Extract of the coding process
| Quotes | Code | Category |
|---|---|---|
| “People started to use credit cards and buy online and find it attractive” | Online purchases | Dramatic e-commerce boost |
| “When restrictions were at their highest, we experienced a peak in e-commerce items to handle” | e-commerce volume | |
| “We saw our e-retailers partners requiring more services” | e-commerce | |
| “We did not expect so much (restrictions) in such a short time … we were not conscious of the magnitude until the lockdown was declared” | Fast restrictions developments | Suddenness of pandemic |
| “In February (2020) it was far away, then the first restriction and then all of a sudden we were in lockdown” | Suddenness | |
| “We did not expect that coming … we were the first state out of China to face a severe lockdown” | Suddenness | |
| “All of our workers went in smart working where possible … we also developed a software to optimize delivery and monitoring drivers” | Smart working | Digitalization process |
| “We have an internal IT department … they were able to develop a cloud platform in a few days to allow us to work from home” | Cloud platform | |
| “Technology helped us during the pandemic … it allowed us to work safely and better … we are going to keep most of the solutions” | Technology relief | |
| “Southern region required logistics services … e-commerce pushed small enterprises to ask new services” | New costumers | Business opportunities |
| “We started to reinforce business scouting … we saw new customers coming from all the territory asking for express logistics” | Business enlargement | |
| “We struggled to stay operative and ensure the safety of employees … we scheduled more shift distance policies” | Safety of employees | Staff management |
| “We guarantee all our employees’ safety, and we listen to them to acquire all the available information” | Managing the safety of employees | |
| “We left at home all the employees we could but for someone, smart working was not possible … for them, we provided as much protective equipment as we could” | Staff management | |
| “With the reduced capacity we suffered … we understood that we had to better prepare our worker to become able to perform different tasks” | Skill | Need to develop employees’ multidisciplinary |
| “Tight safety rules did not allow to mix different employees … if a dedicated employee was sick, we could not replace him quickly” | Employees focus | |
| “It was an unprecedented event. We see a drastic change in the size and volume of the item handled … this different mix proved to be challenging to be fulfilled” | Variety of products | New mix of goods handled |
| “We experienced a shift in the average weight and volume … Now that the b2c became the main channel they were smaller” | New market | |
| “Our business was divided between mail and parcel services … the pandemic stopped the mail and parcels exploded requiring us to rethink some processes” | Parcel growth | |
| “We experienced a peak of volume with no precedence … we hired new drivers to cope with the demand” | New employees | Last-mile delivery reconfiguration |
| “We hired and trained new drivers … once it was possible, we developed contactless deliveries. Still, we did face several late deliveries” | Operations shift | |
| “Transit points in the northern part of Italy were reinforced with new staff to face the new demand” | New employees | |
| “The company implemented what was possible … we purchase safety kits, and we impose safety distances … it reduced our productivity, but it secured our employees … we also introduced contactless deliveries” | Operations shift | |
| “The conditions did not allow us to think of a green transition … it is costly at the moment” | No environmental consideration | Environmental implication |
| “The company always aimed at sustainability, also during the pandemic” | Sustainability | |
| “Our aim is to have by 2030 a carbon neutral fleet … but during the pandemic, we focused on our employees and our business” | No environmental consideration | |
| “Despite the expense for safety, we luckily had positive revenues … other sectors were more hit than our” | Positive incomes | Stable shipping costs |
| “We had fewer expenses due to lower fuel and lower electricity consumptions … overall it balanced the other expenses” | Operating cost |
| Quotes | Code | Category |
|---|---|---|
| “People started to use credit cards and buy online and find it attractive” | Online purchases | |
| “When restrictions were at their highest, we experienced a peak in e-commerce items to handle” | e-commerce volume | |
| “We saw our e-retailers partners requiring more services” | e-commerce | |
| “We did not expect so much (restrictions) in such a short time … we were not conscious of the magnitude until the lockdown was declared” | Fast restrictions developments | |
| “In February (2020) it was far away, then the first restriction and then all of a sudden we were in lockdown” | Suddenness | |
| “We did not expect that coming … we were the first state out of China to face a severe lockdown” | Suddenness | |
| “All of our workers went in smart working where possible … we also developed a software to optimize delivery and monitoring drivers” | Smart working | |
| “We have an internal IT department … they were able to develop a cloud platform in a few days to allow us to work from home” | Cloud platform | |
| “Technology helped us during the pandemic … it allowed us to work safely and better … we are going to keep most of the solutions” | Technology relief | |
| “Southern region required logistics services … e-commerce pushed small enterprises to ask new services” | New costumers | |
| “We started to reinforce business scouting … we saw new customers coming from all the territory asking for express logistics” | Business enlargement | |
| “We struggled to stay operative and ensure the safety of employees … we scheduled more shift distance policies” | Safety of employees | |
| “We guarantee all our employees’ safety, and we listen to them to acquire all the available information” | Managing the safety of employees | |
| “We left at home all the employees we could but for someone, smart working was not possible … for them, we provided as much protective equipment as we could” | Staff management | |
| “With the reduced capacity we suffered … we understood that we had to better prepare our worker to become able to perform different tasks” | Skill | |
| “Tight safety rules did not allow to mix different employees … if a dedicated employee was sick, we could not replace him quickly” | Employees focus | |
| “It was an unprecedented event. We see a drastic change in the size and volume of the item handled … this different mix proved to be challenging to be fulfilled” | Variety of products | |
| “We experienced a shift in the average weight and volume … Now that the b2c became the main channel they were smaller” | New market | |
| “Our business was divided between mail and parcel services … the pandemic stopped the mail and parcels exploded requiring us to rethink some processes” | Parcel growth | |
| “We experienced a peak of volume with no precedence … we hired new drivers to cope with the demand” | New employees | |
| “We hired and trained new drivers … once it was possible, we developed contactless deliveries. Still, we did face several late deliveries” | Operations shift | |
| “Transit points in the northern part of Italy were reinforced with new staff to face the new demand” | New employees | |
| “The company implemented what was possible … we purchase safety kits, and we impose safety distances … it reduced our productivity, but it secured our employees … we also introduced contactless deliveries” | Operations shift | |
| “The conditions did not allow us to think of a green transition … it is costly at the moment” | No environmental consideration | |
| “The company always aimed at sustainability, also during the pandemic” | Sustainability | |
| “Our aim is to have by 2030 a carbon neutral fleet … but during the pandemic, we focused on our employees and our business” | No environmental consideration | |
| “Despite the expense for safety, we luckily had positive revenues … other sectors were more hit than our” | Positive incomes | |
| “We had fewer expenses due to lower fuel and lower electricity consumptions … overall it balanced the other expenses” | Operating cost |
Source(s): Author’s own creation