Search results

The purpose of this paper is to identify the underlying issues of humanitarian disaster relief logistics in order to provide an understanding of the challenges facing humanitarian organisations in a wider context.

The paper takes a qualitative approach, adopting a two‐dimensional multi‐strategy research design, culminating in a model of theoretical understanding.

The results suggest that operational issues encountered in humanitarian logistics are symptomatic of wider issues affecting humanitarian organisations. In understanding this, challenges were identified that, if overcome, could make for more effective relief missions.

In terms of implications, this paper provides an opportunity for further research, including the testing of the suggested model against an extended sample size which could include senior managers of humanitarian organisations (involved in strategising), and United Nations representative(s).

The research raises an awareness of the characteristics of humanitarian organisations that may well be acting as barriers to greater effectiveness and efficiency.

Rather than maintaining an operational focus throughout, the scope and nature of this study provide an insight into humanitarian organisations that allows for a deeper level of understanding to be gained in terms of their characteristics, which broadens the context against which the ensuing discussions/arguments can prevail. The resultant model provides a catalyst for further research and discussion.

In years past, when life seemed simpler and the Law much less complicated, jurists were fond of quoting the age‐old saying: “All men are equal before the Law.” It was never completely true; there were important exemptions when strict legal enforcement would have been against the public interests. A classic example was Crown immunity, evolved from the historical principle that “The King can do no wrong”. With the growth of government, the multiplicity of government agencies and the enormous amount of secondary legislation, the statutes being merely enabling Acts, this immunity revealed itself as being used largely against public interests. Statutory instruments were being drafted within Ministerial departments largely by as many as 300 officers of those departments authorized to sign such measures, affecting the rights of the people without any real Parliamentary control. Those who suffered and lost in their enforcement had no remedy; Crown immunity protected all those acting as servants of the Crown and the principle came to be an officials' charter with no connection whatever with the Crown. Parliament, custodian of the national conscience, removed much of this socially unacceptable privilege in the Crown Proceedings Act, 1947, which enabled injured parties within limit to sue central departments and their officers. The more recent system of Commissioners—Parliamentary, Local Authority, Health Service—with power to enquire into allegations of injustice, maladministration, malpractice to individuals extra‐legally, has extended the rights of the suffering citizen.

Traditional role of local authorities With the passing of the Building Act 1984, the Building Regulations reached a crossroads in the long history of building ordinance in this country. From its humble beginning, following the Great Fire of London, and more universally after the passing of the Public Health Act 1875, a monopoly in the enforcement of the building control legislation was enjoyed by local government.

There are clear links between health, housing and social care. The homeless live much shorter lives as do those people living in poorer quality accommodation and areas of deprivation. Life expectancy and the quality of life in later years are both drastically affected by Marmot's (2010) social gradient, with people from poorer backgrounds often doing worse. A decent home is fundamental to a healthy and a good life. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The research approach reviewed existing articles, examples from the housing sector and analysis of a range of data from organisations including the NHS.

Good housing helps to support better health but it is not the only answer – joined up working between agencies and Marmot's proposal of proportionate universalism are significant factors in finding solutions to this long-standing issue.

Costs to the government, health services and local authorities and other agencies could be reduced by wider thinking around the link between housing, health and other support.

This paper focuses on the existing links between health, housing and social care.

The study analyses the resilience of food rescue organisations’ operating as “essential services” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020) in Aotearoa New Zealand. It explores the impact of COVID-19 on the organisations’ operation, preparedness, and potential positive impacts.

The study employed a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews with 19 out of 23 active food rescue organisations across the country. Interview participants included CEOs, founders, managers, and coordinators.

The study identifies six impact areas experienced by food rescue organisations during COVID-19, policy and preparedness, funding, operation - logistics and personnel, supply continuity, food security and sector collaboration. Despite these impacts, the organisations showcased admirable resilience through innovation, adaptability, and collaborative practices, enabling the continuation of their services during the crisis.

The paper provides a three-stage crisis management framework to guide the development and implementation of a crisis management plan to improve the resilience and preparedness of food rescue organisations’ response to future crises. The framework is flexible and adaptable to each food rescue organisation’s unique operation and capacity.

This paper offers a retrospective analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 on 83% of food rescue organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is the first paper to study the impact of COVID-19 on food rescue organisations.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate entrepreneurial orientation (EO) as a predictor of internationalisation of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The key research question is “to what extent do the dimensions of EO (innovativeness, proactiveness and risk taking) predict internationalisation of SMEs?”

The study adopts a cross-sectional survey to collect data from 282 SMEs, with the use of a multi-dimensional self-administered questionnaire. All the measures in this study were adopted from existing instruments from previous studies and all showed a CVI above 0.8. Data were analysed quantitatively using descriptive statistics, correlations and hierarchical regression. The nature and strength of the relationships between the variables was tested using the zero-order bivariate correlation analysis.

The study establishes a significant relationship between the dimensions of EO and internationalisation of SMEs.

This paper contributes to the corpus of literature on internationalisation of SMEs. Future research should consider the major constructs from a longitudinal point of view given that cross-sectional studies sometimes fail to examine the interaction effect of the variables.

The paper illustrates how EO dimensions can influence an entrepreneur’s decision to go international especially handling the process of internationalisation and its dynamics.

The paper provides contextual evidence from a developing country to the effect that as local investors get more inclined to EO, they in the process ease their way to joining the international business arena.

Explains the part Housing Action Trust (HATs) play in housing policy, from the Government′s perspective. Describes the need for HATs, the function of HATs, the areas which might benefit from HATs, and the safeguards for tenants. Asserts that whichever route tenants take after HAT improvements, they will be better off, since the trusts will provide better housing and a better quality of life.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the issues and challenges in humanitarian logistics and to develop a framework for effectively managing the humanitarian logistics in disaster relief supply chain operations in India.

This paper presents a framework to manage humanitarian logistics effectively in disaster management through qualitative analysis. First, the author examines the challenges facing the humanitarian logistics and supply chain through the reviews of the literature on various disasters. Then, the author presented a framework based on the best practices and initiatives taken worldwide in the preparedness and response stage of the humanitarian supply chain to manage and reduce the aftermath of any disaster in context to India.

A framework has been developed to manage humanitarian logistics in the disaster relief operation, which would improve the humanitarian supply chain in India and help to effectively manage natural disasters in the preparedness and response stage at the state and district levels.

The paper mainly emphasises on the preparedness and response stage of disaster supply chain management in Indian context.

None of the disaster incidents can be stopped from taking place, but the impact can be minimised by proper preparedness and effective response during the operations of humanitarian logistics. With this hope, the framework has been developed, which if implemented would help to plan and manage any disaster incident in an effective manner, which ultimately would save millions of lives and cost in terms of infrastructure, property, assets etc.

As natural disaster incidents are occurring frequently in Indian states, there is an urgent need for a framework to manage the logistics operations effectively and efficiently during any disaster relief operations. Limited literature is found on developing and presenting a framework focusing on the preparedness and response phase of disaster supply chain management in context to India. Hence, this paper is believed to be the first to fulfil this gap with main emphasis on the preparedness and response stage of disaster supply chain management in Indian scenario.

The formulated proposals for this legal principle in the trade battern of the European Community have again appeared in the EEC draft Directive. It has been many years in coming, indicating the extreme difficulties encountered in bringing some sort of harmony in the different laws of Member‐states including those of the United Kingdom, relating to the subject. Over the years there were periods of what appeared to be complete inactivity, when no progress was being made, when consultations were at a stand‐still, but the situation was closely monitored by manufacturers of goods, including food and drink, in the UK and the BFJ published fairly detailed reviews of proposals being considered — in 1979 and 1981; and even as recently as the last few months — in “Consumerism in the Community”, the subject was briefly discussed.

Every seaport with foreign‐going shiping trade has always had its “foreign” quarters; every large city hat had its Oriental traders and services, eg., Chinese laundries, Indian restaurants, Italian restaurants, greengrocers, ice cream and biscuit manufacturers; all of which has meant that foreign foods were not unknown to food inspectors and the general public in its discerning quest for exotic food dishes. It was then largely a matter of stores specially stocking these foods for their few users. Now it is no longer the coming and going of the foreign seaman, the isolated laundry, restaurant, but large tightly knit communities of what have come to be known as the “ethnic minorities”, from the large scale immigration of coloured peoples from the old Empire countries, who have brought their families, industry and above all their food and eating habits with them. Feeding the ethnic minorities has become a large and expanding area within the food industry. There are cities in which large areas have been virtually taken over by the immigrant.