March 9 (SeeNews) - Over 57% of Romanian managers say the recent coronavirus outbreak is affecting their business without impacting vital processes, while over 70% do not have an emergency plan, a survey conducted by Frames consultancy showed on Monday.
Some 17% of managers claim that the coronavirus outbreak is blocking important production and management flows, the Frames survey commissioned by business conventions organiser Factory 4.0 Conference showed.
Some 9% of managers said that the coronavirus outbreak has a major negative impact on their business, while 17% said that their businesses are not at all affected at the moment by the global epidemic.
Many Romanian companies do not have enough stocks to cover a possible blockage on supply chains and this can have very serious consequences on operations, Factory 4.0.manager Marius Haratau said. Lack of plans to respond to crisis situations, weak digitisation of production and business processes that allow remote control and work from distance, as well as lack of financial reserves in such situations are likely to lead to delays in payments, he added. "The consequences are inevitable - suspension of activity, non-payment of wages, insolvency, etc.," he concluded.
"In an economy where over 90% of companies are SMEs, with low financial power and a limited economic know-how, only large companies, especially multinationals, have a risk strategy, Frames manager Adrian Negrescu said.
Frames interviewed 300 Romanian managers and entrepreneurs during March 2-8.
Romania confimed six new cases of the coronavirus over the weekend, as their number reached 15, according to data from the interior and health ministries.
As of Monday, coronavirus cases were reported in eight of Romania's 41 counties.
Over the weekend, Romania decided to ban all flights to and from Italy until March 23 and to prohibit gatherings of over 1,000 people until March 31 to curb the spread of the virus.
Out of total 15 people diagnosed with the coronavirus, five have been cured and discharged from hospital, according to the health ministry.