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Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the U.S. government ensures that all health and safety regulations, protecting the workers, are enforced. OSHA officers conduct inspections and assess fines for non-compliance and regulatory violations. Literature discussion on the economic impact of OSHA inspections with COVID-19 related citations for the construction sector is lacking. This study aims to investigate the relationships between the number of COVID-19 cases, construction employment and OSHA citations and it further evaluates the total and monthly predicted cost impact of OSHA citations associated with COVID-19 violations.

An application of multiple regression analysis, a supervised machine learning linear regression model, based on K-fold cross validation sampling and a probabilistic risk-based cost estimate Monte Carlo simulation were utilized to evaluate the data. The data were collected from numerous websites including OSHA, Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization.

The results show that as the monthly construction employment increased, there was a decrease in OSHA citations. Conversely, the cost impact of OSHA citations had a positive relationship with the number of COVID-19 cases. In addition, the monthly cost impact of OSHA COVID-19 related citations along with the total cost impact of citations were predicted and analyzed.

The application of the two models on cost analysis provides a thorough comparison of predicted and overall cost impact, which can assist the contractors to better understand the possible cost ramifications. Based on the findings, it is suggested that the contractors include contingency fees within their contracts, hire safety managers to implement specific safety protocols related to COVID-19 and request a safety action plan when qualifying their subcontractors to avoid potential fines and citations.

The emerging disintegrative processes of transitional economies are influencing companies’ business models in terms of consumer behaviour, especially food markets, which offer usual, common and traditional consumer products. Beyond investigating potential consumer misbehaviour, a further aim of this study is the building of a theoretical-descriptive model for consumer misbehaviour in food markets, which could influence the contextual complexity in business relationships, as well as the management of raw materials, services acquisition and final product sales. The research applies the “input-output” model (Ferrero, 1968) to some specific marketing theories, adopting an interdisciplinary approach for understanding the relationships between consumer behaviour and a company’s business model.

The research is both qualitative and quantitative in nature. In the first phase, the research was conducted among representatives of grocery stores using an exploratory approach; thus, an in-depth interview method was used. In the second phase, direct research among consumers was conducted using an online survey. After the verification of correctness, validity and reliability, a final 1,200-questionnaire dataset was analysed

The most common consumer misbehaviour in food markets concerns the theft of foodstuff or the adoption of bad behaviour towards grocery stores employees. Market and store representatives have highlighted a large scale of pathological consumer misbehaviour, mostly due to psychological conditions at the individual (habits, lifestyle or personality) and collective (family or other social groups) levels. According to previous studies, consumer misbehaviour in food markets seems to be substantially affected by three factors: motivation, capacity and opportunity. These factors strongly impact the input-output model through which the company interacts with the context.

The three-factor model reveals advantages and applications, allowing for a simple explanation of consumer misbehaviour in food markets and stores. It can contribute to scientific theory development (especially theories related to consumer behaviour, customer relationship management, partnership marketing and supply chain management) and generate support for understanding complex relations among consumers, food producers, factories and food stores. In this direction, the management of knowledge about consumers and their behaviour is indispensable.