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Natural disasters such as earthquake, flood and hurricane always threaten human life and societies. A major challenge is technological hazards triggered by such disasters, especially in metropolises and urban areas. Thus, these hazards have been the focus of interest in many countries, and suitable crisis management plans have been made to address them. The purpose of this study was to cluster technological hazards caused by natural disasters in urban areas.

According to literature, a set of 15 technological hazards was identified whose magnificence and interrelations were analysed using interpretive structural modelling technique. DEMATEL technique was used to determine internal relations among the hazards and to draw a network relation map.

The results revealed that dam failing, water supply disruption and building collapse form the base of the structural model.

The authors developed a structural model representing the hierarchy and interrelations among various elements of technological hazards caused by natural disaster. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this was the first attempt to reveal internal relations of Natech factors. Finally, some recommendations were proposed for crisis management according to research findings.

Using the example of community access programs (CAPs), the purpose of this paper is to describe resource allocation and policy decisions related to providing health services for the uninsured in the USA and the organizational values affecting these decisions.

The study used comparative case study methodology at two geographically diverse sites. Researchers collected data from program documents, meeting observations, and interviews with program stakeholders.

Five resource allocation or policy decisions relevant to providing healthcare services were described at each site across three categories: designing the health plan, reacting to funding changes, and revising policies. Organizational values of access to care and stewardship most frequently affected resource allocation and policy decisions, while economic and political pressures affect the relative prioritization of values.

Small sample size, the potential for social desirability or recall bias, and the exclusion of provider, member or community perspectives beyond those represented among participating board members.

Program directors or researchers can use this study to assess the extent to which resource allocation and policy decisions align with organizational values and mission statements.

The description of how healthcare decisions are actually made can be matched with literature that describes how healthcare resource decisions ought to be made, in order to provide a normative grounding for future decisions.

This study addresses a gap in literature regarding how CAPs actually make resource allocation decisions that affect access to healthcare services.

The purposes of this paper are to: first, identify the critical drivers for and hindrances to enterprise risk management (ERM) implementation in Singapore-based Chinese construction firms (CCFs); second, interpret the critical drivers and hindrances in tandem with organizational change theories; and third, provide possible strategies to strengthen the drivers and overcome the hindrances.

A questionnaire survey was conducted and responses were received from 35 experienced managers in CCFs operating in Singapore.

A total of 13 drivers and 25 hindrances with significant influence were identified. Of them, “improved decision-making” was the top driver, while “insufficient resources (e.g. time, money, people, etc.)” was the most influential hindrance.

As the survey was performed with the Singapore-based CCFs, there may be geographical limitation on the identification of the critical drivers for and hindrances to ERM implementation. The sample size was still small, despite a relatively high response rate.

Specific strategies were identified to strengthen the drivers for ERM implementation and overcome the hindrances to ERM implementation.

This study present the theoretical rational behind the critical drivers for and hindrances to ERM implementation. As few studies have attempted to investigate ERM in construction firms, this study contributes to the literature through interpreting ERM implementation from an organizational change perspective. The identification of the drivers and hindrances and the managerial implications provide practitioners and academics with valuable information as well as a clear understanding of how to consolidate ERM programs and overcome the hindrances.

Over recent years there has been a significant drive away from traditional procurement routes where contractors find themselves with an increasing responsibility for the control of the design – a process they have had little experience in managing. Yet this is an area of significant opportunity for those contractors who can adapt quickly and effectively to the changing construction market. However, many current processes are insufficient to manage today's demanding and fast‐moving projects. This paper aims to address this issue

The paper reflects on the deployment of a design management training initiative to improve performance in a major UK civil and building design and construction company. It investigates the impact of the training initiative, critical practices and a suite of 25 tools on design management performance across the company. The methodology included a structured questionnaire, design management maturity assessment, semi‐structured interviews and a case study.

The paper highlights benefits delivered by the initiative as well as the practices and tools crucial to successful design management. A range of implementation barriers that affect the success of design management practices is also highlighted together with strategies used on a design and build project to overcome them.

The paper should be helpful to those involved in design management and the development of tools and practices to improve the performance of companies and project teams.

We show that a social planner who seeks to allocate a given sum in order to reduce efficiently the social stress of a population, as measured by the aggregate relative deprivation of the population, pursues a disbursement procedure that is identical to the procedure adhered to by a Rawlsian social planner who seeks to allocate the same sum in order to maximize the Rawlsian maximin-based social welfare function. Thus, the constrained minimization of aggregate relative deprivation constitutes an economics-based rationale for the philosophy-based constrained maximization of the Rawlsian social welfare function.

This paper aims to examine whether the Indian banking system is robust to withstand unexpected shocks from external and domestic macroeconomic factors after financial liberalization in 1992. As proposed by Demirgüç-Kunt and Detragiache (1998) and Kaminsky and Reinhart (1999) banking crisis follows financial liberalization. India embarked financial deregulation from 1992, whereas the ongoing global financial crisis (GFC) could jeopardize bank portfolios.

Stress test is undertaken through the vector auto regressive (VAR) model to examine if decline in GDP, exchange rate volatility and foreign capital portfolio funds adversely impact bank asset quality through higher defaults. The VAR model is run for banks belonging to public, private or foreign ownership. Soundness of banks is measured by the non-performing assets (NPAs) with quarterly data from 1997 to 2014. Post-VAR estimation technique, Granger causality test (GC) and impulse response function (IRF) are used to check for robustness of the VAR model findings.

The authors found that there is little divergence among banks of different ownership in responding to the shocks from REER, foreign capital flows and GDP output gap. IRF shows that GDP shock to NPA of public and private banks takes more than nine and eight quarters to stabilize. Foreign banks are impacted by the same macroeconomic factors. The stress test exhibits that public banks are more vulnerable and need recapitalization. Moreover, domestic banks are not adversely affected by the GFC, and credit for this could be attributed to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) regulatory policy.

Surprisingly, capital market indices do not influence banks’ NPA, and this needs further investigation. The limitation arises from the fact that stock market index for banks was launched only in the early 2000. Missing data and limited number of banks shares traded in the market could explain the trivial results.

Findings of this study will be useful to RBI policymakers and bank managers. The exchange-rate risk faced by borrowers that lead to increased NPAs is an issue that the RBI would be interested to examine. The impact of foreign capital flows, adversely influencing the NPAs of banks, is a significant issue that the RBI is concerned with.

Banking sector crisis has serious repercussions, causing loss of household savings and decline in confidence in the banking sector.

This topic was explored in India only by Bhattacharya and Roy in (2008). No other similar work has been done to the authors’ knowledge in stress test of banks in India across different ownership. The authors’ study period covers the GFC and shows that it has not caused devastation as it has in developed countries.

This paper aims to examine briefing practices and whether these are related to the quality of brief documents and client satisfaction in constructed health-care facilities in South Africa. The rational for the examination stems from the view held by scholars that the briefing process is critical to the success of projects, as well as client/user satisfaction in the constructed facility, and also because of undocumented reports of client/end-user dissatisfaction in constructed health-care facilities in South Africa.

The research process consisted of a literature review to identify existing briefing framework and practices in use applicable to facilities. This was supported by an exploratory case study of a recently completed public hospital in East London, South Africa. Data collection for the study was undertaken by means of conducting semi-structured interviews with two groups consisting of client representatives and the technical design team on the project.

The research established that in the context of this case study, inadequate client consultation took place, not all design consultants were adequately involved in the development of the project brief, limited use was made of a specific briefing framework in developing the project brief and that despite these shortcomings in the briefing process followed, a comprehensive good quality briefing document was produced and the client was satisfied with the health-care facility constructed.

The results of this study are generalizable with health-care facilities only. As such, research inferences and projections can only be made within this set and may not necessarily be applicable to the wider construction sector or to all projects within this sector.

The implications of this research are applicable to constructed health-care facilities. Practical inferences include the need to acknowledge that there is a need for a briefing framework, which should outline the involvement of all design consultants and client representatives when developing the project briefs for health-care facilities. The briefing framework is proposed for use in addressing the shortcomings in the briefing processes and practices and will also help the client in the choice of a brief process and practice which will comprehensively capture their requirements, give clear directives/information to the design consultants and will result in higher levels of end-user/patient satisfaction in the constructed health-care facility.

Clients and allied professionals in charge of health-care facilities’ construction are encouraged to consider the implementation of a standard framework for use in the briefing process. This reflection should encourage engagement through formative legislative provision and transparent awareness campaigns.

This work is original insofar, as it directly addresses the alignment of briefing practices to quality of brief documents and client satisfaction in constructed health-care facilities within the context of the South African construction industry. However, similar exercises have been undertaken on briefing practices in the wider construction sector.

The reduction in the US defense budget has resulted in reduced employment at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics – Fort Worth site by more 20,000 employees within the last decade. The company pursued a strategy to increase productivity and quality with the reduced work force while maintaining not only the public trust, but also the trust of its employees. Maintaining employee trust is directly linked to employees’ belief in the security of their employment. While the recently won Joint Strike Fighter contract will cause the need to expand, today’s competitive aerospace environment implies the need to maintain those strategies that resulted in that contract. Due to the requirement for high employee involvement, the company embraced a strategy to develop an environment that fostered a committed and highly motivated workforce. The University of North Texas, Center for Quality and Productivity assisted by completing a quality success factors survey to assess the employees’ perceptions of quality. As the questionnaire was analyzed, it was discovered that the cohesive work force was homogeneous in its strong identification with the quality goals of the company.

The purpose of the paper is to model the modern global practice of social management of human capital – at the state and corporate levels – to determine the perspectives of its optimization and to develop the basic principles of a new methodological approach to social management of human capital, which is preferable in the conditions of social market economy.

The author uses mathematical tools, including correlation and regression analysis. These are applied to determine the influence of each of the 12 indicators for the labor market that are presented as part of The World Economic Forum's (WEF’s) ”The Global Competitiveness Report 2019” on The United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Human Development Index. The research objects are countries from each of the four categories of nations, as distinguished by UNDP, in the Human Development Index. By unifying the 2019 data from UNDP and WEF, a data set is formed.

It is substantiated that in modern economic practice, it is impossible to achieve the “ideal” conditions necessary for applying existing methodological approaches to the social management of human capital, which reduces how effectively current approaches function. Foundation on the existing methods leads to uncertainty as to management of human capital, which is social by 95.14% in 2019. Though the achieved value of the social management of human capital is close to being optimal, it is still not enough to achieve a high level of human development, which was 0.685 on average for the global economy in 2019 and is likely to increase by 31.43% until 2025, for acknowledging the social market status of the modern economy.

It is proven that there is a need for a new, mixed, methodological approach to the social management of human capital, which would optimally combine the best practices of both state and corporate management. The principles for the practical implementation of such an approach are offered, and proposals are developed to substantiate the contribution of this approach to the achievement of the global goals of sustainable development.