978-1-6654-1224-7/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE COVID-19 PARADIGM SHIFT: EXPLORING EFFECTS ON ENTREPRENEURIAL PHASE VENTURES Muhammad Saqib Iqbal Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT) Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia s.iqbal@graduate.utm.my Zulhasni Abdul Rahim Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT) Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia zulhasni@utm.my Abstract— Recent developments globally due to coronavirus have hustled the digital disruption and heightened the need for adopting the pillar technologies practised during the pandemic crisis. Disruptive technology is described as when one technology drifts the existing technology and changes the nature or structure of the industry. It is hard to conceive the technologies that will dominate in the post-COVID-19 era since trends are changing awfully, faltering economies, culture, employment, and the workforce individually and collectively. In analysing how Founder-CEOs make decisions by evaluating a particular operational decision, this study focuses on a process viewpoint and tries to understand the behaviour and processes used by decision-makers. For this study, three founding CEOs of technology-enabled businesses in Pakistan were interviewed. The findings of this study will refer to teaching, coaching and aspiring the current founding CEOs. Keywords— COVID-19, Decision-making process, entrepreneurial I. INTRODUCTION Clayton Christensen described disruptive technology as when one technology drifts the existing technology and changes the nature or structure of the industry [1]. Digital disruption is defined as a type of environmental turmoil caused by digital innovation, which results in the dismantling of limits and strategies that serve as the foundation for creating and gathering value.. In the new global economy, a novel coronavirus outbreak in 2019 (now known as SARS-CoV-2 triggering the Covid-19 disease) has become a central issue after spreading across China from Wuhan to more and more countries [2]. This disease has disrupted the whole world, and several myths circulate about its diagnosis, treatment, and prevention [3]. In the broader digitisation of businesses and services, post-COVID-19 would also bring a new standard. It may seems difficult now, but it will become the new standard in the future. [4]. Determining the impacts of coronavirus on the entrepreneurial phase ventures is essential for the future and post-pandemic paradigm shift. It is hard to conceive the technologies that will dominate in the post-COVID-19 era since trends change significantly, faltering economies, culture, employment, and the workforce individually and collectively [5]. Leadership roles are vital to the organisation as leadership decisions may devote money, choose a course for the organisation, or take specific steps that the organisation takes in some way[6]. Mature companies implement policies and procedures and have a long-term organisational culture. The management system is in place and appears to be stable. Such precedents lack organisations in the entrepreneurial phase, and the leader frequently has little to no meaningful leadership experience. Young and growing organisations operate in an uncertain state because processes are undeveloped, resources are limited, and customer base and sales flux are not established [7]. The research on entrepreneurial judgment analysis focuses on recognising and using a perceived market opportunity [8]. Many investigations into entrepreneur ventures have tried to understand the motives of loss risk, contexts, and influence [9]. This study takes into account process perspectives. However, it remains unclear how recent developments globally due to coronavirus have hustled the digital disruption. Furthermore, how are operational decisions decided in early-stage companies amid a pandemic crisis? Operating decisions are those actions made regularly to execute the business strategy and development goals [10]. In consultation with the board, the CEO in small businesses, the primary decision-maker, or, as required and authorised by statute or contract. There is a surprising paucity of well-controlled studies focusing specifically on decision-making during hustled digital disruption aroused due to the pandemic. This study aims to uncover how Founder-CEOs of entrepreneurial stage companies are experiencing decision-making during the digital disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. This context is a significant and vital basis for researching how founders manage work in the entrepreneurial organisation during a crisis. Three founding CEOs from technology-enabled companies located in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, employed a purposeful sampling strategy. The following is the format of the paper. Section 2 contains a brief literature review which is the backbone of this study. Section 3 presents and explains the methodology adopted for the research paper. Section 4 contains the results, and discussions, while the last cover the conclusions and future research recommendations. 2021 International Congress of Advanced Technology and Engineering (ICOTEN) | 978-1-6654-1224-7/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/ICOTEN52080.2021.9493480 Authorized licensed use limited to: UNIVERSITY TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA. Downloaded on July 29,2021 at 14:18:06 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.