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Heini Utunen, Ranil Appuhamy, Melissa Attias, Ngouille Ndiaye, Richelle George, Elham Arabi and Anna Tokar
OpenWHO is the World Health Organization's online learning platform that was launched in 2017. The COVID-19 pandemic led to massive growth in the number of courses, enrolments and…
Abstract
Purpose
OpenWHO is the World Health Organization's online learning platform that was launched in 2017. The COVID-19 pandemic led to massive growth in the number of courses, enrolments and reach of the platform. The platform is built on a stable and scalable basis that can host a large volume of learners. The authors aim to identify key factors that led to this growth.
Design/methodology/approach
In this research paper, the authors examined OpenWHO metadata, end-of-course surveys and internal processes using a quantitative approach.
Findings
OpenWHO metadata showed that the platform has hosted over 190 health courses in 65 languages and over seven million course enrolments. Since the onset of the pandemic, there have been more women, older people and people from middle income countries accessing courses than before. Following data analysis of the platform metadata and course production process, it was found that several key factors contributed to the growth of the platform. First, OpenWHO has a standardised course production pathway that ensures efficiency, consistency and quality. Further, providing courses in different languages increased its reach to a variety of populations throughout the world. For this, multi-language translation is achieved through a network of translators and an automated system to ensure the efficient translation of learning products. Lastly, it was found that access was promoted for learners with disabilities by optimising accessibility in course production. Data analysis of learner feedback surveys for selected courses showed that the courses were well received in that learners found it useful to complete courses that were self-paced and flexible. In addition, results indicated that preferred learning methods included videos, downloadable documents, slides, quizzes and learning exercises.
Originality/value
Lessons learnt from the WHO's learning response will help prepare researchers for the next health emergency to ensure timely, equitable access to quality health knowledge for everyone. Findings of this study will provide valuable insights for educators, policymakers and researchers in the field who intend to use online learning to optimise knowledge acquisition and performance.
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Ioanna Falagara Sigala, William J. Kettinger and Tina Wakolbinger
The purpose of this study is to explore what design principles need to be considered in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems for humanitarian organizations (HOs) to enable…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore what design principles need to be considered in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems for humanitarian organizations (HOs) to enable agile, adaptive and aligned (Triple-A) humanitarian supply chain capabilities and digitize humanitarian operations.
Design/methodology/approach
This study follows an embedded case study approach with a humanitarian medical relief organization, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which engaged in a multiyear ERP design at its humanitarian field missions.
Findings
This research shows that ERP systems for humanitarian organizations should be designed as unique systems addressing humanitarian organizations' challenges and unique missions, their value generation processes, and resource base in an effort to improve organizational performance. This study presents 12 general design principles that are unique for humanitarian organizations. These design principles provide a high-level structure of guidance under which specific requirements can be further defined and engineered to achieve success.
Research limitations/implications
The results of this study are based on a single case study limiting generalizability. However, the case study was analyzed and presented as an embedded case study with five autonomous subunits using different business processes and following different adoption and implementation approaches. Therefore, the findings are derived based on considerable variance reflective of humanitarian organizations beyond MSF.
Practical implications
This study recognizes that HOs have unique routines that standard commercial ERP packages do not address easily at the field level. The primary contribution of this research is a set of design principles that consider these unique routines and guide ERP development in practice. National and international HOs that are planning to implement information systems, private companies that are trading partners of HOs as well as vendors of ERP systems that are looking for new opportunities would all benefit from this research.
Originality/value
This study fills the gap in the humanitarian literature regarding the design of ERP systems for humanitarian organizations that enable Triple–A supply chain capabilities and it advances the knowledge of the challenges of ERP design by HOs in the context of humanitarian operations.
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