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In the context of debates about the performance of Higher Education (HE) in which quantitative measures proliferate, this chapter reports the top line observations of an initial exploration of the preparedness for practice of recent graduates of a Public Relations (PR) course at a post-1992 United Kingdom (UK) Higher Education Institution (HEI). Preparedness for practice is chosen as a conceptual lens (as preparedness for the uncertainty of practice) because HEIs frequently promise it. Using a Bourdieusian framework, preparedness is considered in relation to habitus-field match and HE performance as capital-added in habitus transformation. The chapter offers a complementary way of considering the dynamic between educator and recent graduate agency and how that might be applied when studying course and student performance, designing curricula and developing appropriate ‘signature pedagogies’, especially for those HE actors tasked with delivering against the ‘promise’ of graduate preparedness. In considering preparedness for practice as a performative function of HE, the chapter is located in wider societal debates about the ‘worth’ of HE and offers insight for educators of future PR practitioners.

This chapter examines lessons for response gleaned from 70 years of research on human and organizational behavior. These lessons for response are examined in the context of the current homeland security policy environment for national preparedness. This chapter also focuses on implementation steps for current preparedness guidance by law enforcement agencies. It joins research knowledge and policy to inform law enforcement planners in the development of local strategic-, operational-, and tactical-level response plans.

The reality of emergency preparedness for older adults has not been quite satisfactory in many regions. This paper aimed to study how to improve emergency preparedness for older adults in the viewpoint of emergency culture.

A systematic literature review was used to contrast internationally voiced emergency preparedness (i.e. the principles of emergency preparedness) with culturally adapted emergency preparedness (e.g. values, games, arts, outdoor activities, etc.) via international organizations in both developing and developed countries. For data flow, the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses was also used in a supplementary way.

An encompassing tenet states that all stakeholders need to divert the internationally voiced emergency preparedness into culturally adapted emergency preparedness while addressing the effects of culture, self-preparedness, integration, diversity, tailored intervention, etc.

This paper has probed into the frame of emergency preparedness for older adults more comprehensively than the previous literature. In doing so, the aspect of emergency culture has been much supported.

The regular occurrence of natural disasters elevates the need for an effective method to measure organizational preparedness in responding to the adverse impact of disasters. In this context, this paper presents a new decision support model to assess organizational disaster preparedness using both subjective and objective disaster preparedness criteria in a multi-criteria decision-making context.

The statistical variance method is integrated with the proximity value index (PVI) technique to determine priority scores in order to rank organizational disaster readiness.

The results of applying the integrated model developed herein enable decision-makers to make informed decisions for assigning priority ranking of organizational disaster preparedness in a simpler and more efficient way.

Human resource is the most impacting criterion affecting hospital preparedness in undertaking action to cure disaster victims.

This paper offers an exemplar of a simple and efficient decision-making process considering the subjectivity associated with decision-making as well as the objectivity of data used for determining the priority ranking of organizational disaster preparedness.

Integrating statistical variance method with the PVI technique is novel and it has not been presented in previous studies. In fact, this study is the first to integrate both methods for selecting the priority ranking of organizational disaster preparedness.

Universities and higher education institutes are key pillars of all societies, as the result of their important roles in education, research and training of human resources. Nevertheless, similar to other social structures, universities need to be prepared for natural disasters. This study aims to measure and analyze the level of earthquake preparedness in a higher education institute in Tehran, Iran.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017 in a higher education institute through three stages of tool, namely, development, preparedness evaluation and strength–weakness–opportunity–threat analysis. The valid and reliable tool was applied for assessment of college preparedness through a field survey. Factors affecting the obtained level of preparedness were categorized into internal (strengths and weaknesses) and external (opportunities and threats) factors to decide on an appropriate strategy for promoting the preparedness level.

Content validity index and content validity ratio of the tool were 88 and 98.85 per cent, respectively. The reliability of the tool was measured to be 98 per cent using the kappa coefficient. The level of preparedness was estimated to be weak. The final value of the matrix of internal and external factors was higher than average, which can be improved in the form of strength–opportunity strategy.

It is highly suggested to allocate a specific budget for improvement and evaluation of preparedness measures in all parts of education systems. In addition, making the preparedness measures as the mandatory duty for educational structures can be considered by decision-makers and managers at the national and local levels.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a more complete understanding of logistics preparedness. By comparing extant research in preparedness and logistics with findings from empirical analysis of secondary data, the authors develop a definition of and framework for logistics preparedness, along with suggestions for future research agenda.

The authors link the way in which humanitarian organizations define and aim to achieve logistics preparedness with extant academic research. The authors critically analyze public data from 13 organizations that are active in disaster relief and review papers on logistics preparedness and humanitarian logistics.

The authors found that, despite the increased attention, there is no unified understanding across organizations about what constitutes logistics preparedness and how it can contribute to improvements in operations. Based on the review of the academic literature, the authors found that the same is true for humanitarian logistics research. The lack of a common understanding has resulted in low visibility of efforts and lack of knowledge on logistics preparedness.

On the basis of extant research and practice, the authors suggest a definition of and framework for logistics preparedness with related suggestions for future studies.

Findings can help the humanitarian community gain a better understanding of their efforts related to developing logistics preparedness and can provide a better basis for communicating the need for, and results from, funding in preparedness.

Results can support improvements in humanitarian supply chains, thereby providing affected people with rapid, cost-efficient, and better-adapted responses.

The findings contribute to humanitarian logistics literature, first by identifying the issues related to the lack of a common definition. Second, the authors extend the understanding of what constitutes logistics preparedness by proposing an operationalized framework and definition. Finally, the authors add to the literature by discussing what future topics and types of research may be required.

To meet the rising global needs, the humanitarian community has signed off on making a strategic change toward more localisation, which commonly refers to the empowerment of national and local actors in humanitarian assistance. However, to this date, actual initiatives for localisation are rare. To enhance understanding of the phenomenon, the authors explore localisation of logistics preparedness capacities and obstacles to its implementation. The authors particularly take the perspective of the international humanitarian organisation (IHO) community as they are expected to implement the localisation strategy.

A phenomenon-driven, exploratory and qualitative study was conducted. Data collection included in-depth interviews with 28 experienced humanitarian professionals.

The findings showed the ambiguity inherent in the localisation strategy with largely different views on four important dimensions. Particularly, the interviewees differ about strengthening external actors or internal national/local offices. The resulting framework visualises the gap between strategy formulation and implementation, which forms major obstacles to the localisation aims.

Further research is required to support the advancement of localisation of logistics preparedness capacities. Important aspects for future research include triangulation of results, other stakeholder perspectives and the influence of context.

The authors add to the important debate surrounding localisation by offering remedies to overcoming obstacles to strategy implementation. Further, the authors’ proposed framework offers a language to precisely describe the ways in which IHOs (should) view localisation of logistics preparedness capacities and its operationalisation.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first academic article on localisation within the humanitarian logistics context.

This paper utilizes the generic source of “community” to define a disaster community emphasizing disaster areas’ perceived boundaries and the social networks that fall within these boundaries. Three such “disaster communities” are proposed based on family‐kin, micro‐neighborhood, and macro‐neighborhood social networks. Utilizing an Israel national representative sample of (814) urban households residing in 150 municipalities, a set of hypotheses were tested regarding the impact of disaster communities on individual disaster preparedness behaviors. In general, more socially robust communities brought about greater levels of individual preparedness but with significant exceptions by type of preparedness. In addition, the predictive ability of such disaster communities on each preparedness component varied. Ethnic and educational composition of the networks had a negligible impact on disaster preparedness behaviors. Overall, the use of social network based disaster communities provides a sound theoretical and empirical foundation to study disaster behaviors.

Bangladesh is one of the most disaster‐prone countries in the world. Natural disasters adversely affect the country's economy and deter its development. Thus preparedness for the disasters, along with effective prevention and mitigation measures, is imperative for sustainable development of the country. The purpose of this paper is to examine the present state of disaster preparedness in the country with special attention to the more frequent and damaging disasters – flood and cyclone.

A detailed study of the effects of natural disasters, disaster prevention and mitigation measures, and institutional setting for disaster preparedness was undertaken.

Plans and programs have been formulated to manage natural disasters. In a “Cyclone Preparedness Program”, trained volunteers facilitate emergency response and proper use of the multi‐purpose shelters. Within an institutional framework for disaster management, several Non‐Government Organizations (NGOs) work for disaster preparedness alongside the government organizations. Their formal and nonformal education programs on disaster preparedness have a common objective of promoting resilient and sustainable communities.

Planning and design of structural interventions for prevention and mitigation of natural disasters should be done more carefully to avoid adverse impacts on the environment. A participatory approach is essential in this process. Education and awareness‐building programs need wider and easier access to the people.

The paper concludes that the institutional arrangement for cyclone preparedness and response is unique and efficient, and that participation of NGOs in the preparedness program contributes significantly toward sustainable development. These lessons will be important for development planning in other sectors.