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The procurement and supply of crucial healthcare products in the early stages of the COVID-19 emergency were chaotic. To prepare for future crises, we must be able to describe what went wrong, and why, and map out ways to build agility and resilience. How can this be done effectively, given the highly complex and diverse network of actors across governments, care providers and supply chains, and the extreme uncertainty and dynamism in the procurement system and supplier markets? The purpose of this study was to capture learning from practitioners in “real time” in a way that could frame and inform capacity building across healthcare systems with varying procurement and supply management maturity.

This exploratory study involved interviews with 58 senior public procurement practitioners in central and regional governments, NGOs and leaders of professional organizations from 23 countries, very early in the COVID crisis. Following the first, inductive phase of analysis leading to five descriptive dimensions, the awareness-motivation-capability (A-M-C) framework was applied in a further round of coding, to understand immediate challenges faced by procurement practitioners, how the complex, multi-level procurement system that shaped their motivations to respond and critical capabilities required to face these challenges.

Developments across 23 countries and practitioners' learning about procurement and supply in the pandemic crisis can be captured in five overarching themes: governance and organization, knowledge and skills, information systems, regulation and supply base issues. Together these themes cover the strengths and gaps in procurement and supply capability encountered by procurement leaders and front-line personnel. They highlight the various facets of structure, resource and process which constitute organizational capability. However, to account better for the highly dynamic situation characterized by both unprecedented rivalry and cooperation, analysts must also pay attention to actors' emerging awareness of the situation and their rapidly changing motivations.

The application of the A-M-C framework is unique in the healthcare supply chain and disaster management literature. It enables a comprehensive overview of healthcare procurement from a system perspective. This study shows how increasing system preparedness for future emergencies depends both on developing critical capabilities and understanding how awareness and motivation influence the effective deployment of those capabilities.

Both high reliability theory (HRT) and “new school” supply chain resilience (SCR) promote a multi-layered, adaptable, transformational, and holistic perspective on organizing and managing. The authors explore whether, and if so how, HRT offer fresh perspectives on the SCR challenges experienced during COVID-19 and on organizing for future resilience.

Addressing SCR at the interorganizational network level, and blending theory synthesis and case study research, the authors assess if and how HRN constructs and practices can guide analysis of SCR in dynamic, complex networks, and help shape development pathways towards organizing for resilience. Findings draw on thick description and iterative coding of data (58 interviews and 200+ documents) on the buyer network responsible for managing the supply of critical medical products in the Netherlands.

HRT highlights the interconnectedness of challenges encountered during COVID-19 and helps design future resilience through three lessons. Organizing for SCR requires (1) both anticipation and containment strategies, (2) stable working relationships characterized by trust, and (3) a clear basis of command underpinned by experience-based legitimacy.

Distinctive from SCR, which views crises as “black swans”, HRT organizes around everyday consideration of the risk of failure. Taking a buyer network perspective, the authors move beyond the buyer-supplier network focus in SCR. The authors contend that emphasis on measures such as supplier base management, stockpiling, and domestic production are essential but not sufficient. Rather, HRT implies that deep structural and social ties within the buyer network should also be emphasized.

Entrepreneurship is presented as a vehicle for innovation and social development. Given the importance of entrepreneurship, the objective of this study was to analyze the psychological and sociological dimensions by determining the factors that explain individual perceptions and cultural support for entrepreneurship.

Using Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) data obtained from the Adult Population Survey (APS) (N = 2,500) in the region of Andalusia (Spain), a quantitative analysis was carried out, specifically a multivariate analysis based on four-stage linear regressions.

The variables examined do not explain the psychological and sociological dimensions to the same extent. The results highlight the existence of cultural homogeneity between provinces, the importance of sociodemographic variables and the influence of the entrepreneurial expectations and experiences of the population, especially in shaping individual perceptions towards entrepreneurship.

The replication of the study at the national and international levels is proposed in order to delve deeper into the cultural differences that condition entrepreneurship. Including new variables associated with entrepreneurial human capital could also be of interest.

The results can help to improve the design and implementation of policies and programs aimed at fostering entrepreneurship through the promotion of favorable individual perceptions and entrepreneurial culture.

The originality of this study is the consideration of individual perceptions and cultural support for entrepreneurship as dependent variables, since they are normally incorporated as explanatory factors. The results contribute to the advancement of knowledge of the entrepreneurial phenomenon through two approaches, psychological and sociological.

El emprendimiento se presenta como vehículo de innovación y desarrollo social. Dada la importancia del fenómeno, el objetivo de esta investigación es analizar las dimensiones psicológica y sociológica del emprendimiento a través de los factores que explican las percepciones individuales y la cultura de apoyo al emprendimiento.

A partir de datos GEM obtenidos mediante la Encuesta de Población Adulta (N = 2,500) en Andalucía (España), se desarrolla una metodología cuantitativa, concretamente un análisis multivariante basado en regresiones lineales de cuatro etapas.

Las variables consideradas no explican en la misma medida la dimensión psicológica y la sociológica. Se evidencia la existencia de homogeneidad cultural interprovincial, la importancia de las variables sociodemográficas y la influencia de las expectativas y las experiencias vinculadas al emprendimiento, especialmente en la formación de percepciones individuales.

Se propone la réplica del estudio a nivel nacional e internacional para ahondar en las diferencias culturales que condicionan la creación empresarial. Se considera interesante incluir nuevas variables asociadas con el capital humano emprendedor.

Mejora del diseño y la implementación de políticas y programas dirigidos a potenciar el emprendimiento, a través del fomento de las percepciones individuales favorables y la cultura emprendedora.

La originalidad reside en la consideración de las percepciones individuales y la cultura de apoyo al emprendimiento como variables dependientes, ya que normalmente se incorporan como factores explicativos. Se contribuye al avance del conocimiento sobre el fenómeno emprendedor a través de dos enfoques, el psicológico y el sociológico.