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This paper aims to identify and appropriately respond to any socio-technical gaps within organisational information and cybersecurity practices. This culminates in the equal emphasis of both the social, technical and environmental factors affecting security practices.

The socio-technical systems theory was used to develop a conceptual process model for analysing organisational practices in terms of their social, technical and environmental influence. The conceptual process model was then applied to specifically analyse some selected information and cybersecurity frameworks. The outcome of this exercise culminated in the design of a socio-technical systems cybersecurity framework that can be applied to any new or existing information and cybersecurity solutions in the organisation. A framework parameter to help continuously monitor the mutual alignment of the social, technical and environmental dimensions of the socio-technical systems cybersecurity framework was also introduced.

The results indicate a positive application of the socio-technical systems theory to the information and cybersecurity domain. In particular, the application of the conceptual process model is able to successfully categorise the selected information and cybersecurity practices into either social, technical or environmental practices. However, the validation of the socio-technical systems cybersecurity framework requires time and continuous monitoring in a real-life environment.

This research is beneficial to chief security officers, risk managers, information technology managers, security professionals and academics. They will gain more knowledge and understanding about the need to highlight the equal importance of both the social, technical and environmental dimensions of information and cybersecurity. Further, the less emphasised dimension is posited to open an equal but mutual security vulnerability gap as the more emphasised dimension. Both dimensions must, therefore, equally and jointly be emphasised for optimal security performance in the organisation.

The application of socio-technical systems theory to the information and cybersecurity domain has not received much attention. In this regard, the research adds value to the information and cybersecurity studies where too much emphasis is placed on security software and hardware capabilities.

This chapter attempts to uncover the decision code of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, based on 12 decisions he made concerning the Middle East during his third term as president, from 2012 until October 2015.

The study was carried out to understand Putin’s line of thought and decision-making, in light of Putin’s increasing importance throughout the last decade, globally and in the Middle East, in particular. After understanding the decision calculus of Putin, it might also be possible to predict his future decisions concerning the region.

Decision rules can be inferred by analyzing a set of decisions. Analysis of such decisions is made in this chapter using the Applied Decision Analysis (ADA) method that uncovers historic decisions, and aims to peer into the mind of the decision-maker.

The results show the main decision rule for each of Putin’s decisions. The work proves that when it comes to foreign issues, the decision code which leads Putin in his decisions is rational. The results also reveal Putin’s strong desire to promote Russia and himself, while using holistic, maximizing, and compensatory processing, as long as his political survival is not compromised.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the association between the levels of food utilization (FU), food availability, economic access (EA) and physical access (PA) to food in developing countries – the main dimensions underlying the concept of food security.

This study analyzed available data from 57 developing countries. The variables investigated were: food availability (FA), EA to food measured through economic development, PA to food using the Logistics Performance Index as a proxy, and FU. The paper uses factorial, correlation and cluster analyses.

The results show that the dimensions of food security are strongly and positively correlated. PA has a moderate association with FU (ρS=0.5338 [p<0.001]; ρP=0.4252; [p<0.01]). EA has a strong association with FU (ρS=0.6998 [p<0.001]; ρP=0.6404; [p<0.01]). Moreover, cluster analysis suggests that some countries present significant urgencies regarding some of the food security dimensions considered.

Cluster analysis has some limitations regarding the interpretations of the key findings. Moreover, many factors affect food security promotion; this paper addresses just a few of them.

Through a better alignment of food security dimensions worldwide, policy makers, as well as private sector actors, might achieve better conditions to reduce food waste or loss, supply a wider diversity of foods, reduce adverse environmental impacts, reduce logistics costs and, finally, reduce food prices.

This study outlines specific fragilities regarding the main dimensions of food security in developing economies. Thus, this study highlights that some countries need to focus urgently on certain, specific dimensions in order to promote the food security for their populaces.

The chapter presents an analysis of the decision-making process of leaders on issues of nuclear armament and nuclear disarmament, through four case studies. The first, pertaining armament, is South Africa, with a focus on Pieter Willem Botha, former prime minister and president of South Africa. The second deals with former Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi’s nuclear armament decision. The third case study investigates the decision of former president of South Africa, F. W. De Klerk, on nuclear disarmament. The fourth and final case study uncovers Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s nuclear disarmament decision.

Using the Applied Decision Analysis (ADA) method historical decisions have been analyzed in this chapter for the purpose of identifying each leader’s ‘decision code’. Specifically, were these decisions based on rational calculations or were they influenced more by cognitive decision processes?

By revealing a ‘decision code’ using a reverse engineering of the decision processes, I conclude that the three leaders placed high importance on security and geopolitics. By analyzing different dimensions and processes that impacted their decision processes, it is evident that while armament decision utilizes the poliheuristic decision rule, disarmament decisions abide by rational calculations.

Iraqi society has suffered from loss or fragility of human security since 2003. The developmental policies, programs and plans of the successive Iraqi Governments throughout the transitional period have not been able to achieve human security, despite the availability of different resources. They have also not prevented or limited the spread of corruption, according to domestic and international reports. Now the country faces a large phenomenon of corruption and the dilemma of human security loss. This study aims to ascertain the nature of the relationship between the phenomenon of corruption and the dilemma of loss or fragility of human security in Iraq since 2003 to learn about the form of this relationship, how the selected variables contribute to the two phenomena and determine the degree of impact of corruption and its dimensions on human security and its components.

This research uses the social survey methodology of the sample taken from the Iraqi society and benefits from system analysis approach to identify the inputs and outputs of the variables researched. Moreover, the study uses the case study methodology to collect data and information precisely in an in-depth manner to support qualitative and quantitative analysis and clarifies the situation at the macro level of both phenomena.

Findings show the prevalence of corruption structurally in the Iraqi state and society. The contribution of dimensions and selected indicators in the spread of corruption and lack of human security varies. Findings also underline a strong statistical correlation between the two variables and their reverse relationship. In other words, the more the corruption is, the less the opportunities of human security are. There is also a strong impact of corruption and its dimensions on the conditions of human security factors.

The paper provides profitable findings and recommendations, which can be used by the Iraqi relevant institutions to eliminate corruption, achieve human security and benefit from its indicators in research and development.

The new addition of this research can be represented by linking the two phenomena and trying to build national standards with the capacity to describe, interpret and predict.

Using conservation of resources as a theoretical lens, the paper aims to investigate distinct objective meaningful work (OMW) and subjective meaningful work (SMW) domains as resources that contribute to wellbeing.

A cross-sectional questionnaire was conducted with 879 employees, measuring OMW resources (job security and autonomy), SMW using the well-validated multidimensional Comprehensive Meaningful Work Scale (CMWS) focusing on five dimensions (integrity with self, expressing full potential, unity with others, service to others and balancing tensions), and three wellbeing outcomes (positive affect, negative affect and job stress). The authors conducted structural equation modeling, mediation analysis with PROCESS macro including bootstrapping, and dominance analysis, to identify the core relationships between OMW and SMW dimensions and three wellbeing constructs.

OMW resources are largely beneficially related to SMW dimensions; both OMW and SMW resources are mostly beneficially related to wellbeing outcomes; and the overall associations of OMW with the three wellbeing constructs are partially mediated by SMW. The dominance analyses of SMW with wellbeing shows expressing full potential is the most important predictor of positive affect, and integrity with self is the most important (negatively related) predictor of negative affect and job stress.

Our research, in pulling apart the different dimensions of MW, shows that to enhance wellbeing, HR professionals should not just pay attention to practices that support self-transcendent MW but also those that support the self. When not balanced, MW can lead to a loss of wellbeing.

The findings highlight that (1) while the current MW literature places a lot of emphasis on SMW, OMW remains an important consideration, and (2) while the MW literature often focuses on self-transcendent meanings, such as making a difference, the self-oriented dimensions of SMW are more dominant toward wellbeing. This is valuable to employees, managers, and HR professionals considering how to improve MW and wellbeing.

The aim of this study is to empirically identify crucial dimensions of security management in the container shipping sector in Taiwan and assess their impacts on security performance.

Data for this study were collected by questionnaire survey. An exploratory factor analysis was performed to identify crucial security management dimensions in the container shipping sector. Multiple regression analysis was then performed to examine the effect of security management on the security performance.

Four crucial security management dimensions were identified: facility and cargo management; accident prevention and processing; information management; and partner relationship management. Multiple regression analysis revealed that information management and partner relationship management had significant positive effects on safety performance, whereas partner relationship management had a significant positive effect on customs clearance performance.

This study primarily focuses on the effect of security management on security performance. Future research could identify the drivers and barriers to comply with supply chain security initiatives.

Container shipping firms can improve safety and customs clearance performance by focusing security management efforts on facility and cargo management, accident prevention and processing, information management, and partner relationship management.

Government administrators or other authorities may want to consider using crucial container shipping security management dimensions as criteria for assessing security performance in container shipping firms.

This study presented is the first to assess the effect of security management on security performance in the container shipping sector. Particularly, partner relationship management is found to be the key dimension for supply chain security success.

Security has been a critical matter in the development of electronic services. The purpose of this research is to develop a new model to help e-service practitioners and researchers in the evaluation of e-service security and its effect on quality and intention to use e-services.

According to the literature, 13 security dimensions are extracted. Then, exploratory factor analysis is applied to reduce the number of security dimensions. This step is implemented based on end-users’ perception. Afterward, a hierarchical structure of e-service security is established to calculate the weights of security dimensions applying analytical hierarchy process method by contribution of e-service experts and providers. Finally, structural equation modeling using LISREL is applied to test the proposed theoretical model.

Results indicates that confidentiality, integrity, privacy, authentication, non-repudiation and availability are antecedents of consumers’ perceived security in e-service. Considering the high significance of perceived security, it is concluded that enhanced feelings of security will result in improved perception of quality. Furthermore, it is found that users will intend to use e-service if they feel that the quality of e-service is high.

Few studies have been done on users’ adoption behaviors of e-services and even those few have not investigated users’ security perception as a major factor affecting users’ intention to use e-services. Considering the increasing concerns of users about the security of their personal information and how it affects their adoption behaviors, there is a need to conduct more studies on the factors involved in this procedure. In this study, the concept of security from both perspective of objective security and subjective security is evaluated.

The purpose of this paper is to look into how people in risky environments define human security by using the framework of the draft human security index of the Third World Studies Center, University of the Philippines to study five municipalities. The concept of human security used here is the comprehensive definition that covers “freedom from fear” and “freedom from want” dimensions but using a more local/bottom-up perspective in getting people’s sense of security and threats/risks. As a pilot research, the paper also reveals the shortcomings of the draft index as it does not highlight yet other factors like gender, ethnicity and other sectoral identities.

The pilot municipalities all have a history of violent conflicts or insurgency and they also face other security threats/risks, e.g., natural disasters and effects of climate change, limited sources of livelihood, lack of food, water shortage, etc. Through surveys, focus group discussions and interviews, people were asked about their sense of security and experiences, perceived threats to individuals and the community, understanding of human security and their capacity, as individuals and as a community, to cope with and/or do something about these threats. The focus of the manuscript, however, is the more qualitative responses of informants.

In these conflict areas, poverty and the limited livelihood opportunities are major threats, followed by threats to food, environmental, personal and community security (particularly peace and order). The perceived intensity of certain threats also varies depending on the type of community or group one belongs to. It appears that respondents have a comprehensive view of human security; what they lack are resources and skills to mitigate such threats. Community empowerment and improved local governance are crucial with support from external actors.

It is important to look at the experiences of other areas without histories of armed conflicts to understand possibly different security issues and threats/risks and include perspectives of people based on gender, ethnicity and other identities.

The research shows the value of using local/bottom-up perceptions of people apart from available development and security statistics (which are usually top-down, very general and universalistic) to assess, monitor actual and plan future interventions to address human security threats and vulnerabilities at different levels. The qualitative and quantitative data from the ground are also useful in refining human security-related concepts, hypotheses and theories.