How has the detrimental decline in tourism from COVID-19 impacted operational management of Enterprise rent-a-car in the UK and what strategies must be formulated for recovery/growth?

1. Background and Rationale
Since February 2020, the world has been affected by COVID-19 with almost every country imposing national lockdowns and travel restrictions. The virus has accumulated 90,768,716 cases worldwide, with 1,944,711 deaths counted so far through the pandemic (Worldometer 2020). The UK, an epicentre of the virus, has endured lockdown measures for over 10 months and as a result, the economy, tourism and subsequently the service sector have been crippled due to lack of opportunity and constant restrictions. As a well-developed country that relies heavily on the service sector and tourism for its economy (GDP), serious action is required to create a bounce-back before industry activities become unrecoverable (ONS 2020).
Enterprise rent-a-car, the biggest car rental company globally for 30 years (Mangan 2019; Bond 2017), is a multinational company (MNC) hit by the collapse of the economy and tourism influx. With the continuation of lockdown measures across the UK, Enterprise missed its busiest seasonal periods for retail rental customers and leisure-oriented reservations and is at risk of serious turmoil if conditions stagnate.
This research proposal will focus on identifying implications on operational techniques and give recommendations for strategy within the tourism sector(s) whilst considering sustainability.

2. Problem Statement

The need for operational management in large MNC’s is vital for consistent performance and business functionalities, especially those in the service sector (Machuca et. al 2006). COVID- 19 has caused significant decline in demand and output for service-oriented businesses in the UK (IBISWorld 2020) and when OM decisions are not adapted, serious implications occur. For example, poor management adaptation can increase employee turnover, reduce productivity, and therefore decrease financial performance (Kahtri et. al 2011; Forbes 2020). The need to integrate future sustainability processes is also essential to meet the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development from the UN (UNDP 2019). Failure to adapt will result in increased operation-related downturns in performance, making superior competitiveness more difficult (Jabbour et. al 2020).
A gap is identified for how COVID-19 has impacted OM at MNC’s in the UK service sector. Conducting analysis of how OM functions have changed due to COVID-19 are important to overcome low performance and productivity. Exploring future sustainability needs will prevent poor OM from reoccurring, even during unexpected crises.

3. Research Focus- Aims and Objectives
Research Aim: To identify and explain the impact of COVID-19 on Enterprise rent-a-car’s performance related to tourism in the UK and developing business strategies for its future recovery in the economy and market.
Research Question: How has the detrimental decline in tourism from COVID-19 impacted operational management of Enterprise rent-a-car in the UK and what strategies must be formulated for recovery/growth?
Research Objectives:
• Critically review the literature on Operations management in the car rental industry, importance of organizational culture in operations, and fleet management in Operations management.
• Use of qualitative research, semi-structured interviews to collect data from Enterprise management employees.
• Thematic analysis of data will be the chosen method to identify and analyse key information from the collected interviews with Enterprise management.
• Recommendations and conclusions will be provided for how Enterprise may change operational processes and managing to grow business profitability.

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)
This project links to UN SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth because it focuses on how operational productivity can be increased, job creativity is boosted and how value is added to labour-oriented work. This project also links to UN SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure because it discusses needs for innovative and sustainable action planning for future business performance.