Crisis Management in Restaurants: The Case of Polish Restaurants during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear authors, 

Overall, it is a rather good paper. I have 2 main comments

1 - In the introduction, explain why this research is of importance (not just to Poland) - Use literature to explain

2 - Conclusion should include: Summary; theoretical contribution; practical contribution; limitations; future research

Author Response

Thank you very much to the reviewer for his comments. The author has significantly improved the article, especially:

1. It was added (in the Introduction) why this research is of importance and additional literature was used.
2. The article was supplemented with implications, conclusions, limitations, and suggestions for future research.

Reviewer 2 Report

The Authors undertook the presentation of the important issue which they are problems of restaurants during the Covid-19 Pandemic Crisis.

The aim of the undertaken theoretical deliberations and empirical research is to identify effective actions taken by the catering industry as part of crisis management during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the opinion of the reviewer, this goal was achieved, although a survey was carried out on a very small group of restaurants, which should be significantly expanded.  

The article is an interesting study, encouraging reading.

After the literature of the article, there are some minor suggestions that should be met for the article to be published, for example the literature review should be significantly enriched, conducting the research in a larger group of restaurants or indicating explicitly in the text the limitations of the research (referring only to the group of restaurants surveyed). 

Author Response

Thank you very much to the reviewer for his comments. The author has significantly improved the article, especially:

1. Significantly more literature sources were discussed and used.
2. Performing additional research to enlarge the sample is currently impossible after the end of the pandemic, as the results of the research reflect the assessment of the condition of the restaurant by managers during the pendemic period.
3. The results are not representative for all restaurants in Poland, but the sample is sufficient for the statistical tests carried out.
4. The results are not representative for all restaurants in Poland, but the sample is sufficient for the statistical tests carried out.
5. The article was supplemented with implications, conclusions, limitations, and suggestions for future research.

 

Reviewer 3 Report

Dear Author(s),

From the first look, the paper does not show any significant mistakes, but it seriously lacks contributions. The reason behind choosing the data collection in just 5 days is not clear. Also, use used the items developed by Aviad Israeli (2007), but what your study adds to the previous research. The results are somehow obvious from the beginning then your paper needs to support its implications after defining conclusions. The paper is weak also at the end regarding conclusions, implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research. 

Good Luck 

Author Response

Thank you very much to the reviewer for his comments. The author has significantly improved the article, especially:

1. The data were not collected for 5 days, but for 5 months: from October 2020 to March 2021.
2. Item used by Israeli (2007) were supplemented with additional items that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland - it was marked in table 2.
3. The article was supplemented with implications, conclusions, limitations, and suggestions for future research. 
4.  

Reviewer 4 Report

The paper is so simple. To be an academic paper, the authors need a more extensive literature review and methodological process. In particular, the research method is so linear.  At least the paper needs exploratory factor analysis, reliability and validity test, and ANOVA, etc. Also, sample size is so small that it is not enough to justify the results. 

Author Response

Thank you very much to the reviewer for his comments. The author has significantly improved the article, especially:

1. Significantly more literature sources were discussed and used.
2. Factor analysis, reliability and validity test were not performed because the tested factors are not psychological constructs but various activities undertaken by restaurant managers. Therefore, their internal consistency is not necessary.
3. The parametric ANOVA test was also not performed because the non-parametric Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used instead.
4. Performing additional tests to enlarge the sample is currently impossible after the end of the pandemic, as the results of the research reflect the assessment of the condition of the restaurant by managers during the pendemic period.
5. The results are not representative for all restaurants in Poland, but the sample is sufficient for the statistical tests carried out.

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

Thanks for enriching the manuscript. 

Author Response

Thank you very much.

Reviewer 4 Report

I hate my evaluation of the authors' dedicated efforts. If authors investigate significant findings after COVID Pandemic, authors can compare two events applied to restaurants in Poland. It will be more academic and meaningful. The current format of the method has serious flaws in terms of the high-impact factored journal (sustainability). Authors need more statistical analysis or in-depth content for the findings. 

Author Response

We disagree with the reviewer.

Why and what events should we? For what purpose? What other statistical methods does the reviewer suggest for use? We have already explained to the reviewer that: 

1. Factor analysis, reliability and validity test were not performed because the tested factors are not psychological constructs but various activities undertaken by restaurant managers. Therefore, their internal consistency is not necessary. Therefore, structural equation modeling cannot be used either
2. Regression analysis and non-parametric Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used due to the lack of a normal distribution of the data.
3. Performing additional surveys to enlarge the sample is currently impossible after the end of the pandemic, as the results of the research reflect the assessment of the condition of the restaurant by managers during the pendemic period and therefore they are valuable and very interesting.

However, we would like to thank the reviewer for these comments and we will use them in a future publication. Unfortunately, we will not have time to do more research until this publication.

Round 3

Reviewer 4 Report

The methodology is so simple and linear. To investigate more relevant findings, authors need more complicated statistical analysis.