Search results

Peace engineering and compassionate operations can unlock the potential of emerging technologies for social good. This work aims to investigate the integration of peace engineering and compassionate operations by proposing an integrative framework and identifying the main drivers regarding social good, considering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) landscape.

The authors used a two-stage methodology by employing a narrative literature review in the first stage to identify the relationships and drivers and propose an original framework. In the second stage, the authors utilized an expert panel to validate the framework’s drivers.

The authors identified five main categories related to peace engineering and compassionate operations, which were then used to support the categorization of the drivers. In the second stage, the authors validated the drivers with a panel of academicians and experienced industry practitioners.

The proposed framework can provide insightful directions for practitioners and governments to develop strategies and projects in different contexts, including humanitarian logistics, climate change crises, supply chain disruptions, etc.

This work makes unique contributions by reinvigorating an amalgamation of the peace engineering and compassionate operations arenas and their integration with the SDGs to enable enhanced social good, supported by cutting-edge technologies. Thus, this framework’s contributions encompass essential theoretical, managerial, and social implications.

In the social science discipline, the subject of Peace and Conflict has been pursued on different paths. The first approach is the ethical aspect involving religion, culture, nonviolence, etc. Next is the established area of Peace Studies which focuses more on case studies, and is usually qualitative. The area of conflict management in industrial relations involving negotiations, arbitrations, etc., is also case oriented but is becoming more quantitative. Peace Economics and Peace Science use tools, methods, and quantitative framework of various Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Law, and Engineering. Unlike Peace Economics, Peace Science is much more theoretical and related to Political Science and International Relations. At this time, Peace Science is far from becoming an interdisciplinary field as its founder, the late Walter Isard, wanted it to become. The frontiers of Peace Science is moving farther due to such factors as globalization, global economic downturn, terrorism, environmental factors, international and intranational conflicts, wars, etc. Papers included in this volume indicate the direction in which Peace Science is moving.

This paper seeks to contribute to a more effective co‐ordination of humanitarian operations by military and civilian organizations involved in a peace support mission in response to a complex emergency.

The information processing view, in particular Galbraith's typology of generic mechanisms for achieving co‐ordination, is taken as the theoretical framework. This framework is subsequently applied to the co‐ordination of humanitarian operations by military and civilian organizations. Empirical data are derived from a set of expert interviews with both military and civilian respondents in The Netherlands and a four week visit to Kabul and Baghlan, a province in northern Afghanistan. During this visit 40 military respondents have been interviewed and over 60 meetings have been held with local authorities, humanitarian organizations, small entrepreneurs, refugees and local villagers. Finally, conclusions are drawn and recommendations are provided with regard to a more effective co‐ordination of humanitarian operations in a peace support mission.

The article's main finding is that “self‐contained tasks” in combination with lateral relations are the dominant co‐ordination mechanisms. “Slack resources”, though observed in practice, is not considered a viable co‐ordination mechanism since this implies an excess, and thus waste, of scarce resources. “Information systems” are, unfortunately, not well‐developed leading to mismatches between policy and practice. Keeping “self‐contained tasks” as the major co‐ordination mechanism, the main recommendation is to develop and implement innovative “information systems”, that can also be used to support “lateral relations”, in particular those between military and civil actors.

The paper applies the information processing perspective to a unique and important subject, namely co‐ordination between military and humanitarian organizations in peace support missions.

Soil is an essential component of road construction and is used in the form of subgrade materials. It ensures the stability and durability of the road under adverse conditions; being one of the important parameters, poor judgment of the engineering properties of soil can lead to pavement failure. Geopathic stress (GS) is a subtle energy in the form of harmful electromagnetic radiation. This study aims to investigate the effect of GS on soil and concrete.

A total of 23 soil samples from stress zones and nonstress zones were tested for different engineering properties like water content, liquid limit, plastic limit, specific gravity and California bearing ratio. Two concrete panels were placed on GS zones, and their quality was monitored through nondestructive testing for a period of one year.

The result shows that the engineering properties of soil and pavement thickness are increasing in stress zones as compared with nonstress zones. For concrete panels, as time passes, the quality of the concrete gets reduced, which hints toward the detrimental effect of GS.

This research is a systematic, scientific, reliable study which evaluated subgrade characteristics thus determining the detrimental impact of the GS on soil and pavement thickness. On a concluding note, this study provides a detailed insight into the performance of the road segment when subjected to GS. Through this investigation, it is recommended that GS should be considered in the design of roads.

Life cycle cost (LCC) analysis is one of the key parameters in designing a sustainable product or system. The application of life cycle costing in the manufacturing industries is still limited due to several factors. Lack of understanding of LCC analysis methodologies is one of the key barriers. This paper presents a generalized framework for LCC analysis of repairable systems using reliability and maintainability principles.

The developed LCC analysis framework and stochastic point processes are applied for the analysis of a typical computerized numerical control turning center (CNCTC) and governing equations for acquisition cost, operation cost, failure cost, support cost and net salvage value are developed. The LCC of the CNCTC is evaluated for the renewal process (RP) and minimal repair process (MRP) approach.

The LCC analysis of the CNCTC reveals that, the acquisition cost is only 7.59% of the LCC, whereas the operation, failure and support costs dominate and contribute nearly 93% of the LCC. The LCC per day for RP requires additional US$ 1.03 than that for MRP. The detailed LCC analysis of the CNCTC identifies the critical components of CNCTC and these components are: spindle motor, spindle motor cooling fan, spindle belt, drawbar, spindle bearing, oil seals, hydraulic hose, solenoid valve, tool holder, lubrication pump motor system, lubrication hose, coolant pump motor system, coolant hose, supply cables, drive battery.

The developed framework of LCC of a repairable system can be applied to any other repairable systems with the appropriate modifications. LCC analysis of CNCTC reveals that the procurement decision of a product or system should be based on LCC and not only on the acquisition cost. The optimum utilization of consumables such as cutting tools, coolant, oil and lubricant can save operation cost. Thus, use of high-efficiency electric motors and the usage of recommended consumables can prolong the life of several components of a system. Therefore, due consideration and attention to these parameters at product design stage itself will decrease failure and support cost and ultimately its LCC.

This paper aims to assess the state of the art of quality of education, research and governance to incorporate sustainable development goal 4 (SDG 4) in Nepalese higher education institutions (HEIs). In particular, it raises questions to initiate a discourse on HEIs to achieve SDG 4.

The idea of undertaking this research is heavily borrowed from scientific literature and policy documents. It is an exploratory study that assesses the current status of quality of education, research and governance and suggests policy measures to inculcate SDGs culture in Nepalese HEIs. This study follows a qualitative approach. The analysis is based on the opinions of 113 HEIs stakeholders and high-ranked university officials. Discussions among stakeholders have been organized using online facilities such as Zoom and Team.

Nepalese universities had not incorporated SDGs in their policy, planning, budget and curriculum. The research finds that even after the government’s commitment to SDGs, HEIs are not honestly involved in academic discourse on these goals. From the conversation with university officials, it appears that Universities have understood it as a government policy for development, rather than incorporating it as their sectoral responsibility to ensure the quality of education for future generations.

This paper prescribes policies to inculcate SDGs culture practically throughout the university structure and operations and opens the floor to discourse on the sectoral role to reach SDG 4. Second, this research suggests activities and policies integrated toward the common good agenda.

The paper is the first of its type in the context of a least developed country, Nepal, to raise the issue of HEIs for SDGs. This paper also represents the situation of HEIs for SDGs of similar countries.

Rehabilitation and reconstruction of social and economic infrastructure in a post-conflict environment are complex, long-debated issues in development cooperation. In addition to war creating large-scale human suffering, generating refugees, displacing populations, engendering psychological distress, obliterating infrastructure and transforming the economy, in post-conflict situations, deepening chaos and disorder can be found at the highest social, economic and political levels; serious developmental challenges remain insufficiently addressed. Repairing war-damaged infrastructure in order to reactivate the local economy is a challenge for all post-conflict countries. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The study was designed to examine planning and execution of post-conflict reconstruction (PCR). The use of a mixed-method research approach combining both quantitative and qualitative data collection was used to explore planning and implementation of PCR infrastructure projects in Kosovo. The data collection in the field was undertaken for a period of eight weeks, from July to September 2008. A total of 420 respondents were involved in the study process, as follows: key informants (four), pilot test (12), semi-structured interviews (36), project manager/engineers survey (231), chief of mission/country director survey (117), and focus group (20). To meet the needs of the society and recognise the required functional components of project management, the overall contexts of managing projects in a post-conflict environment have been discussed in the study.

Planning and implementing reconstruction projects in areas affected by conflict have proven to be far more challenging than expected and responses by practitioners, aid agencies, and government regarded as inadequate. The changing political, economic, and social factors in Kosovo after the war in 1999 have had a significant influence on the limited adoption of a project management methodology in development and reconstruction projects. The findings from the exploratory study were aimed at improving understanding of the planning, pre-designing, and implementation of infrastructure projects. The findings indicated a need to promote a better understanding of how projects are undertaken at all levels of the organisation, and to describe processes, procedures, and tools used for the actual application of projects. The findings of the study identified a poor quality of planning and implementation of reconstruction projects in an environment of complexity, change, and uncertainty. The study also raised some very significant findings for a broader approach to community involvement in project identification, planning, and implementation. Infrastructure projects implemented in Kosovo were used to develop a conceptual framework for designing projects and programmes more likely to yield positive outcomes for post-conflict society.

The study was done by the researcher in Kosovo.

Planning and implementing reconstruction projects in areas that are affected by conflict has proven to be far more challenging than expected and has often been considered to be inappropriate response from practitioners, aid agencies and government. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore reconstruction and development projects in Kosovo given its history of non-sovereign state under United Nations administration and analyse how they were planned and executed that would more likely yield progressive outcomes for the society.

The study was designed to explore how projects are planned and implemented, as well as help in understanding the phenomena in the historical, social, cultural and governance context within the project implementation practices of multilateral agencies in Kosovo. Applying action research principles and using a detailed case study approach to the interviews, the study identified programme strengths, weaknesses and implications of project management practice and theory and differences of opinion within the project team in project planning and implementation in their wider sense.

There is evidence that both aid organisations’ constructed project management processes and international aid agencies practices do not work effectively in a community service delivery setting. The study showed that there continue to be challenges in project processes, implementation, stakeholder coordination, communication, cost, quality, procurement and risk management.

Forward looking and grounded in traditions, the study indicated a need to promote a better understanding of how reconstruction and development projects are undertaken at all levels of the organisation and to describe processes, procedures and tools used for the actual application of projects in war-torn societies.

The study is among the first academic research worldwide to examine traditional practices of project management which are wildly applied and to explore if the same processes can be applied in post-conflict settings. This study is timely and beneficial in fulfilling its responsibility to post-conflict communities.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the increasingly congenial relationship between business and government that developed in the immediate post Second World War period. This study explores the subtle, but systematic, uses of advertising for propaganda purposes to secure American political and commercial world dominance. It locates the relationship between the US Government and the Advertising Council as key components in a strategy to blur the lines between political and commercial messages. In addition to study the relationship between the two stakeholders, the study identifies some of the implications for both.

Scholarship on the government’s postwar relationships with other organizations is relatively scant and few other scholars have focused on the advertising industry’s role in this transformation. This paper draws on trade periodicals and newspaper accounts, and relies on archival material from the Arthur W Page and the Thomas D’Arcy Brophy collections at the Wisconsin State Historical Society and the Advertising Council’s papers at the University of Illinois. Charles W. Jackson papers, located at the Harry S. Truman Library, and the papers of Office of War Mobilization and Re-conversion, deposited at the National Archives, have also been consulted.

The Advertising Council’s “Peace” and “World Trade and Travel” demonstrate an acceleration of collaboration between business and government that continued into the postwar era. It shows the government’s willingness to trade on the Advertising Council’s goodwill and to blur the lines between political and commercial messages, in what can accurately be characterized as a duplicitous manner. Key conclusion includes a willingness among Washington’s policymakers to propagandize its own citizens, a strategy that it commonly, and disparagingly, ascribed to the Soviet Union, and a Council so willing to appease Washington, that it was putting its own reputation at considerable risk.

This paper is based on a study of two campaigns (“Peace” and “World Trade and Travel”) that the Advertising Council conducted in collaboration with the US State Department. While these were the first campaigns of this nature, they were not the only ones. Additional studies of similar campaigns may add new insights.

Recent political events have brought propaganda and government collusion back on the public agenda. In an era of declining journalism credibility, rising social media and unprecedented government and commercial surveillance, it is argued that propaganda demands scholarly attention more than ever and that a historical study of how the US Government collaborated with private industry and used advertising as a propaganda smokescreen is particularly timely.

This study adds to the scholarship on advertising, PR and propaganda in several ways. First, it contributes to the understanding of the advertising industry’s important role in the planning of US international policy after the Second World War. Second, it demonstrates the increasingly congenial relationship between business and the US Government that emerged as a result. Third, it provides excellent insights into the Adverting Council’s transition from war to peacetime. The heavy reliance on archival material also brings originality and value to the study.