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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how and why some service ecosystems are more resilient and, consequently, more sustainable than others during turbulent times, and how resilience can be cultivated to enable pathways to service ecosystem sustainability.

This work integrates disparate literature from multiple service and sustainability literature streams, iterating through constant comparison with findings from 44 semistructured interviews conducted in the context of primary health care clinic service ecosystems.

The authors offer a novel conceptual framework comprising pillars (shared worldview, individual actor well-being and multiactor interactions), changing practices to cultivate resilience through resilience levers (orchestrators, individual actor effort, actor inclusivity and digitaltech–humanness approach), and pathways to service ecosystem sustainability (volume vs value, volume to value, volume and value). The authors demonstrate that service ecosystems need to change practices, integrating resources differently in response to the turbulent environment, emphasizing the importance of a shared worldview across the ecosystem and assessing different pathways to sustainability.

This paper offers new insights into the important intersection of service marketing, sustainability and health care. The authors provide guidance to practitioners aiming to cultivate resilience in service ecosystems to achieve pathways to sustainability in primary health care clinics. Finally, implications for theory are discussed, and directions to guide future service research offered.

This paper aims to provide an examination of the use of the concept of resilience and its use in service organisation, ecosystem-related literature and the wider social sciences.

This paper provides a critical review and commentary on the resilience literature in the social and business sciences and its relevance to service organisations.

Two main approaches towards resilience are identified (engineering and socio-ecological resilience) with each having different assumptions about the nature of resilience with corresponding implications for policymaking, indicator selection and application in a service context. These approaches operate at different scales and possess different properties with respect to the likelihood of enacting transformative service marketing.

Different conceptualisations of resilience have profound implications for resilience-related policymaking as well as understanding change and adaptation in service ecosystems and organisations.

The transformative possibilities of resilience are connected to the active enhancement and construction of social capacity by service organisations and the persistent resilience of the resilience concept.

This paper highlights the importance of clearly defining the resilience concept and its implications for research and transformative service organisations.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

The years following the 9/11/2001 terrorists attacks saw a marked increase in community and hospital emergency preparedness, from communications across community networks, development of policies and procedures, to attainment and training in the use of biological warfare resources. Regular drills ensured emergency and health care personnel were trained and prepared to address the next large-scale crisis, especially from terrorist and bioterrorist attacks. This chapter looks at some of the more familiar global health issues over the past two decades and the lessons learned from hospital responses to inform hospital management in preparation for future incidents.

This study is a narrative review of the literature related to lessons learned from four major events in the time period from 2002 to 2023 – SARS, MERS, Ebola, and COVID-19.

The initial search yielded 25,913 articles; 57 articles were selected for inclusion in the study.

Comparison of key issues and lessons learned among the four major events described in this article – SARS, MERS, Ebola, and COVID-19 – highlight that several lessons are “relearned” with each event. Other key issues, such as supply shortages, staffing availability, and hospital capacity to simultaneously provide care to noninfectious patients came to the forefront during the COVID-19 pandemic. A primary, ongoing concern for hospitals is how to maintain their preparedness given competing priorities, resources, and staff time. This concern remains post-COVID-19.

Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) interventions demand diverse services, encompassing medical, social and psychological care to ensure the overall wellbeing of service users. In the absence of multidisciplinary response to SRH interventions, service users could be deprived of crucial SRH services, which could undermine their safety and wellbeing. Based on this knowledge, our study was designed to map the interprofessional space in primary healthcare (PHC) facilities in Ebonyi State, Nigeria that deliver SRH services.

Interviews with 20 health workers and group discussions with 72 young people aged 15–24 years provided the data for the study. We analyzed data deductively, focusing on the assessments of the presence or absence of specific professionals that are typically expected to provide different aspects of SRH services.

We found conspicuous absence of laboratory diagnostic, social care, psycho-cognitive and some medical services expected of primary care. These absences necessitated unnecessary referrals, encouraged breaches in confidentiality, undermined social care and justice, increased cost of care and discouraged young clients from utilizing SRH services provided in PHCs. Our study, therefore, emphasizes the need for integrated care in the delivery of SRH services, which would involve relevant diverse professionals contributing their expertise toward comprehensive care for SRH service users.

The study provides human resource insights toward strengthening primary healthcare in Nigeria vis-à-vis efficient delivery of SRH services to guarantee the health security of service users.

This study aims to document students’ supply chain solutions developed through the internship hackathon program. The study profiled innovative solutions developed by university students in Kenya to solve health supply chain logistics challenges during and beyond COVID-19. This is done by exploring students’ experience in developing sustainable logistics and supply chain management capacity-building programs in a low-middle-income country (LMIC).

This study used a qualitative approach to explore the experiences and perceptions of students and mentors who participated in a hackathon program. The study followed a cross-sectional descriptive survey design, collecting data from the participants through online questionnaires. The data were analyzed and presented using thematic analysis and narrative techniques.

Findings provide preliminary evidence for narrowing the gap between theory and practice through a hackathon internship blended with a mentorship program. Assessment of this program provides evidence for developing solutions toward ensuring the availability of essential medicine in LMICs during a pandemic such as COVID-19 by students. The profiled solutions demonstrate a broader perspective of innovative solutions of university students, mentors and potential opportunities for a triple helix approach to innovation for health supply chain system strengthening.

This original study provides evidence for advancing contribution to developing innovative solutions through partnerships between investors, universities and industry practitioners interested in mentoring students in the health-care supply chain during COVID-19 in LMICs. Specifically, contingency factors that affect the implementation of innovative programs during and beyond global pandemics such as COVID-19 by students’ innovators are identified, and implications for policy action are discussed based on the praxis of sensemaking.

This study examines a novel approach that combines internship, mentorship and hackathon projects for logistics and supply chain students in LMICs. The approach aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice and to create innovative solutions for essential medicines during and after COVID-19. The study urges more resources for supporting such programs, as they benefit both academia and industry. The study also argues that hackathon internship programs can help the logistics and supply chain industry adapt to the post-pandemic era. The study offers insights for investors, universities and practitioners in the health-care industry.

This study shows how to develop innovative solutions for the health-care supply chain during COVID-19 in an LMIC through partnerships between investors, universities and industry practitioners who mentor students. The study identifies the contingency factors that influence the success of such programs during and beyond global pandemics such as COVID-19 and discusses the policy implications based on the sensemaking praxis of the student innovators.

Due to the unknown location, size and timing of disasters, the rapid response required by humanitarian operations (HO) faces high uncertainty and limited time to raise funds. These harsh realities make HO challenging. This study aims to systematically capture the complex dynamic relationships between operations in humanitarian settings.

To achieve this goal, the authors undertook a systematic review of the extant academic literature linking HO to system dynamics (SD) simulation.

The research reviews 88 papers to propose a taxonomy of different topics covered in the literature; a framework represented through a causal loop diagram (CLD) to summarise the taxonomy, offering a view of operational activities and their linkages before and after disasters; and a research agenda for future research avenues.

As the authors provide an adequate representation of reality, the findings can help decision makers understand the problems faced in HO and make more effective decisions.

While other reviews on the application of SD in HO have focused on specific subjects, the current research presents a broad view, summarising the main results of a comprehensive CLD.

Lean Six Sigma in public and private healthcare organisations has received considerable attention over the last decade. Nevertheless, such process improvement methodologies are not generalizable, and their effective implementation relies on contextual variables. The purpose of this study is to explore the readiness of Italian hospitals for Lean Six Sigma and Quality Performance Improvement (LSS&QPI), with a focus on gender differences.

A survey comprising 441 healthcare professionals from public and private hospitals was conducted. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to determine the mean scores on the LSS&QPI dimensions based on hospital type, gender and their interaction.

The results showed that public healthcare professional are more aware of quality performance improvement initiatives than private healthcare professionals. Moreover, gender differences emerged according to the type of hospital, with higher awareness for men than women in public hospitals, whereas for private hospitals the opposite was true.

This study contributes to the Lean Six Sigma literature by focusing on the holistic assessment of LSS&QPI implementation.

This study informs healthcare managers about the revolution within healthcare organisations, especially public ones. Healthcare managers should spend time understanding Lean Six Sigma as a strategic orientation to promote the “lean hospital”, improving processes and fostering patient-centredness.

This is a preliminary study focussing on analysing inter-relationship between perceived importance of soft readiness factors such as gender dynamics as a missing jigsaw in the current literature. In addition, the research advances a holistic assessment of LSS&QPI, which sets it apart from the studies on single initiatives that have been documented to date.

This literature review aims to assess the current research on healthcare job availability and skilled professionals. The objective of this research is to identify challenges caused by the imbalance between healthcare service demand and qualified professionals and propose potential solutions and future research directions.

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method was employed as the guiding framework for conducting this review. A qualitative research design analyzed 38 peer-reviewed, evidence-based research works from 50 journal publications. Inclusion criteria focused on empirical studies, observational research and comprehensive reviews published within the last ten years. Thematic and discourse analysis categorized themes and factors explored in selected publications.

The findings highlight significant challenges in the healthcare sector regarding job availability and skilled professionals. Developed countries face understaffed healthcare facilities, resulting in increased workloads and compromised care. Developing countries experience high rates of unemployment among healthcare graduates due to limited resources and mentorship.

Improving educational infrastructure, expanding training opportunities and increasing healthcare investments are crucial for nurturing a skilled workforce. Implementing effective retention policies, fostering international collaborations and addressing socioeconomic determinants can create a sustainable job market.

The healthcare sector faces critical challenges in balancing job availability and skilled professionals. Strategic solutions are proposed to create a sustainable and equitable healthcare workforce. By implementing recommendations and conducting further research, access to quality healthcare and global public health outcomes can be improved.

The higher-level aim of this study is to investigate the impact of health information needs satisfaction on the fear of COVID-19 for the general population. The investigation is theoretically grounded on Wilsons’ model of information seeking in the context of inquesting the reasons for seeking health information as well as the information sources the general population deploy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This cross-sectional survey examines the correlations between health information seeking behavior and the COVID-19 generated fear in the general population through the application of a specially designed structured questionnaire which was distributed online. The questionnaire comprised four main distinct research dimensions (i.e. information needs, information sources, obstacles when seeking information and COVID-19 generated fear) that present significant validity levels.

Individuals were motivated to seek COVID-related health information to cope with the pandemic generated uncertainty. Information needs satisfaction as well as digital health literacy levels is associated with the COVID-19 generated fear in the general population. Finally, a conceptual framework based on Wilsons’ macro-model for information seeking behavior was developed to illustrate information needs satisfaction during the pandemic period. These results indicate the need for incentives to enhance health information needs satisfaction appropriately.

The COVID-19 generated fear in the general population is studied through the information seeking behavior lenses. A well-studied theoretical model for information seeking behavior is adopted for health-related information seeking during pandemic. Finally, digital health information literacy levels are also associated with the fear of COVID-19 reported in the authors’ survey.