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Given the sudden increase in plant investments across the manufacturing sector due to recent disruptions in the global supply chain caused by the COVID pandemic, the Ukraine/Russian war, ocean piracy incidents, and others, there is a need to strategically align the investments decisions with the overall business strategy. This study aims to establish whether strategic alignment enhances the effect of plant investments on operational performance.

Using the fifth version of the Global Manufacturing Research Group (GMRG V) dataset, we employ a structural equation model (SEM) to establish the moderating role of strategic alignment in plant investments-operational performance relationships.

The results suggest that strategic alignment enhances the positive effect of plant investments on operational performance, especially in cost, delivery, flexibility, and innovation. However, we found partial support for the moderating role of strategic alignment on quality performance.

Although the study was based on the GMRG global dataset and numerous papers have been published using the same dataset, the use of a convenience sample on a select group of companies may limit the generalizability of the results. With the increase in new plant investments in computer chip manufacturing, electronics, and electrical in recent years, the findings could help corporate executives maximize the benefits of their investment decisions. Companies should ensure that their plant investment decisions are strategically aligned with their overall business strategy to achieve optimal outcomes.

With the increase in new plant investments in computer chip manufacturing, electronics, and electrical in recent years, the findings could help corporate executives maximize the benefits of their investment decisions. Companies should ensure that their plant investment decisions are strategically aligned with their overall business strategy to achieve optimal outcomes.

The study comprehensively demonstrates that the extent of improvement in operational performance depends on how closely plant investment decisions align with the overall company strategy. Manufacturers should align major investment decisions with competitive priorities driven by market requirements to enhance operational performance.

According to the market competition theory, a firm’s decision-making is influenced by the behaviors or strategies of its competitors. The repercussions of competition include market-stealing and spillover effects. Relatively few studies in the reinsurance literature discuss the effect of competitors on an insurer’s decision-making. This study aims to fill a gap in the reinsurance literature by comparing insurers' reinsurance demand to their competitors' reinsurance purchases.

This study uses unbalanced panel data for the US property-liability insurance industry from 2006 to 2017 to determine the impact of competitors' reinsurance purchases on insurers' reinsurance demand. This study employs the Mixed Effect Model and the Quantile Regression to test the proposed hypotheses.

The evidence suggests that the affiliated reinsurance purchases of competitors have a positive and substantial effect on the affiliated reinsurance demand of insurers, crediting mimicking the reinsurance strategy. Interestingly, the market-stealing effect is supported while the non-affiliated reinsurance metric is used. Remarkably, given insurers with low non-affiliated reinsurance purchases, the finding sustains the mimicking reinsurance strategy. Nevertheless, the market-stealing effect remains a concern for insurers with a high non-affiliated reinsurance purchase.

The new findings concerning competitor effects analysis fill a void in the reinsurance literature. Risk diversification, capital substitution, and real services demand may play a crucial role in determining the market-stealing effect, leading to a decrease in market share. Insurers can mitigate the market-stealing effect of competitors by accessing expertise and capital substitution through non-affiliated reinsurance purchases.

The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to draw insights from the rich literature on humanitarian operations efforts to combat human trafficking; second, to inspire humanitarian operations researchers to work more on human anti-trafficking.

This is a conceptual paper inspired by recent relevant reports, the academic literature and the authors’ years of involvement in both humanitarian operations and anti-trafficking.

Humanitarian supply chains and human trafficking supply chains very often operate in the same environments and hence face similar challenges. The paper highlights the overlaps between the two domains and demonstrates how two decades of learnings from humanitarian supply chain literature can help improve the understanding of the more recent academic field of human trafficking supply chains significantly.

This study is conceptual and illuminates numerous opportunities for research in anti-trafficking.

By inspiring more research on anti-trafficking, this paper hopes to facilitate enhancements to human trafficking operation to prevent more cases and protect victims.

There is an opportunity to increase the effectiveness of anti-trafficking activities, disrupt human trafficking and enlarge the “humanitarian space.”

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to discuss human trafficking operations in relation to humanitarian supply chains.

After the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE), the need for disaster case management (DCM) was highlighted through the efforts of the Sendai Bar Association, which investigated the situation of survivors. This paper provides an overview of DCM in Japan since the GEJE, including key findings from investigations and legal consultations conducted by the Sendai Bar Association and the first author, who took part in the surveys with survivors in Ishinomaki City, clarifying the large number of homebound survivors and their needs.

In recent years there has been growing attention to the importance of DCM for supporting life and housing recovery of disaster survivors. Along with the expansion of DCM activities over several decades in Japan, the need for DCM was increasingly recognized after the 2011 GEJE and tsunami, especially for home-based survivors left out of government-provided disaster recovery support programs. As one-on-one advice to support individual recovery needs, the focus of DCM in Japan is legal advice to help survivors effectively navigate support policies.

Since the GEJE, there has been growing support for DCM in Japan, including from practitioners, scholars, and regional and national governments. However, although DCM can be an effective way to support housing recovery, even 12 years after the GEJE, there are still survivors in need of additional support.

Drawing on a detailed case study and action research of the first author, this paper contributes to the still limited international literature on DCM in Japan.

This study examines the preparedness and responsiveness of Malaysian academic librarians in handling disruptions in library services during a disaster.

This qualitative approach involved semi-structured interviews with decision-makers, chief librarians and library managers from five selected public universities.

Thematic and qualitative data analysis produced several key themes based on (1) disaster preparedness involving policies, plans, asset protection, risk management, coordination of disaster management and preparative measures; and (2) disaster response involving strategies for information and communication access, community engagement, emergency response teams and procedures, and resource availability.

The findings are expected to be useful for policymakers in formulating policies and guidelines for library disaster management plans.

The interruptions of academic library services during a disaster may result in the disruption of the information sources and social information networks of students, academics and researchers alike. Effective disaster management is also the library’s responsibility to protect collections that belong to society at large.

This is one of the first attempts in disaster management research to focus on the preparedness and responses of academic libraries in Malaysia in the face of disasters. Therefore, the results of this study can be used as a baseline for policymakers to prepare policies, guidelines and manuals for management in the event of a disaster.

The purpose of this study is to explore the impacts of aid in the form of food, cash, and agricultural inputs on internal migration following a series of cyclones in the southern coastal areas of Bangladesh. The impacts of sources of aid, such as institutional or social network sources, were also analysed. With the increasing frequency of extreme climatic events, it becomes crucial to understand the impacts of different post-cyclonic aid on human mobility.

A total of 472 households across 16 blocks (moujas) in the Patharghata sub-district of Barguna district were selected for participation using a stratified sampling strategy. Data were captured via a survey which included individual and household-level demographics, migration and aid-receipt following cyclones. Data were analysed using a mixture of descriptive and inferential statistical methods.

The analysis revealed that migration was significantly higher among households which did not receive institutional food aid. More specifically, non-receipt of food aid and cash aid after a cyclone, different sources of income, non-availability of alternative sources of income, lack of land ownership and severity of cyclones up to a certain level increased migration among the households where a minority of household members migrated. In contrast, the absence of food aid and the severity of cyclones were found to be significant factors in increasing migration among the households where a majority of household members migrated. The authors argue that the decision to migrate from the households where most members migrated increased with the rise in cyclone severity.

The contribution of this research in the field of aid and migration is unique. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no research was conducted before on the impacts of distribution and type of aid on internal migration following a cyclone.

This study aims to understand the impact of extreme weather events on fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) consumption and to examine the role of anticipated product scarcity and FMCG types on such behavior.

This paper conducted five studies, combining archival data analysis with behavioral experiments. The archival data included sales data from a supermarket chain and weather data from the National Weather Service. The experiments were designed to test the effect of extreme weather cues on consumption, the psychological mechanism behind this effect and moderators.

This research found that consumers’ anticipation of extreme weather events significantly increases their consumption of FMCGs. This research further discovered that these behaviors are driven by anticipated product scarcity and moderated by consumers’ altruisms and FMCG types.

Limitations of the research include the reliance on reported sales data and self-reported measures, which could introduce biases. The authors also primarily focused on extreme weather events, leaving other types of disasters unexplored. Furthermore, cultural differences in disaster response might influence results, yet the studies do not fully address these nuances. Despite these limitations, the findings provide critical insights for FMCG retailers and policymakers, suggesting strategies for managing demand surges during disasters. Moreover, understanding consumer behavior under impending disasters could inform intervention strategies, potentially mitigating panic buying and helping ensure equitable resource distribution. Last, these findings encourage further exploration of environmental influences on consumer behavior.

The findings have practical implications for products, brand managers and retailers in managing stock levels and product distribution during disasters. Furthermore, understanding the psychological mechanisms of these behaviors could inform policymakers’ designs of public interventions for equitable resource allocation during extreme weather events.

The research provides significant social implications by highlighting how extreme weather events impact FMCG consumption. This understanding can guide public policymakers in creating efficient disaster management plans. Specifically, anticipating surges in FMCG purchases can inform policies for maintaining price stability and preventing resource shortages, mitigating societal stress during crises. Moreover, these findings encourage public education around responsible purchasing during disasters, potentially reducing panic buying. By collaborating with FMCG manufacturers and retailers, governments can ensure a steady supply of essentials during extreme weather events. Thus, the research can play a crucial role in enhancing societal resilience in the face of impending disasters.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to integrate the impact of extreme weather events on consumption behavior with the psychological theory of anticipated product scarcity. The unique focus on FMCGs offers a novel perspective on consumer behavior literature.

This research proposes a novel risk assessment model to elucidate the risk propagation process of industrial safety accidents triggered by natural disasters (Natech), identifies key factors influencing urban carrying capacity and mitigates uncertainties and subjectivity due to data scarcity in Natech risk assessment.

Utilizing disaster chain theory and Bayesian network (BN), we describe the cascading effects of Natechs, identifying critical nodes of urban system failure. Then we propose an urban carrying capacity assessment method using the coefficient of variation and cloud BN, constructing an indicator system for infrastructure, population and environmental carrying capacity. The model determines interval values of assessment indicators and weights missing data nodes using the coefficient of variation and the cloud model. A case study using data from the Pearl River Delta region validates the model.

(1) Urban development in the Pearl River Delta relies heavily on population carrying capacity. (2) The region’s social development model struggles to cope with rapid industrial growth. (3) There is a significant disparity in carrying capacity among cities, with some trends contrary to urban development. (4) The Cloud BN outperforms the classical Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) gate fuzzy method in describing real-world fuzzy and random situations.

The present research proposes a novel framework for evaluating the urban carrying capacity of industrial areas in the face of Natechs. By developing a BN risk assessment model that integrates cloud models, the research addresses the issue of scarce objective data and reduces the subjectivity inherent in previous studies that heavily relied on expert opinions. The results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the classical fuzzy BNs.

This paper aims to investigate the challenges faced by the transport infrastructure sector in its civil construction material supply processes, following the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake in New Zealand.

A case study approach was adopted, which included on-site observations, semi-structured interviews and literature-based desktop reviews.

The research findings show that there were supply problems for aggregates, concrete, stormwater pipes and some specialised products for the repair and rebuild of transport facilities. Those supply problems were largely caused by (1) difficulty in predicting material requirements, (2) constrained supply capability, (3) inadequate local freight capacity, (4) legal, cultural and/or environmental considerations on resource exploitation and utilisation, (5) impacts of COVID-19 and (6) ineffective communication and coordination.

For future research, it is recommended that a comparative analysis of multiple disaster cases be undertaken to further explore the generalisability of the research findings.

The research findings will inform the development of post-earthquake recovery policies and material supply chain operation strategies, in order to expedite the recovery of transport networks if a future earthquake strikes.

In the aftermath of disasters, humanitarian actors need to coordinate their activities based on accurate information about the disaster site, its surrounding environment, the victims and survivors and the supply of and demand for relief supplies. In this study, the authors examine the characteristics of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and those of disaster relief operations to achieve information visibility and actor coordination for effective and efficient humanitarian relief operations.

Building on the contingent resource-based view (CRBV), the authors present a model of task-technology fit (TTF) that explains how the use of RFID can improve visibility and coordination. Survey data were collected from humanitarian practitioners in India, and partial least squares (PLS) analysis was used to analyze the model.

The characteristics of both RFID technology and disaster relief operations significantly influence TTF, and TTF predicts RFID usage in disaster relief operations, providing visibility and coordination. TTF is also a mediator between the characteristics of RFID technology and disaster relief operations and between visibility and coordination.

The many recent humanitarian disasters have demonstrated the critical importance of effective and efficient humanitarian supply chain and logistics strategies and operations in assisting disaster-affected populations. The active and appropriate use of technology, including RFID, can help make disaster response more effective and efficient.

Humanitarian actors value RFID technology because of its ability to improve the visibility and coordination of relief operations. This study brings a new perspective to the benefits of RFID technology and sheds light on its antecedents. The study thus expands the understanding of technology in humanitarian operations.