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Article
Publication date: 6 February 2024

Lin Zhang, Jinyu Wang, Xin Wang and Yingju Gao

Based on the perspective of knowledge management, this study aims to discuss how to build cross-city emergency management collaboration mechanism in major emergencies and explore…

Abstract

Purpose

Based on the perspective of knowledge management, this study aims to discuss how to build cross-city emergency management collaboration mechanism in major emergencies and explore the important role of knowledge management in emergency management collaboration.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the theoretical analysis of knowledge management and the typical case study of cross-city emergency management collaborative rescue, this study provides an in-depth analysis of how these cities achieve high emergency management performance through multidimensional and multilevel knowledge collaboration, thus revealing the mechanism of knowledge transfer, integration and sharing in achieving high emergency management performance.

Findings

Through analyzing typical cases, this study finds that building a smooth mechanism for multichannel emergency rescue information can promote the diversification of knowledge transfer methods, building a platform-based integration mechanism for emergency rescue information can enhance knowledge integration capabilities and building a linkage mechanism for emergency rescue materials between cities can promote knowledge-sharing level, thereby improving emergency management performance level.

Research limitations/implications

This study has great significance for how to build cross-city emergency management collaboration mechanism in the digital era. In the future, the authors need to further discuss the following two aspects in depth: research on the impact of cross-city emergency management collaboration mechanism on improving the knowledge management capabilities of government emergency management departments; and research on the impact mechanism of knowledge management capabilities on city resilience.

Originality/value

Through case analysis of cross-city emergency management collaborative rescue for major emergencies in China in recent years, this study proposes three specific strategies for cross-city emergency management (smooth, integration and linkage mechanisms) and reveals that these three strategies are essentially aimed at improving the government’s knowledge management level.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 February 2023

Onyeka John Chukwuka, Jun Ren, Jin Wang and Dimitrios Paraskevadakis

Unforeseen events can disrupt the operational process and negatively impact emergency resources optimization and its supply chain. A limited number of studies have addressed risk…

2584

Abstract

Purpose

Unforeseen events can disrupt the operational process and negatively impact emergency resources optimization and its supply chain. A limited number of studies have addressed risk management issues in the context of emergency supply chains, and this existing research lacks inbuilt and practical techniques that can significantly affect the reliability of risk management outcomes. Therefore, this paper aims to identify and practically analyze the specific risk factors that can most likely disrupt the normal functioning of the emergency supply chain in disaster relief operations.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper has used a three-step process to investigate and evaluate risk factors associated with the emergency supply chain. First, the study conducts a comprehensive literature review to identify the risk factors. Second, the research develops a questionnaire survey to validate and classify the identified risk factors. At the end of this step, the study develops a hierarchical structure. Finally, the research investigates the weighted priority of the validated risk factors using the fuzzy-analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) methodology. Experts were required to provide subjective judgments.

Findings

This paper identified and validated 28 specific risk factors prevalent in emergency supply chains. Based on their contextual meanings, the research classified these risk factors into two main categories: internal and external risk factors; four subcategories: demand, supply, infrastructural and environmental risk factors; and 11 risk types: forecast, inventory, procurement, supplier, quality, transportation, warehousing, systems, disruption, social and political risk factors. The most significant risk factors include war and terrorism, the absence of legislative rules that can influence and support disaster relief operations, the impact of cascading disasters, limited quality of relief supplies and sanctions and constraints that can hinder stakeholder collaboration. Therefore, emergency supply chain managers should adopt appropriate strategies to mitigate these risk factors.

Research limitations/implications

This study will contribute to the general knowledge of risk management in emergency supply chains. The identified risk factors and structural hierarchy taxonomic diagram will provide a comprehensive risk database for emergency supply chains.

Practical implications

The research findings will provide comprehensive and systemic support for respective practitioners and policymakers to obtain a firm understanding of the different risk categories and specific risk factors that can impede the effective functioning of the emergency supply chain during immediate disaster relief operations. Therefore, this will inform the need for the improvement of practices in critical aspects of the emergency supply chain through the selection of logistics and supply chain strategies that can ensure the robustness and resilience of the system.

Originality/value

This research uses empirical data to identify, categorize and validate risk factors in emergency supply chains. This study contributes to the theory of supply chain risk management. The study also adopts the fuzzy-AHP technique to evaluate and prioritize these risk factors to inform practitioners and policymakers of the most significant risk factors. Furthermore, this study serves as the first phase of managing risk in emergency supply chains since it motivates future studies to empirically identify, evaluate and select effective strategies that can eliminate or minimize the effects of these risk factors.

Details

Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-6747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 July 2023

Zehui Bu, Jicai Liu and Xiaoxue Zhang

Subway systems are highly susceptible to external disturbances from emergencies, triggering a series of consequences such as the paralysis of the internal network transportation…

Abstract

Purpose

Subway systems are highly susceptible to external disturbances from emergencies, triggering a series of consequences such as the paralysis of the internal network transportation functions, causing significant economic and safety losses to cities. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the factors affecting the resilience of the subway system to reduce the impact of disaster incidents.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the interval type-2 fuzzy linguistic term set and the K-medoids clustering algorithm, this paper improves the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method to construct a subway resilience factor analysis model for emergencies. Through comparative analysis, this study confirms the superior performance of the proposed approach in enhancing the precision of the DEMATEL method.

Findings

The results indicate that the operation and management level of emergency command organizations is the key resilience factors of subway operations in China. Furthermore, based on real case analyses, the corresponding suggestions and measures are put forward to improve the overall operation resilience level of the subway.

Originality/value

This paper identifies four emergency scenarios and 15 resilience factors affecting subway operations through literature review and expert consultation. The improved fuzzy DEMATEL method is applied to explore the levels of influence and causal mechanisms among the resilience factors of the subway system under the four emergency scenarios.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 November 2022

Glory George-Ufot, JiuChang Wei, Oyinkansola Christiana Kevin-Israel, Mona Salim, Muhideen Sayibu, Halima Habuba Mohamed and Lincoln Jisuvei Sungu

This study explored whether the critical incident management systems (CIMS) model can predict the EMS performance in the COVID-19 context. Past research has established the…

Abstract

Purpose

This study explored whether the critical incident management systems (CIMS) model can predict the EMS performance in the COVID-19 context. Past research has established the significance of early detection and response (ER) in the context of Ebola virus disease (EVD), prompting a question of whether the model can also be helpful in the COVID-19 context. Consequently, the authors assessed whether ER influences the impact of communication capacity (CC), reliable information channel (RC) and environment (EN) on COVID-19 EMS performance. Assessing these relationships will advance emerging infectious disease (EID) preparedness.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors employed standardized measurement instruments of the CIMS model (CC, ER, RC and EN) to predict the performance of COVID-19 EMS using structural equation modeling (SEM) in a study of 313 participants from frontline responders.

Findings

The results show that the relationship of ER and EN with COVID-19 EMS performance is positive, while that of EN on CC is negative. The relationship between EN and COVID-19 EMS performance was insignificant. Contrary to the hypothesis, CC was negatively significant to COVID-19 EMS performance due to poor communication capacities.

Research limitations/implications

The authors acknowledge some limitations due to challenges faced in this study. First, Data collection was a significant limitation as these questionnaires were built and distributed in June 2020, but the response time was prolonged due to the recurring nature of the pandemic. The authors had wanted to implore the inputs of all stakeholders, and efforts were made to reach out to various Ministry of Health, the local CDC and related agencies in the region via repeated emails explaining the purpose of the study to no avail. The study finally used the frontline workers as the respondents. The authors used international students from various countries as the representatives to reach out to their countries' frontline workers. Second, since the study was only partially supported using the CIMS model, future studies may combine the CIMS model with other models or theories. Subsequent research reassesses this outcome in other contexts or regions. Consequently, further research can explore how CC can be improved with COVID-19 and another future EID in the region. This may improve the COVID-19 EMS performance, thereby expanding the lesson learned from the pandemic and sustaining public health EID response. Additionally, other authors may combine the CIMS model with other emergency management models or theories to establish a fully supported theoretical model in the context of COVID-19.

Practical implications

The findings have practical implications for incident managers, local CDCs, governments, international organizations and scholars. The outcome of the study might inform these stakeholders on future direction and contribution to EID preparedness. This study unfolds the impact of lessons learned in the region demonstrated by moderating early detection and responses with other constructs to achieve COVID-19 EMS performance. The findings reveal that countries that experienced the 2013–2016 Ebola outbreak, were not necessarily more prepared for an epidemic or pandemic, judging by the negative moderating impact of early detection and response. However, these experiences provide a foundation for the fight against COVID-19. There is a need for localized plans tailored to each country's situation, resources, culture and lifestyle. The localized plan will be to mitigate and prevent an unsustainable EID management system, post-epidemic fund withdrawals and governance. This plan might be more adaptable and sustainable for the local health system when international interventions are withdrawn after an epidemic. Public health EID plans must be adapted to each country's unique situation to ensure sustainability and constantly improve EID management of epidemics and pandemics in emergency response. The high to moderate importation risk in African countries shows Africa's largest window of vulnerability to be West Africa (Gilbert et al., 2020). Therefore, they should be in the spotlight for heightened assistance towards the preparedness and response for a future pandemic like COVID-19. The West African region has a low capacity to manage the health emergency to match the population capacities. The COVID-19 outbreak in West Africa undoubtedly inflicted many disruptions in most countries' economic, social and environmental circumstances. The region's unique challenges observed in this study with CC and reliable information channels as being negatively significant highlight the poor maintenance culture and weak institutions due to brain drain and inadequate training and monitoring. This outcome practically informs West African stakeholders and governments on aspects to indulge when trying to improve emergency preparedness as the outcomes from other regions might not be applicable.

Originality/value

This study explored the relevance of the CIMS model in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, revealing different patterns of influence on COVID-19 EMS performance. In contrast to the extant literature on EVD, the authors found the moderating effects of ER in the COVID-19 context. Thus, the authors contribute to the COVID-19 EMS performance domain by developing a context-driven EMS model. The authors discuss the theoretical and practical implications.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 36 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 December 2022

Jianhua Yang, Yuying Liu and Moustafa Mohamed Nazief Haggag Kotb Kholaif

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of two typical relationship management approaches (trust relationship with suppliers and reciprocity) on manufacturer resilience…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of two typical relationship management approaches (trust relationship with suppliers and reciprocity) on manufacturer resilience in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. Moreover, this paper aims to deepen the understanding of environmental uncertainty's moderating effect on the association between the trust relationship with suppliers (TRS) and reciprocity.

Design/methodology/approach

Structural equation modeling has been used to test the hypotheses on 361 Chinese manufacturing firms' managers and independent directors during the COVID-19 crisis.

Findings

The results reveal that reciprocity positively enhances three dimensions of manufacturer resilience, namely, preparedness, responsiveness and recovery capability. Reciprocity positively mediates the relationships between TRS and preparedness, responsiveness and recovery capability. Moreover, environmental uncertainty moderates the association between TRS and reciprocity.

Practical implications

This study highlights the critical role of reciprocity, the relational governance approach, in enhancing manufacturer resilience in practice. This paper suggests that during emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, managers should adopt trust and reciprocity in supplier relationship governance to strengthen the resilience of manufacturing companies and adapt effective strategies according to the environment.

Originality/value

This study is unique in developing new scales of manufacturer resilience through interviews and surveys with Chinese manufacturers and theoretical research. Based on the social capital theory and social exchange theory, this study shed light on the role of trust and reciprocity. It also bridges relational governance theory with the literature on manufacturing firm resilience literature to help manufacturers better understand the transdisciplinary links between relationship management and resilient operations in emergencies.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 53 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 October 2022

Wenping Xu, Jitao Xu, David Proverbs and Yuwan Zhang

In modern urban governance, rescue materials storage points (RMSP) are a vital role to be considered in responding to public emergencies and improving a city's emergency…

Abstract

Purpose

In modern urban governance, rescue materials storage points (RMSP) are a vital role to be considered in responding to public emergencies and improving a city's emergency management. This study analyzes the siting of community-centered relief supply facilities.

Design/methodology/approach

Combining grey relational analysis, complex network and relative entropy, a new multi criteria method is proposed. It pays more attention to the needs of the community, taking into account the use of community hospitals, fire centers and neighborhood offices to establish small RMSP.

Findings

The research results firstly found suitable areas for RMSP site selection, including Hanyang, Qiaokou, Jiangan and Wuchang. The top 10 nodes in each region are found as the location of emergency facilities, and the network parameters are higher than ordinary nodes in traffic networks. The proposed method was applied in Wuhan, China and the method was verified by us-ing a complex network model combined with multi-criteria decision-making for emergency facility location.

Practical implications

This method solves the problem of how to choose the optimal solution and reduces the difficulty for decision makers. This method will help emergency managers to locate and plan RMSP more simply, especially in improving emergency siting modeling techniques and additionally in providing a reference for future research.

Originality/value

The method proposed in this study is beneficial to improve the decision-making ability of urban emergency departments. Using complex networks and comprehensive evaluation techniques, RMSP is incorporated into the urban community emergency network as a critical rescue force. More importantly, the findings highlight a new direction for further research on urban emergency facilities site selection based on a combination of sound theoretical basis as well as empirical evidence gained from real life case-based analysis.

Highlights:

  1. Material reserve points are incorporated into the emergency supply network to maintain the advantage of quantity.

  2. Build emergency site selection facilities centered on urban communities.

  3. Use a complex network model to select the location of emergency supplies storage sites.

Material reserve points are incorporated into the emergency supply network to maintain the advantage of quantity.

Build emergency site selection facilities centered on urban communities.

Use a complex network model to select the location of emergency supplies storage sites.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 53 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2022

Hui Lu, Hongwei Wang, Dihua Yu and Jian Ye

To meet the rapidly increasing demand for medical treatment during the outbreak of COVID-19, Huoshengshan and Leishenshan Hospital are rapidly built (9–12 days) in Wuhan. These…

Abstract

Purpose

To meet the rapidly increasing demand for medical treatment during the outbreak of COVID-19, Huoshengshan and Leishenshan Hospital are rapidly built (9–12 days) in Wuhan. These two urgent emergency projects are unprecedented. In general, substantial literature suggests that the possibility of shortening a schedule by more than a quarter of its original duration is implausible. By contrast, the two projects had successfully compressed the schedules from months and years to about ten days. This study aims to investigate how this was done and provide references for future projects.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses qualitative case study techniques to analyze the project practices in two urgent emergency projects. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and archival research. During interviews, interviewees were asked to describe the project practices adopted to overcome the challenges and freely share their experiences and knowledge.

Findings

The results illustrate that a high degree of schedule compression is achievable through tactful crashing, substitution and overlapping applications. The successful practices heavily rely on the high capacity of participants and necessary organization, management and technology innovations, such as three-level matrix organizational structure, reverse design method, site partition, mock-up room first strategies and prefabricated construction technology. For instance, the reverse design method is one of the most significant innovations to project simplification and accelerate and worthy of promotion for future emergency projects.

Practical implications

The empirical findings are significant as they evoke new thinking and direction for addressing the main challenges of sharp schedule compression and provide valuable references for future emergency projects, including selecting high-capacity contractors and replacing the conventional design methods with reverse design.

Originality/value

Substantial studies indicate that the maximum degree of schedule compression is highly unlikely to exceed 25%, but this study suggests that sharp compression is possible. Although with flaws in its beauty (i.e. compressing schedule at the expense of construction cost and quality), it is also a breakthrough. It provides the building block for future research in this fertile and unexplored area.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 30 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 April 2023

Xiao Wang

This paper aims to examine a large-scale typhoon response coordination, focusing on the emergency collaborative network (ECN) configuration and structural properties that…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine a large-scale typhoon response coordination, focusing on the emergency collaborative network (ECN) configuration and structural properties that characterized the 2018 Typhoon Mangkhut response operations in Shenzhen, China.

Design/methodology/approach

The response coordination of Typhoon Mangkhut was operationalized as a Shenzhen-based ECN established upon a six-week observation. A systematic content analysis of publicly available government documents and newspaper articles was conducted to identify participating organizations and interorganizational relationships built and sustained during and immediately after the disaster. Social network metrics at levels of the node, subgroup of nodes and whole network were utilized to examine network capacity, network homophily and network performance, respectively.

Findings

Results of the centrality analysis demonstrate that government agencies at municipal and district/county levels took central network positions while private and non-profit organizations were mostly positioned at the network periphery. The blocking analysis points to a salient homophily effect that participating organizations sharing similar attributes were more likely to connect with each other. A further investigation of whole network metrics and the small-world index reveals the highly fragmented and discontinued features of ECN, which may result in unsystematic coordination among organizational actors.

Originality/value

This paper is distinctive in examining the coordination structure among response organizations embedded in a centralized and monocentric governance system and, more importantly, how the structural characteristics can differ from that evidenced in a more decentralized and polycentric system.

Details

International Journal of Emergency Services, vol. 12 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2047-0894

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 April 2023

Kyoo-Man Ha

The reality of emergency preparedness for older adults has not been quite satisfactory in many regions. This paper aimed to study how to improve emergency preparedness for older…

Abstract

Purpose

The reality of emergency preparedness for older adults has not been quite satisfactory in many regions. This paper aimed to study how to improve emergency preparedness for older adults in the viewpoint of emergency culture.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review was used to contrast internationally voiced emergency preparedness (i.e. the principles of emergency preparedness) with culturally adapted emergency preparedness (e.g. values, games, arts, outdoor activities, etc.) via international organizations in both developing and developed countries. For data flow, the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses was also used in a supplementary way.

Findings

An encompassing tenet states that all stakeholders need to divert the internationally voiced emergency preparedness into culturally adapted emergency preparedness while addressing the effects of culture, self-preparedness, integration, diversity, tailored intervention, etc.

Originality/value

This paper has probed into the frame of emergency preparedness for older adults more comprehensively than the previous literature. In doing so, the aspect of emergency culture has been much supported.

Details

Working with Older People, vol. 28 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-3666

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 November 2021

Chunnian Liu, Qi Tian and Xiaogang Zhu

This study aimed to analyze existing problems in the dissemination and management of emergency information on social media platforms, improve social media users' experience…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to analyze existing problems in the dissemination and management of emergency information on social media platforms, improve social media users' experience regarding such information, increase the efficiency of emergency information dissemination and curb the spread of misinformation.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, the emergency information quality on social media platforms was examined. Based on the evaluation principles of the quality of mature information, social media information characteristics and the rules of emergency information dissemination, combined with relevant academic research results, an index to evaluate the quality of emergency information on social media was constructed. In addition, the authors have introduced cloud theory as an information quality evaluation method and used social media users' emotional characteristics to assess information quality evaluation results. A comprehensive system for evaluating emergency information quality, including indexes, methods and detection strategies was established. Based on a comprehensive system, a case study was conducted on the forest fires in Sichuan Province and the African swine fever events as reported on the Zhihu platform. In accordance with the results of the case study, the authors expanded the research and introduced the emotional characteristics of social media users as an independent evaluation dimension to evaluate the quality of emergency information on social media.

Findings

The comprehensive system's effectiveness was verified through the case study. Further, it was found that users' emotional characteristics (reflected in their information behavior) are inconsistent with their evaluation of websites' information quality regarding major emergencies. Integrating users' emotional characteristics into the information evaluation system can enhance its effectiveness following major emergencies.

Originality/value

First, an evaluation index system of emergency information quality on social media about major emergencies was offered. Unlike the commonly available index system for information quality evaluation, this proposed evaluation index system not only accounted for the characteristics of social media, such as massive disordered information, multiple information sources and rapid dissemination, but also for the characteristics of emergency events, such as variability and the absence of precursors. This proposed evaluation index system enhances the pertinence of the information quality evaluation and compensates for the shortcoming that the current research only focuses on evaluating social media information quality in a broad context, but pays insufficient attention to major emergencies. Second, cloud theory was introduced as a method to evaluate the emergency information quality found on social media. Existing research has primarily included the use of traditional statistical methods, which cannot transform numerical values into qualitative concepts effectively. Various indeterminate factors inevitably affect the quality of emergency information on social media platforms, and the traditional methods cannot eliminate this uncertainty in the evaluation process. The method to assess emergency information quality based on cloud theory can effectively compensate for the gaps in the research and improve the accuracy of information quality assessment. Third, the inspection and the dynamic adjustment of assessment results are absent in the research on information quality assessment, and the research has relied principally on the information users' evaluation and has paid insufficient attention to their attitudes and behaviors toward information. Therefore, the authors incorporated users' emotional characteristics into the evaluation of emergency information quality on social media and used them to test the evaluation results so that the results of the information quality assessment not only include the users' explicit attitudes but also their implicit attitudes. This enhances the effectiveness of the information quality assessment system. Finally, through this case study, it was found that an inconsistency exists between user evaluation and user emotional characteristics after major emergencies. The reasons for this phenomenon were explained, and the necessity of integrating user emotional characteristics into information quality assessment was demonstrated. Based on this, the users' emotional characteristics were used as a separate evaluation dimension for assessing the quality of emergency information on social media. Compared with assessing the quality of general information, integrating the user's emotional characteristics into the evaluation index system can lead the evaluation results to include not only the users' cognitive evaluation but also their emotional experience, further enhancing their adaptability.

Details

Library Hi Tech, vol. 41 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-8831

Keywords

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