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The purpose of this paper is to identify current practice in respect of the appraisal of both information communication technology (ICT) and non‐ICT capital investments, and to elicit the opinions of senior executives on the various issues concerning such investment practices.

Empirical research based on data from a postal questionnaire, designed around a factual and attitudinal survey.

This research presents evidence of the financial and risk assessment models used by practitioners in the appraisal of both ICT and non‐ICT capital projects. It shows that there was no significant difference between ICT and non‐ICT appraisals in this respect. It does, however, show that there are significant differences between the two types of projects in respect to other important appraisal/evaluation issues. It also uncovers important issues regarding ICT globalisation, project champions, post audits and appraisal teams.

This research does not identify the approach adopted, or the models used, to appraise strategic issues. This is an area for future research.

This research presents data that will assist both practitioners and academics in a greater understanding of the appraisal of both ICT and non‐ICT projects, which will pave the way to better decision making in the future.

It is believed that this is possibly the only survey to simultaneously address the appraisal issues concerning both ICT and non‐ICT projects.

This paper is based on seminar, workshop and lecture materials presented at national and international conferences, and follows an invitation to cover this topic as part of a one‐day conference on mental health issues in autism spectrum disorders (Staufenberg, 2005; 2007). The paper will seek to a) outline a review of the current evidence base and clinical approaches to the appraisal of risk behaviour or aggressive conduct in general and forensic psychiatric practice, before b) reviewing the current issues in the clinical risk appraisal in individuals with complex neurodevelopmental syndromes of the high functioning autism spectrum, and in particular Asperger's syndrome.References based on clinical and structured instrument‐based risk appraisal will also introduce the pertinence of assessing personality traits in individuals with Asperger's syndrome, with specific reference to forensic neuropsychiatry‐based expertise and case vignettes. A discussion of potential research directions and collaborations will conclude this introductory guide to the emerging field of forensic developmental neuropsychiatry.

Although debit and credit cards are widely accepted, consumers still have significant concerns pertaining to the risk of the cards’ usage. Mobile payment (m-payment) acts as identification and a virtual card for consumers, and is viewed as more secure than card payments. However, the influence of consumers’ appraisal of debit and credit cards usage and using m-payment on the adoption intention of m-payment is unclear. Using the protection motivation theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of risk appraisal of using debit or credit cards and coping appraisal of using m-payment on the adoption intention of m-payment.

A total of 418 volunteers participated in this study, and structural equation modeling was employed to test the employed conceptual model.

The results revealed that risk appraisal (i.e. vulnerability, severity and benefit) of using debit or credit cards did not affect m-payment adoption intention. Moreover, self-efficacy and response efficacy positively affected m-payment adoption intention, whereas response cost negatively influenced m-payment adoption intention.

Both theoretical and practical implications are presented in this paper for m-payment marketers to develop effective communication strategies for promoting m-payment adoption.

Electronic waste (e-waste) such as discarded computers and smartphones may contain large amounts of confidential data. Improper handling of remaining information in e-waste can, therefore, drive information security risk. This risk, however, is not always properly assessed and managed. The authors take the protection motivation theory (PMT) lens of analysis to understand intentions to protect one's discarded electronic assets.

By applying structural equation modeling, the authors empirically tested the proposed model with survey data from 348 e-waste handling users.

Results highlight that (1) protection intention is influenced by the perceived threat of discarding untreated e-waste (a threat appraisal) and self-efficacy to treat the discarded e-waste (a coping appraisal) and (2) optimism bias plays a dual-role in a direct and moderating way to reduce the perceived threat of untreated e-waste and its effect on protection intentions.

Results support the assertions and portray a unique theoretical account of the processes that underline people's motivation to protect their data when discarding e-waste. As such, this study explains a relatively understudied information security risk behavior in the e-waste context, points to the role of optimism bias in such decisions and highlights potential interventions that can help to alleviate this information security risk behavior.

This study aims to develop a decision-making tool that assesses the economic feasibility of converting commercial and industrial buildings into rented residential accommodation. This tool also enables developers to provide high-quality rented residential accommodation that contribute to the gentrification of formerly industrialised inner city or developed areas.

The overarching epistemological approach adopted used inductive reasoning and a postpositivist philosophical design to structure the research problem and devise new theories about the phenomena under investigation. From an operational perspective, a two-phase “waterfall” research approach was adopted. Phase one used extant literature to identify development factors and variables for consideration, risks posed and conversion appraisal criteria. Two case studies formed the basis of a cross comparative analysis, namely, a new build and conversion of a former industrial building into rented residential accommodation. Phase two identified development appraisal criteria, conducted a cost analysis and premised upon the findings, developed a decision support appraisal tool as a “proof of concept”.

The research combined key decision factors and variables that assist property developers when evaluating whether to convert commercial and industrial property into rented residential accommodation. The appraisal tool’s functionality was validated via a focus group discussion with senior property developers to ensure that assessment criteria and development weightings were appropriate. Feedback revealed that the tool was suitable for purpose and should now be adopted in practice and refined as appropriate and with usage.

The appraisal tool presented could yield a far more accurate means of decision-making which, in turn, could ensure that predicted investment returns are received (thus reducing errors and lowering risk for investors). Future work is required to robustly test and validate the tool’s accuracy in practice. It is envisaged that future projects will provide a rich stream of data for such testing.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work constitutes the first attempt to conceptualise a decision support tool for rented residential property development.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the travellers’ behaviour towards travel risk is an emerging issue. Nonetheless, the travellers’ perceived COVID-19 impacts, travel risk perception, health and safety perception and travel avoidance concerning protection motivation theory is unnoticed. Following the protection motivation theory, the current study investigates the direct and indirect relationships between perceived COVID-19 impacts and travel avoidance. Moreover, the travellers’ cognitive perceptions of risk may vary with their demographic characteristics; therefore, the present study aims to test the differences in group-specific parameter estimates using a multi-group analysis.

The authors approached travellers from Tianjin, China using different communication services, including WeChat and email, through a snowball sampling technique. The study used 553 valid questionnaires for analysis.

The results of 553 questionnaires in structural equation modelling (SEM) with AMOS 21 indicated that travellers’ perceived Covid-19 impacts positively correlate with travel avoidance. The study model based on protection motivation theory specifies that travel risk perception and health and safety perception as a cognitive mediating process partially mediated the relationship between perceived COVID-19 impacts and travel avoidance. The findings specified that during COVID-19, travellers assessed the severity of travel risks and adopted preventive measures which influenced their travel behaviour and led to travel avoidance. The multi-group analysis results indicated no difference in perception for gender and education; however, concerning age, the significant nested p-value specifies a difference in perception.

The study offers implications for policymakers and the tourism industry to understand the travellers’ perceptions of travel during the pandemic and ensure health and safety measures to encourage travelling and reviving the tourism industry.

The application of protection motivation theory to analyse the travellers’ perceived COVID-19 impacts and travel avoidance in the presence of travel risk perception and health and safety perceptions as a cognitive mediating process is novel.

COVID-19大流行下的旅行风险问题日益重要。目前, 有关旅游者COVID-19影响感知、旅行风险感知以及健康安全感知与避免旅行之间关系的问题尚未引起学者广泛关注。基于保护动机理论, 本文对COVID-19影响感知与避免旅行之间的直接关系和间接关系进行深入研究。鉴于旅游者旅行风险认知因其人口特征而异, 本文采纳多组分析来检验群体间特定参数估计差异。

采用滚雪球抽样方法在中国天津利用微信和电子邮件共收集了553份有效问卷。

结构方程模型分析结果显示, 旅游者Covid-19影响感知与避免旅行之间呈正相关关系。基于保护动机理论的研究模型表明, 旅行风险感知和健康安全感知作为认知中间过程, 在COVID-19影响感知与避免旅行之间起到部分中介作用。这说明在COVID-19期间, 旅游者首先评估旅行风险等级并采取预防措施, 而这将影响他们的旅行行为, 甚至导致放弃旅行。此外, 多组分析结果表明, Covid-19影响感知在性别和受教育程度上并不存在显著差异, 但在年龄上差异显著。

研究对于政策制定者和旅游业界理解旅游者在疫情期间对旅行的看法以及采取健康和安全措施鼓励游客出游进而实现旅游业复苏具有重要启示。

基于保护动机理论, 引入旅行风险感知和健康安全感知作为中介变量来分析旅游者Covid-19影响感知对避免旅行的影响是本研究的重要创新点。此外, 本研究通过检验Covid-19影响感知在受访者人口学特征上的差异也对现有研究具有一定理论贡献。

La pandemia de COVID-19 y el comportamiento de los viajeros hacia el riesgo del viaje es un asunto emergente. No obstante, los impactos percibidos de COVID-19 por los viajeros, la percepción del riesgo de viaje, la percepción de salud y seguridad, así como la evitación de viajes con respecto a la teoría de la motivación de protección es desapercibida. Por lo tanto, el estudio actual basado en la teoría de la motivación de protección investiga las relaciones directas e indirectas entre los impactos percibidos del COVID-19 y la evitación del viaje. Las percepciones cognitivas del riesgo de los individuos varían con sus características demográficas; por lo tanto, el estudio actual que utiliza un análisis de multigrupo prueba las diferencias en las estimaciones de los parámetros de grupo específico.

Nos acercamos a los viajeros de Tianjin, China, utilizando diferentes servicios de comunicación, incluidos WeChat y email, a través de una técnica de muestreo de bola de nieve. El estudio utilizó 553 cuestionarios válidos para el análisis.

Los resultados empíricos de los 533 cuestionarios en los modelos de ecuaciones estructurales (MES) indican que los impactos percibidos de Covid-19 se correlacionan positivamente con la evitación del viaje. El resultado implica que los encuestados primero evalúan los riesgos y luego toman las decisiones de viajar; por consiguiente, los hallazgos apoyaron la teoría de la motivación de protección. Los hallazgos también mostraron que la percepción del riesgo de viaje y la percepción de salud y seguridad median entre los impactos percibidos de Covid-19 y la evitación de viajes. Además, los resultados del análisis de multigrupo indican que para el género y la educación, no existe una diferencia; sin embargo, en cuanto a la edad, existe una diferencia significativa en la percepción.

Las implicaciones del estudio son importantes para que los legisladores y la industria del turismo comprendan la percepción de los viajeros durante la pandemia y garanticen las medidas de salud y seguridad para animar a viajar.

La aplicación de la teoría de la motivación de protección para analizar los impactos percibidos de COVID-19 por los viajeros y la evitación del viaje en la presencia de la percepción de riesgo de viaje y la percepción de salud y seguridad como variables mediadoras es novedosa. También, el estudio actual contribuye a la literatura a través de probar el modelo teórico sobre las características demográficas de los encuestados.

Concession contracts provide a mechanism for transferring the traditional public sector client roles of market research, project appraisal, project financing, operation and maintenance, and revenue generation associated with power station projects to the private sector organizations, formerly only responsible for turnkey design and construction. The recent research work undertaken in the Project Management Group, UMIST, has developed and validated a mechanism for the rapid appraisal of concession contracts. A case study example is presented to illustrate the significant features of the procurement of power projects using concession contracts.

Systemic risks originate in tightly coupled systems. They are characterised by complexity, transboundary cascading effects, non-linear stochastic developments, tipping points, and lag in perception and regulation. Disasters need to be analysed in the context of vulnerabilities of infrastructure, industrial activities, structural developments and behavioural patterns which amplify or attenuate the impact of hazards. In particular, disasters are triggered by chains of events that often amplify and also multiply damages. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The paper applies the concept of systemic risks to disasters more precisely to the combination of natural and human-induced disasters. The paper refers to the International Risk Governance Council’s Risk Governance Framework and applies this framework to the systemic aspects of disaster risks.

The paper maps out strategies for inclusive governance of systemic risks for disaster prevention and mitigation. Furthermore, the paper highlights policy implications of these strategies and calls out for an integrated, inclusive and adaptive management approach for the systemic aspects of disaster risks.

The paper fulfils the identified need to analyse disaster risks in the context of vulnerabilities of infrastructure, industrial activities, structural developments and behavioural patterns which amplify or attenuate the impact of hazards.

Recent earthquake-induced liquefaction events and associated losses have increased researchers’ interest into liquefaction risk reduction interventions. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there was no scholarly literature related to an economic appraisal of these risk reduction interventions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the issues in applying cost–benefit analysis (CBA) principles to the evaluation of technical mitigations to reduce earthquake-induced liquefaction risk.

CBA has been substantially used for risk mitigation option appraisal for a number of hazard threats. Previous literature in the form of systematic reviews, individual research and case studies, together with liquefaction risk and loss modelling literature, was used to develop a theoretical model of CBA for earthquake-induced liquefaction mitigation interventions. The model was tested using a scenario in a two-day workshop.

Because liquefaction risk reduction techniques are relatively new, there is limited damage modelling and cost data available for use within CBAs. As such end users need to make significant assumptions when linking the results of technical investigations of damage to built-asset performance and probabilistic loss modelling resulting in many potential interventions being not cost-effective for low-impact disasters. This study questions whether a probabilistic approach should really be applied to localised rapid onset events like liquefaction, arguing that a deterministic approach for localised knowledge and context would be a better base for the cost-effectiveness mitigation interventions.

This paper makes an original contribution to literature through a critical review of CBA approaches applied to disaster mitigation interventions. Further, this paper identifies challenges and limitations of applying probabilistic based CBA models to localised rapid onset disaster events where human losses are minimal and historic data is sparse; challenging researchers to develop new deterministic based approaches that use localised knowledge and context to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of mitigation interventions.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new framework for assessing the risks of turnaround projects in upstream oil process plants.

This study represents a new hybrid framework for turnaround project risk assessment. First, according to experts’ opinions, the project risks were identified using interviews and brainstorming. The most important risks selected by experts and a hybrid multiple-attribute decision-making (MADM) method used to assess and prioritize them. The proposed MADM method uses fuzzy step-wise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) and fuzzy evaluation based on distance from average solution (EDAS) methods based on trapezoidal fuzzy numbers.

In this research, 28 usual risks of turnaround projects are identified and 10 risks are then selected as the most important ones. The findings show, that among the risks of upstream oil industry turnaround projects from the perspective of experts, the risk of timely financing by the employer, with an appraisal score of 0.83, has the highest rank among the risks and the risk of machine and equipment failure during operation, with an appraisal score of 0.04, has the lowest rank.

The risk analysis based on inputs collected from the experts in the Iranian upstream oil industry, and so the generalization of the results is limited to the context of developing countries, especially oil producer ones. However, the proposed risk analysis methodology and key insights developed can be useful for researchers and practitioners in any other process industry everywhere.

A novel framework for risk assessment is introduced for turnaround projects in the oil industry using MADM methods. There is no literature on using MADM methods for turnaround project risk analysis in the oil and gas industries. Furthermore, this paper presents a hybrid fuzzy method based on SWARA and EDAS.