5 Coping with Pandemic Shock to Enhance Individual’s Performance During Crisis: A Cross-National Study

Before adjusting to the environment created due to the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals may experience pandemic shock via digital transformation to enhance performance. Pandemic shock can affect an individual’s adaptation, psychological state, and performance. This study attempts to analyze individual cultural psychological progress during this crisis. Empirical data based on 597 responses of subjects who have experienced the COVID-19 crisis has been interpreted and used to determine further implications. Adjustive capability and psychological state are predicted to be mediators of the relationship between shock and performance. Cultural intelligence is tested as the mediated moderator. Cultural differences between the two nations (i.e., Vietnam and the US) are also examined. This study emphasizes that such shocks can affect the psychological state, adjustive capabilities, and individual performance. Additionally, this study’s findings confirm that adjustive capabilities and psychological state are critical mediators of the relationship between shock and performance. Especially, cultural intelligence is the mediated moderator for the shock and performance relationship. Despite the prevalence of COVID-19 impact, there has been scant research understanding the COVID-19 shock on individual performance with the mediation effects of adjustive capability and psychological state. The interactions of cultural intelligence and cultural difference factors are critical in explaining shock-adaptation- performance relationship.