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The purpose of this paper is to outline different notions of the term resilience used in scientific disciplines and consequently explore how the concept can be applied to energy systems. The concept of resilience has emerged recently in scientific discourse. The major questions to be addressed are: Which definitions and underlying concepts of resilience are used in the scientific literature? How can resilience be defined with respect to energy systems and which underlying principles can be identified?

Building on this understanding, characteristics of the resilience concept used in various contexts are described and a methodology for selection of an indicator set for an energy resilience assessment is presented. The methodology for a resilience assessment outlined in this paper requires definition and clustering of a set of indicators describing a resilient system. It contributes to understanding system properties and supports the theory of how to improve system resilience.

It is argued that resilience can be defined as a function of vulnerability and adaptability, therefore increasing adaptability or reducing vulnerability can cause higher system resilience. Further attributes, determinants and properties of resilient systems to guide indicator selection and classification are suggested.

Definitions of resilience, vulnerability and adaptability are very much interlinked. A novel framework is proposed to foster the understanding of the interlinkage between these three terms and to cluster indicators to assess energy system resilience.

This paper aims to evaluate the vulnerability of typical low-rise reinforced concrete (RC) buildings located in Indonesia subjected to tsunami loading.

The vulnerability of typical three-story RC buildings located in Indonesia subjected to tsunami loading is discussed using fragility curves. Buildings without openings in all stories and buildings with openings in the first story are considered. The fragility curves are obtained by performing tsunami pushover analysis for several load cases, using different tsunami load estimation standards and references. The generalized linear method is used as a curve fitting method to construct the fragility curves.

The fragility curves show that the three-story RC buildings without openings in all stories subjected to tsunami loading have a high probability of collapse. Openings in the first story will reduce the vulnerability of the buildings.

Fragility curves are obtained by carrying out tsunami pushover analysis to evaluate the vulnerability of typical three-story RC buildings located in Indonesia. The results of this study show the need to include tsunami loads in the design code for Indonesian buildings and the benefits of having openings in the first story of the building.

This paper aims to identify the specific parameters in developing a framework to assess the structural vulnerability of hospital buildings in Sri Lanka against tsunami. Along with that, the adaptability and suitability of the existing global frameworks in the Sri Lankan context are to be assessed.

In this study, Papathoma tsunami vulnerability assessment (PTVA)-4 model was used as the base in developing the abovementioned framework. Its adaptability and suitability in assessing hospital buildings in the country were considered under the case studies conducted in six selected hospitals in the Southern coastal belt of Sri Lanka. Under these case studies, data collection was done using the Rapid Visual Screening method where assessments were carried out through visual observations. The collected data were analyzed according to the aforementioned model for its suitability in evaluating the structural vulnerability of hospitals in Sri Lanka, against tsunami hazard.

From these case studies, it was identified that the use of the PTVA-4 model alone was insufficient to assess the structural vulnerability of the hospital buildings against the tsunami. Therefore, the model must be further improved with more relevant assessing attributes related to hospitals, suitable for the Sri Lankan context.

This paper identifies the specific structural assessment parameters required in assessing hospitals in the coastal belt of Sri Lanka, considering tsunami as the main hazard condition.

Biculturals possess higher cultural intelligence than monocultural individuals. This study explores biculturals' key factors and attributes and how their cultural knowledge and identification influence International Business Negotiations (IBNs) and help their firms outperform others.

Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with 35 bicultural senior managers in Lebanon.

The findings highlight three essential qualities and behaviors that allow biculturals to act as a bridge between the parties during IBN: adaptability, cultural frame switching (CFS) and creativity.

This study explores the notion of bicultural personnel using their understanding of multiple cultures to be innovative, avoid groupthink and generate new creative ideas that help overcome stalemates during IBNs.

Inventory management systems in health-care supply chains (HCSC) have been pushed to breaking point by the COVID-19 pandemic. Unanticipated demand shocks due to stockpiling of medical supplies caused stockouts, and the stockouts triggered systematic supply chain (SC) disruptions inconceivable for risk managers working individually with limited information about the pandemic. The purpose of this paper is to respond to calls from the United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization (WHO) for coordinated global action by proposing a research agenda based on a review of current knowledge and knowledge gaps on the role of collaboration in HCSCs in maintaining optimal stock levels and reinforcing resilience against stockout disruptions during pandemics.

A systematic review was conducted, and a total of 752 articles were analyzed.

Collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment practices are under-researched in the HCSC literature. Similarly, a fragmented application of extant SC collaborative risk management capabilities undermines efforts to enhance resilience against systematic disruptions from medical stockouts. The paucity of HCSC articles in humanitarian logistics and SC journals indicates a need for more research interlinking two interdependent yet critical fields in responding to pandemics.

Although based on an exhaustive search of academic articles addressing HCSCs, there is a possibility of having overlooked other studies due to search variations in language controls, differences in publication cycle time and database search engines.

The paper relies on COVID-19's uniqueness to highlight the limitations in optimization and individualistic approaches to managing medical inventory and stockout risks in HCSCs. The paper proposes a shift from a fragmented to holistic application of relevant collaboration practices and capabilities to enhance the resilience of HCSCs against stockout ripple effects during future pandemics. The study propositions and suggestion for an SC learning curve provide an interdisciplinary research agenda to trigger early preparation of a coordinated HCSC and humanitarian logistics response to future pandemics.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of Wasta, a culturally based system of social networks of exchange among in-group members in the Arab world, as exemplified by three groups of Arabs in the Palestinian Authority, and then compares it to Guanxi (China), Sviazi (Russia) and Jaan–Pechaan (India). The use of social networks is a common business model around the world to accomplish business objectives and is especially relied upon in emerging economies where formal institutions are weak. It is important to understand the commonalities and differences in the use of reciprocity in various cultural contexts in order to conduct business effectively. The aim of the paper is to illustrate the structure of Wasta and how it is perceived and constructed among three Arab social groups, and then compare and contrast it with social business models in three other high context cultures.

Qualitative approach based on interviews to better understand the relationships involved.

The findings provide the foundation for a number of critical insights for non-Arab managers seeking to do business in the Arab world. For international managers to conduct business successfully, it is essential to understand how Wasta works, and establish relationships with members of influential social networks by building trust over time such that they create Wasta for themselves and indirectly for their firms. Using Wasta in the Arab world, as noted above, is similar to doing business successfully in other emerging economies such as using Sviazi in Russia (McCarthy and Puffer, 2008; Berger et al., 2017), Guanxi in China (Yen et al., 2011) and Jaan–Pechaan in India (Bhattacharjee and Zhang, 2011). The authors feel more confident in stating this view after comparing Wasta with these other three concepts, and noting that all four are built upon the same fundamental constructs.

The authors recognize that the study is limited in terms of the geographical sample since it does not include any non-Palestinians, although the managers the authors sampled came from various regions in the Palestinian authority. Additionally, Palestinian managers are highly educated and mobile, and can be found in many other Arab countries working in managerial positions (Zineldin, 2002), thus potentially broadening the generalizability of the findings. Nonetheless, the samples would be called ones of convenience rather than randomly drawn from the three groups, since the latter would be extremely difficult to execute not only in the Palestinian Authority but in most of the Arab world due to the culturally based reluctance to provide sensitive information to those outside one’s network. Despite the difficulties that might be involved in exploring such culturally sensitive issues as the authors did in this study, the benefits in knowledge gained can be of significant importance to the study of international business in emerging and transition economies.

Little research has focused on the use of Wasta in the Arab world, a gap which this paper addresses. The authors do so by analyzing the views of Wasta held by three important groups – leaders, business people and students. While each type of reciprocity has its own unique characteristics, the authors focus on three interrelated constructs that have been found to underlie the use of reciprocity in various cultures. In the Arab world, these are Hamola, which incorporates reciprocity; Somah, that incorporates trust; and Mojamala, which incorporates empathy through social business networks.