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1 – 10 of 23This study aims to review the stages of the traditional disaster timeline, propose an extended version of this timeline and discuss the disaster strategies relevant to the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to review the stages of the traditional disaster timeline, propose an extended version of this timeline and discuss the disaster strategies relevant to the different stages of the extended timeline.
Design/methodology/approach
An extensive review of the existing literature was made to discuss the need for an extended version of the conventional disaster timeline and to explain the differences between the various disaster management strategies. The research approach was based on theoretical and practical reasoning underpinned by the literature.
Findings
The proposed extended disaster timeline allows better allocation of a wider range of management strategies. Successful disaster management depends on prioritisation of efforts and the use of the right strategy(s) at the right time: before, during and after an incident.
Practical implications
This study provides a better conceptualisation of the disaster stages and corresponding strategies. It clarifies the role of each strategy, thus linking it more effectively with the disaster timeline. Subsequently, this study is expected to improve decision-making associated with the disaster management process. In the end, it is expected to help transforming the conventional disaster timeline into a more practical one that is result-oriented more than only being a conceptual model.
Originality/value
Disaster management strategies are used interchangeably very often in the literature. A few attempts were made to capture multiple strategies in one study to demonstrate what constitutes effective disaster management without mixing irrelevant strategies with the different disaster stages.
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Irene Lopatovska and Celia Coan
The study explored how information institutions can support the resilience of parents of adolescents affected by the Russia–Ukraine war. Ukrainian parents are facing major…
Abstract
Purpose
The study explored how information institutions can support the resilience of parents of adolescents affected by the Russia–Ukraine war. Ukrainian parents are facing major challenges of supporting their teenagers through a difficult developmental phase while also “buffering” their war-related hardships. By supporting parents, information institutions can also support children.
Design/methodology/approach
Fifteen parents were interviewed about mental health challenges and resources that are helpful and/or missing from their support systems. Recordings of participant narratives were analyzed using the qualitative thematic analysis technique.
Findings
The findings indicate that both teens and parents rely on internal resilience skills, family, friends and community resources to support themselves. However, a number of additional resources could be offered by information institutions, including content for (1) teens on developing skills in communication, interpersonal relationships, problem solving and academic pursuits; (2) parents on child development and opportunities in their host countries; both groups on (3) both groups on mental health first aid and safe spaces to meet peers. The study recommendations will be of interest to information professionals working with families, especially families affected by disasters.
Research limitations/implications
The study relied on a small convenience sample of participants.
Practical implications
Study recommendations would be of interest to information professionals who develop and provide services to families affected by natural and manmade disasters.
Social implications
Study recommendations improve understanding of the (potential) role of information institutions and libraries in strengthening family and community resilience.
Originality/value
The study offers a rare insight into experiences of war-affect families and provides evidence-driven recommendations for information institutions to support family and community resilience.
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Annette Mills, Nelly Todorova and Jing Zhang
Disasters and other emergencies are increasing, with millions of people affected by events like earthquakes, fires and flooding. The use of mobile emergency alert systems (MEAS…
Abstract
Purpose
Disasters and other emergencies are increasing, with millions of people affected by events like earthquakes, fires and flooding. The use of mobile emergency alert systems (MEAS) can improve people’s responses by providing targeted alerts based on location and other personal details. This study aims to understand the factors that influence people’s willingness to share the personal information that is needed to provide context-specific messaging about a threat and protective actions.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on protection motivation theory (PMT), this study proposes and tests a model of willingness to use personalised MEAS that incorporates key factors related to an individual’s appraisal of a potential threat (i.e. perceived vulnerability and severity) and coping capacity (i.e. response efficacy and self-efficacy), with deterrents like response cost and privacy concern. This study uses survey data from 226 respondents in New Zealand and SmartPLS to assess the model.
Findings
The results show how willingness to use MEAS is influenced by people’s appraisal of an emergency threat and their perception of how using MEAS would help them to cope effectively. Fear and perceived severity are significant motivators of MEAS use, along with coping appraisal. However, when the negative influences of privacy concern and response cost are strong enough, they can dissuade use, despite knowing the risks.
Originality/value
The study addresses a gap in research on the use of alert systems like MEAS, which require sharing of personal information and continuous engagement such as the real-time disclosure of one’s location. It confirms the significance of factors not studied in prior research, such as privacy concerns, that can dissuade use. This study also extends the application of the PMT in the context of emergency management.
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Rafiq Ahmad and Muhammad Rafiq
The digital contents (d-contents) are vulnerable to various threats either natural or manmade. Digital preservation is the plethora of a wide array of strategies necessary for the…
Abstract
Purpose
The digital contents (d-contents) are vulnerable to various threats either natural or manmade. Digital preservation is the plethora of a wide array of strategies necessary for the long-term preservation of digital objects. This study was carried out to assess the digital preservation practices for information resources in university libraries of Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative survey based on a structured questionnaire was carried out to conduct the study. The questionnaire containing two sets of strategies (general and technical) was distributed amongst the whole population and received 90% response rate.
Findings
Overall, progressive implementation of general digital preservation practices was noted in these libraries like checking the digital collections for viruses, keeping the digital media in fire/water/theft proof locations, restricting unauthorized access, maintaining ideal humidity and temperature, and checking the digital media for functionality. Amongst the technical practices, only replication was in practice at a progressive rate, followed by metadata recording and media refreshing that was sometimes practiced in these libraries. The other technical practices were rarely or never practiced in these libraries. Significant variances in general and technical digital preservation practices were noted based on their physical locations (regional distribution).
Research limitations/implications
The study contributes a comprehensive set of digital preservation practices divided into general and technical types to conduct similar studies in other parts of the world.
Practical implications
The findings stress the need for national and institutional policies, funding streams and skill enhancement of library staff.
Originality/value
The study fills the literature gap and contributes a comprehensive set of digital preservation practices divided into general and technical types to conduct similar studies in other parts of the world.
Peer review
The peer-review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-02-2023-0074
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Emmanuel Raju, Suchismita Goswami, Nishara Fernando, Mayeda Rashid, Eti Akter, Nyima Dorjee Bhotia, Aditi Sharan, Mihir Bhatt and J.C. Gaillard
This conversation highlights the need to rethink how we approach disaster risk reduction in different South Asian contexts.
Abstract
Purpose
This conversation highlights the need to rethink how we approach disaster risk reduction in different South Asian contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on the webinar held as part of Asia Week at the University of Copenhagen which was organised by Asian Dynamics Initiative and Copenhagen Centre for Disaster Research on the September 12, 2023.
Findings
The prominent themes emerging from this conversation represents hybridity, self-rule and self-recovery. Along with this we suggest a fundamental turn to ensuring hope, solidarity and empathy is part of a post-colonial future.
Originality/value
The conversation contributes to the ongoing discussions on moving away from colonial practices in disaster risk reduction and disaster studies broadly.
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Qiang Wang, Haidi Zhou and Xiande Zhao
This study examines the firm-level financial consequences caused by supply chain disruptions during COVID-19 and explores how firms' supply chain diversification strategies…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the firm-level financial consequences caused by supply chain disruptions during COVID-19 and explores how firms' supply chain diversification strategies, including diversified suppliers, customers and products, moderate the negative effect on firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on data drawn from 222 publicly traded firms in China, the authors use event study methodology to estimate the effects of supply chain disruptions on the financial performance of affected firms. Regression analyses are conducted to examine the moderating effects of supply chain diversification.
Findings
Firms affected by supply chain disruptions during COVID-19 experienced a significant decline in shareholder value in two weeks and a subsequent decrease in operating performance in one year. Diversified suppliers, customers and products act as shock absorbers to alleviate the negative effects. Further regression shows a substitution effect between customer and product diversification. Cross-industry comparisons reveal that service firms experienced more loss than manufacturing firms. Customer diversification mitigates the adverse effects of supply chain disruptions for both manufacturing and service firms. Supplier diversification exerts a noteworthy role in manufacturing firms, while product diversification is beneficial for service firms.
Originality/value
The study provides empirical evidence on the magnitude of financial consequences of supply chain disruptions during COVID-19 in both the short term and long term and enriches the current understanding of how to build resilience from the supply chain diversification perspective.
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Wilbroad Aryatwijuka, Ruth Nyiramahoro, Asaph Katarangi, Frederick Nsambu Kijjambu and Aloysius Rukundo
Background: The study focuses on the challenges encountered during the distribution of food and face-mask items during the first COVID-19 lock-down by various relief supply chain…
Abstract
Background: The study focuses on the challenges encountered during the distribution of food and face-mask items during the first COVID-19 lock-down by various relief supply chain actors.
Methods: Data were collected from forty (40) relief actors through online (via Zoom and telephones) and face-to-face interviews, between January 2021 to March 2021. Data was coded based on per-determined themes after which it was further processed using Atlas ti. v7.57 to generate patterns.
Results: The study established challenges related to needs identification, procurement, warehousing, transportation, handling, beneficiary verification, and last-mile distribution. Additionally, the media and politics coupled with the emergence of new actors and governance issues were part of the challenges identified.
Conclusions: The identified challenges were internal and external to the relief supply chain; hence actors could have control over some while others were beyond their control. The findings could inform practitioners and policymakers on what challenges are likely to affect their operations, especially during a pandemic, and design appropriate coping mechanisms.
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Miro Ahti, Leonie Taipale-Walsh, Suvi Kuha and Outi Kanste
This paper aims to synthesize health-care leaders’ experiences of the competencies required for crisis management.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to synthesize health-care leaders’ experiences of the competencies required for crisis management.
Design/methodology/approach
The systematic review followed the joanna briggs institute (JBI) guidance for systematic reviews of qualitative evidence. The search strategy included free text words and medical subject headings and peer-reviewed qualitative studies published in English, Finnish and Swedish and was not limited by year or country of publication. The databases searched in March 2022 were Scopus, PubMed, CINAHL, ABI/INFORM and the Finnish database Medic. Gray literature was searched using MedNar and EBSCO Open Dissertations. Studies were screened by title and abstract (n = 9,014) and full text (n = 43), and their quality was assessed by two independent reviewers. Eight studies were included. The data was analyzed using meta-aggregation.
Findings
Fifty-one findings (themes and subthemes) were extracted, and 11 categories were created based on their similarities. Five synthesized findings were developed: the competence to comprehend the operational environment; the competence to stay resilient amidst change; the competence to adapt to and manage change; the competence to manage and take care of staff; and the competence to co-operate and communicate with diverse stakeholders.
Originality/value
This systematic review produced novel information about health-care leaders’ experiences of the competencies required for crisis management during COVID-19. This study complements the field of research into crisis management in health care by introducing five original and unique competency clusters required for crisis management during the acute phase of COVID-19.
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Li Dai and Yongsun Paik
Conventional wisdom suggests that war in the host country makes it unattractive for foreign firms to invest. To see if this is true for US firms on the aggregate, this paper aims…
Abstract
Purpose
Conventional wisdom suggests that war in the host country makes it unattractive for foreign firms to invest. To see if this is true for US firms on the aggregate, this paper aims to examine the veracity of a “permanent war economy” hypothesis, that foreign direct investment (FDI) may, in fact, increase in the host country not despite, but because of, war, i.e. one that lends credence to the idea that, in the USA, “defense [has] become one of constant preparation for future wars and foreign interventions rather than an exercise in response to one-off threats.”
Design/methodology/approach
The authors test the hypotheses using Generalized Method of Moments estimation, with Heckman Selection, on US FDI data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and war data from the Correlates of War2 Project, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program/International Peace Research Institute data set, the International Crisis Behavior Project and the Center for Systemic Peace Major Episodes of Political Violence data set. The final sample consists of 351 country-year observations in 55 host countries from 1982 to 2006.
Findings
The findings indicate that overall US FDI in a host country in a given year decreases if the host country is engaged in wars with multiple countries and if the US Government is involved in the war. Most notably, the results show that US involvement in multiple host country wars is actually correlated with increased US FDI into the host country, providing empirical support for the “permanent war economy” hypothesis.
Originality/value
While other studies have focused on war and FDI, the authors have sought to show the impact of the involvement of arguably the most influential country, i.e. the USA, in the sovereign matters of a focal host country. By studying FDI from the USA as a function of US involvement in wars overseas, over the years with the greatest use of private military companies by the USA and the largest portion of global FDI accounted for by the USA, this work motivates a research agenda on home-host-"other” relations in the context of war and FDI, with the “other” being the supranational “elephant in the room.”
Abhijit Majumdar, Jeevaraj S, Mathiyazhagan Kaliyan and Rohit Agrawal
Selection of resilient suppliers has attracted the attention of researchers in the past one decade. The devastating effect of COVID-19 in emerging economies has provided great…
Abstract
Purpose
Selection of resilient suppliers has attracted the attention of researchers in the past one decade. The devastating effect of COVID-19 in emerging economies has provided great impetus to the selection of resilient suppliers. Under volatile and uncertain business scenarios, supplier selection is often done under imprecise and incomplete information, making the traditional decision-making methods ineffective. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the application of a fuzzy decision-making method for resilient supplier selection.
Design/methodology/approach
A group of three decision makers was considered for evaluating various alternatives (suppliers) based on their performance under different primary, sustainability and resilience criteria. Experts' opinion about each criterion and alternative was captured in linguistic terms and was modelled using fuzzy numbers. Then, an algorithm for solving resilient supplier selection problem based on the trapezoidal intuitionistic fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TrIFTOPSIS) was introduced and demonstrated through a case study.
Findings
A closeness coefficient was used to rank the suppliers based on their distances from intuitionistic fuzzy positive-ideal solution and intuitionistic fuzzy negative-ideal solution. Finally, the proposed fuzzy decision making model was applied to a real problem of supplier selection in the clothing industry.
Originality/value
The presented TrIFTOPSIS model provides an effective route to prioritise and select resilient suppliers under imprecise and incomplete information. This is the first application of intuitionistic fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making for resilient supplier selection.
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