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The anticipation of organizational change and the transition process often creates uncertainty for employees and can lead to stress and anxiety. It is therefore essential for all organizations, especially those that operate in high-demand working environments, to support the well-being of staff throughout the change process.

Research on how employees respond to the organizational change of relocating to a new work space is limited. To fill this gap in the research, we present a case study examining the well-being of clinical and health care employees before and after a disruptive change: relocation in workplace facilities. In addition, factors that enabled successful change in this high-stress, high-demand working environment were investigated. Interviews were conducted with 20 participants before the relocation and 11 participants after relocation. Following an inductive approach, data were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify key themes.

Our findings suggest that a supportive team, inclusive leadership and a psychologically safe environment, may buffer negative employee well-being outcomes during disruptive organizational change.

This research contributes to the literature on successful organizational change in health care by highlighting the resources which support well-being throughout the change process and enabling the successful transition to a new facility.

Untimely responses to emergency situations in urban areas contribute to a rising mortality rate and impact society's primary capital. The efficient dispatch and relocation of ambulances pose operational and momentary challenges, necessitating an optimal policy based on the system's real-time status. While previous studies have addressed these concerns, limited attention has been given to the optimal allocation of technicians to respond to emergency situation and minimize overall system costs.

In this paper, a bi-objective mathematical model is proposed to maximize system coverage and enable flexible movement across bases for location, dispatch and relocation of ambulances. Ambulances relocation involves two key decisions: (1) allocating ambulances to bases after completing services and (2) deciding to change the current ambulance location among existing bases to potentially improve response times to future emergencies. The model also considers the varying capabilities of technicians for proper allocation in emergency situations.

The Augmented Epsilon-Constrained (AEC) method is employed to solve the proposed model for small-sized problem. Due to the NP-Hardness of the model, the NSGA-II and MOPSO metaheuristic algorithms are utilized to obtain efficient solutions for large-sized problems. The findings demonstrate the superiority of the MOPSO algorithm.

This study can be useful for emergency medical centers and healthcare companies in providing more effective responses to emergency situations by sending technicians and ambulances.

In this study, a two-objective mathematical model is developed for ambulance location and dispatch and solved by using the AEC method as well as the NSGA-II and MOPSO metaheuristic algorithms. The mathematical model encompasses three primary types of decision-making: (1) Allocating ambulances to bases after completing their service, (2) deciding to relocate the current ambulance among existing bases to potentially enhance response times to future emergencies and (3) considering the diverse abilities of technicians for accurate allocation to emergency situations.

Completing Right-of-Way (ROW) acquisition process on schedule is critical to avoid delays and cost overruns on transportation projects. However, transportation agencies face challenges in accurately forecasting ROW acquisition timelines in the early stage of projects due to complex nature of acquisition process and limited design information. There is a need of improving accuracy of estimating ROW acquisition duration during the early phase of project development and quantitatively identifying risk factors affecting the duration.

The quantitative research methodology used to develop the forecasting model includes an ensemble algorithm based on decision tree and adaptive boosting techniques. A dataset of Georgia Department of Transportation projects held from 2010 to 2019 is utilized to demonstrate building the forecasting model. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis is performed to identify critical drivers of ROW acquisition durations.

The forecasting model developed in this research achieves a high accuracy to predict ROW durations by explaining 74% of the variance in ROW acquisition durations using project features, which is outperforming single regression tree, multiple linear regression and support vector machine. Moreover, number of parcels, average cost estimation per parcel, length of projects, number of condemnations, number of relocations and type of work are found to be influential factors as drivers of ROW acquisition duration.

This research contributes to the state of knowledge in estimating ROW acquisition timeline through (1) developing a novel machine learning model to accurately estimate ROW acquisition timelines, and (2) identifying drivers (i.e. risk factors) of ROW acquisition durations. The findings of this research will provide transportation agencies with insights on how to improve practices in scheduling ROW acquisition process.

This conversation highlights the need to rethink how we approach disaster risk reduction in different South Asian contexts.

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.

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.

The conversation contributes to the ongoing discussions on moving away from colonial practices in disaster risk reduction and disaster studies broadly.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the interdependence of project complexity factors (PCFs) in metro rail projects using the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL). The study provides qualitative and quantitative analysis of project complexities factors and their relationships. The results of the study facilitate effective project planning, proactive risk management and informed decision-making by stakeholders.

This study employs a case-based method for identifying PCFs and a DEMATEL method for analyzing the interdependence of complexity factors in metro rail projects. Initially, PCFs were identified through an extensive literature review. To validate and refine these factors, semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirty experienced professionals, each having 5–20 years of experience in roles such as project management, engineering, and planning. Further, elevated and underground metro rail projects were purposefully selected as cases, for identifying the similarities and differences in PCFs. A questionnaire survey was conducted with various technical experts in metro rail projects. These experts rated the impact of PCFs on a five-point Likert scale, for the evaluation of the interdependence of PCFs. The DEMATEL technique was used to analyze the interdependencies of the PCFs.

Metro rail projects are influenced by project complexity, which significantly impacts their performance. The analysis reveals that “design problems with existing structures,” “change in design or construction” and “land acquisition” are the key factors contributing to project complexity.

The study of project complexity in metro rail projects is limited because most of the studies have studies on examining complexity in mega projects. The existing literature lacks adequate attention in identifying project complexity and its effects on metro rail project performance. This research aims to bridge this gap by examining project complexity and interdependencies in metro rail projects.

Delays in utility shifting during road construction have broad ramifications. These delays not only lengthen the project's timeline but also raise expenses and cause problems with resource allocation. Thus, this study investigates the influence of delay in utility shifting for extension of time claims in road construction projects (RCPs) in Sri Lanka.

The study used a quantitative approach with three rounds of Delphi surveys to gather empirical data. Further, the probability impact assessment was used to carefully analyse the data and appraise the information gathered.

The findings initially revealed 33 causes of delays in utility shifting for extension of time claims in RCPs in Sri Lanka. Ultimately, 11 severe causes were identified based on their high probability and impact, concluding with 45 strategies that were assigned to overcoming those most severe causes of delay.

This study will contribute to the industry and theory by providing solutions to handle utility-shifting delays with the linkage of preventing time extension claims for RCPs in Sri Lanka. Further, there is a dearth of literature in the research area, both locally and globally. Thus, the findings of this research will provide a benchmark for further detailed studies in other countries as well.

This study aims to investigate the manufacturing reshoring decision-making content from an Eclectic Paradigm perspective.

Data were collected through a six-step systematic literature review on factors influencing manufacturing reshoring decision-making. The review is based on 100 peer-reviewed journal papers discussing reshoring decision-making contents published from 2009 to 2022.

In total, 80 decision factors were extracted and then categorized into resource-seeking (8%), market-seeking (11%), efficiency-seeking (41%) and strategic asset-seeking (16%) advantages. Additionally, 24% of these were identified as hybrid, which means that they were classified into multiple categories. Some decision factors were further identified as reshoring influencing factors (i.e. drivers, enablers and barriers).

Scholars need to consider what other theories can be used or developed to identify and evaluate the decision factors (determinants) of manufacturing reshoring as well as how currently adopted theory can be further advanced to create clearer and comprehensive theoretical frameworks.

This research underscores the importance of developing clearer and more comprehensive theoretical frameworks. For practitioners, understanding the multifaceted nature of decision factors could enhance strategic decision-making regarding reshoring initiatives.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the value and practicality of the Eclectic Paradigm in categorizing factors in manufacturing reshoring decision-making content and presents in-depth theoretical classifications. In addition, it bridges the gap between decision factors and influencing factors in the decision-making content research realm.

This study uncovers the challenges and coping mechanisms related to stigma and discrimination experienced by gay professional team sport athletes.

Utilizing interpretive phenomenological analysis, this study recruited six gay athletes in professional team sports. Data were collected through virtual one-on-one semi-structured interviews, along with field notes and reflexive journaling, and were thematically analyzed.

The first theme highlights the discrimination and marginalization experienced by gay athletes in professional team sports, as well as the perceived differences between these athletes and their heterosexual counterparts. The second theme includes anecdotes illustrating their experiences of exclusion, along with counter-stories that resist marginalization. The last theme comprises stories that underscore the lack of acceptance and advocacy, emphasizing the awareness education aimed at making the sporting realm more inclusive.

Despite the extensive recruiting efforts for this study, numerous sports and countries remain unexplored. Follow-up studies are required to fill this gap. As this study was initiated, additional research is needed to provide information on athletes who are still in the closet. Cross-comparisons between gay athletes and their heterosexual teammates can help bridge the gap in perspectives.

Participants emphasized collective efforts in creating inclusive and welcoming environments for gay athletes, including anti-discrimination policies related to language use, showers and relocation adjustments.

Participants have put forth concrete recommendations for enhancing inclusivity within team sport environments and society at large, including proposals for early educational initiatives within the school systems.

This is the first empirical study that focuses on the experiences of gay professional team sport athletes.

This chapter will develop an understanding of what the logical conclusion of having English football clubs primarily existing as businesses: namely, those instances where clubs are treated not as community institutions but as any other business with set assets that can be disposed of at a profit. There is an unfortunate history of clubs being owned based on the value of the assets they possess (such as their stadium or training), a trend that has only seemed to accelerate in recent decades. The various forms asset stripping takes can be explored by examining what happened to clubs like Blackpool FC and Wimbledon FC, as well as many others. This chapter is an exploration of what happens when the entity that fans assume is something more than a business is dismantled for profit, the harshest of reality checks, and a reminder that football clubs in these contexts are little more than business assets.