Management students study multiple topics in the domains of business and management and hence are better equipped to handle various crisis situations including a pandemic like COVID-19.The students acquire the required knowledge, skills, and competencies and become adept at the case analyses and problem-solving in response to some real-world problems.
The management students can tackle the crisis after COVID-19 in the following ways:
Healthcare: The management students can sensitise the people about the various dos and don’ts to the citizens and enable them with the required knowledge, skills and competencies and preventive measures to avoid the deadly pandemic of COVID-19.
Education: The management students can sensitise about the various apps and technologies to the children and their parents to enable them to maximize productivity in the process of online teaching, learning, and assessment. This will make the child and their parents more familiar with the software, platform, or app, and hence the outcomes of academic delivery will improve.
Entrepreneurship: The management students can enable the young and budding entrepreneurs by giving them training or assistance. The management students can guide the entrepreneurs from the small and medium enterprises sector by giving them knowledge or assistance in making the business plan.
Hospitality management: The management students can reinforce the importance of hygiene and other allied aspects to the employees working in the Hospitality sector.
Facilities management: The students can focus on getting the whole area sanitised by the latest machines/gadgets by including the right chemicals mixed in water in the right proportions.
Implementation of preventive strategies: The students can implement the various preventive strategies like lockdown, measurement of temperature of all the incoming and outgoing guests by using the thermal infrared scanner, wearing of masks, usage of sanitizers, stoppage of people coming from COVID infected areas, etc.
Design management: The students can work in collaboration with the students of fashion design to focus on producing low-cost masks with better user experience. They can also focus on innovative dress designing for the protection of Doctors, Nurses etc.
Sanitisers: The students can procure the materials used in the process of preparing the sanitisers and prepare them in small packing materials at an affordable cost for the residents of the society.
Lifestyle management: The students can sensitise the residents about the various aspects of lifestyle management so that the residents are able to raise their immunity and avoid falling sick.
Diet management: The management students can inform the people around about the importance of diet management. They can also give them the recommended diet according to the region, season and availability of fruits and vegetables.
Logistics planning and management: The students can work for the logistics planning and management so that the patient can be quarantined on a fast track basis in case someone is diagnosed with COVID 19.
Quarantine management: The management students can get the quarantine management done in a professional manner so that the disease does not spread to other parts of society.
Supply chain management: The students can coordinate with various suppliers and vendors to ensure the supply of eatables and other necessary items to all the residents of the society.
People management: Students can convince people about avoiding unwanted travel for unwanted reasons.
Social distancing management: The management students can come together and sensitise the residents about social distancing. They can also mark the squares and circles with marking paint/chemicals and bring the behavioural change in the residents.
The writer is Professor (Dr) Rana Singh,Vice-chancellor, Sanskriti University