The Coronavirus Crisis: Development of Capabilities on Measuring and Managing Its Effects in the Norwegian Service and Food Industries

The negative effects of the coronavirus crisis on the Norwegian economy as a whole and the Norwegian service and seafood exports industries have been significant. The restaurant, fast food as well as travel sectors experienced fall in turnover of up to 90% due to the reduced consumer spending. Also, sales in physical stores, bank branches, training centres, etc. have been negatively affected by the fallout of this unprecedented event. Furthermore, exports of Norwegian seafood fell by 8% in April 2020 relative to 2019, as a result of the coronavirus crisis. The value of exported salmon fell by 13% in April 2020 relative to 2019. On the consumer level, the coronavirus crisis triggered the phenomena of increased consumption of less healthful products and services, nationalism and materialism. Another significant consequence of the crisis is increased consumer resistance to service innovations. This fallout of the crisis presents considerable threats for companies in the Norwegian service and seafood exports industries. More importantly, due the extraordinary nature of this crisis many companies in these industries lack the necessary competence to measure and manage its effects on their operations. In order to meet these challenges and to protect and manage the strategically important for Norway industries - food, services and seafood exports, this project focuses on the development of economic analysis and market intelligence capabilities of the industry partners in the project - Virke, the Norwegian Seafood Council and their member companies. Each of the partners´ industries will be subject to case studies that will form the foundation for research in this investigation and the development of corporate capabilities.