronavirus
(Covid-19) on the online business in Malaysia.
2. Coronavirus has almost shaken up all types of business including the e-
commerce business on a massive scale. Major retailers have temporarily
shuttered their stores. Online businesses are also not out of the list. They are
also severely affected by Malaysia.
3. Many e-commerce businesses rely upon China for half of its merchandise
products. Therefore, it is assumed that this deadly virus will severely impact
the Malaysian online business especially the Chinese products.
4. A survey has been conducted for this research and primary research has
been carried out to get a better outcome.
5. The results illustrated that as the maximum of the products comes from China
and the maximum of the industries are lockdown which means that there is no
import and export of the product.

Question 3
Based on the article, construct your discussion on these sections:

a) Introduction of the study

Coronavirus one of the deadly known viruses has already taken the lives of many in
almost half of the country. This means that the country’s economic growth has
lowered down. It has almost shaken up all types of business including the e-
commerce business on a massive scale. Due to coronavirus, online business is
finding it difficult to sell their products online and also facing tremendous issues while
sourcing their products from China. China is the central manufacturing hub for many
businesses globally. Therefore, any disruption in china’s output will simply have
repercussions. China mainly deals with the machinery, equipment, instruments and
communication-related equipment. Any disruptions in these sectors will simply affect
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other country business. Similarly, the Malaysian market is also dependable upon the
china product and it will highly impact the economy of Malaysia. Further, the
lockdown has also obstructed the import and export facilities in the country. All is the
impact of the coronavirus. Many online businesses are facing shortages of the
products which are unable to satisfy the demand of the customers over there.

b) Literature Review
The e-commerce business is being driven into significant limitations due to the
pressure from the pandemic of COVID-19. The e-commerce is identified as the
dependent variable since the rise or the downfall in the demand of the particular
online platform is significantly dependent on the widespread of COVID-19 and also
on the customer's behaviour towards this global issue. The online business is mainly
dependent on these two factors which would influence its overall demand in the
market. For this particular reason, the customers have shifted towards the e-
commerce approaches. This is considered as the only means through which the
population of the nation can able to survive this pandemic situation. Increased
numbers of audiences are trying to gain benefits from the digital grocery facilities
(Ahmad & Hui, 2020). The behaviour of the customer is also considered as the
independent variable. The main reason behind its independence is that the way the
population will act in response to the particular pandemic of COVID-19 [6]. As per
the significant impact of this pandemic the customers would take necessary
precautions and will more likely to act accordingly. Therefore the behaviour of the
customer of Malaysia mainly influences the demand of e-commerce business
activities to a great extent. The purchase behaviour of the customers would be
influenced due to the lockouts in the nations since there would be a lack of
availability of products and services in the various outlets and stores. For this
particular reason, the customer should depend mainly on the e-commerce platform
in order to fulfil the essential necessities required for their survival (MoEngage,
2020).

c) Research Methodology
The sample size selected by the researcher for executing the survey process is 60
respondents. These respondents are helping the researcher in gathering the data
related to the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) established on the e- commerce
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business in Malaysia. For designing the survey questionnaire, the 7 points Likert
scale is being used by the researcher. The data gathering process is carried out with
the help of the survey questionnaires which are distributed by the researcher. The
survey questionnaire developed by the researcher is helping the researcher in
gathering the appropriate information on the impact established on the e-business
present in Malaysia. Also SPSS was used for analyzing the data. The random
sampling process is also used by the researcher for gathering the data responses
provided by the respondents. This process of gathering data is seen to be carried out
by the researcher for accomplishing the research objectives.

d) Result and Discussion

The data analysis executed above is illustrating that the negative impact is
established on the e-business in Malaysia due to coronavirus (COVID-19). The
negative impact established is impacting the sales as well as the buying behavior of
the customers. The weakening of the business environment in Malaysia is seen due
to COVID-19. The challenges faced by the retailers present in the e- business are
the lowering of the buying behavior of the customers. The lowering of the buying
behavior is also lowering the supply and the shipping processes. As per the survey
processes executed, the situation identified will be lasting at least four months more.
This will be degrading the e-business as well as huge losses will be acquired by the
e-businesses. The presence of the Chinese products in the Malaysian market is also
lowering the demand for the products by lowering the buying behavior of the
consumers. Due to this reason, more effect is established on the e-business present
in the Malaysian market.

e) Conclusion and Recommendation

COVID-19 has emerged as one of the pandemic health menace. Researchers are
trying to find out the reasons behind these pandemic diseases. As per china, this
pandemic disease can be tackled only when response control strategies and tactics
are applied. This pandemic disease is worsening the country's situation. The country
gets hampered both in terms of health and economics. Most of the kits are
manufactured in China and Malaysia is also highly dependable upon the china
products. With the effect of coronavirus, all the shipments processes are hindered
which have lower down the economic growth of the country. Countries are trying to
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bring back their product from other countries apart from china only to continue their
business process. The research paper here comprises of the impact of the
coronavirus on the online business of Malaysia. On analyzing it has found that online
businesses are seriously hampered due to this pandemic disease. The country is
severely suffering as the death rate is increasing but in the coming days the
country's economy has also lowered down. It is expected that to return and to
enhance the economy like before is much hard. it is also much hard to increase the
sales of the country. It is recommended that researchers must do their research
regarding the Covid-19 with every possible outcome. This will help to improve the
trading situation between China and Malaysia.

Question 4
In order for you to cite from this article in your own academic writing, you have
to address the research gap which has not been covered by the article. Based
on your opinion, generate your understanding on the possibility of future
study on the same topic of this article.

The future study should explore more factors that affect E- business, like demand
related changes, changes to people’s lifestyle, Changes to Consumption Habits and
Consumer Sentiment. Future study should also explore the impact of covid19 on E-
business in different countries and then comparative study should be done to find out
the highest impact among different countries. Since this research gap has not been
covered in this article.

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