Search results

The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed account of the “Views from the Frontline” and “Frontline” methodologies, which underpinned the case studies presented in this issue.

A participant observer account of the development of the methods, leading to a critical discussion of their deployment and impact and a concluding discussion of further work required.

The study found that iterative development of the programmes had improved their ability to gather and analyse local experience, knowledge and priorities concerning risk and resilience, but raised a concern over the means by which this information was able to achieve necessary political influence.

This technical paper is a first assessment of the underlying method and application of “Views from the Frontline” and “Frontline” and benefits from the participant observer status of the authors. More work is required on the underlying questions concerning qualitative vs quantitatitive methods, and on the means of achieving political impact from the work.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the creation of innovative methods for engaging in conversations about everyday risk.

A range of methods from conventional survey research to open-ended, semi-structured conversations and focus groups were used in the series of studies that serve as the subject of this meta-study. The meta-study uses participant observation, key informant interviews and project reports to narrate and evaluate the evolution of Frontline as an action planning, monitoring, advocacy and research tool.

The Views from the Frontline (VFL) methods began as the bottom-up mirror of a top-down monitoring approach used by the United Nations (Hyogo Framework for Action Monitor). Limitations of such bottom up monitoring led to creation of guidelines for formalising local knowledge resulting from actions – Action at the Frontline (AFL) and, later, Frontline, a flexible tool for eliciting experiences of everyday risk. The earlier VFL monitoring approach had shared outsiders’ assumptions about the nature of the “problem” and limited the degree to which local residents could express their own experiences and priorities.

Extensive use of this suite of methods has shown that civil society organisations are fully capable of conducting credible research when properly supported and motivated. Use of these methods has so far provided strong support for policy advocacy at the global scale, has had moderate success in liaison with national policy makers and slow but promising results as a learning/action tool at the local scale. Frontline has as yet untapped potential as a resource for academic research.

More than ever, consideration of the natural environment and social welfare are values that firms must signal to their stakeholders. One way to do this is by adopting an environmental orientation (EO) and pro-social organizational identity (PSOI). The purpose of this paper is to examine how frontline employees (FLEs) respond to these firm-level values through four outcomes.

Polynomial structural equation modeling with response surface analysis was implemented on FLEs survey data to uncover how different levels of EO and PSOI impact sales performance, word-of-mouth, turnover intent and job satisfaction.

Both firm-level values have a positive and direct effect on all four outcomes. However, each imposes a boundary condition as well. Specifically, salespeople perform better when their firm has a stronger EO, but they are happier in their work, less likely to quit and more likely to spread positive word-of-mouth when PSOI is stronger.

The results suggest that perceptions of a firm-level EO or PSOI enhance employee-level outcomes. Signaling to employees that your firm cares about the natural environment and the greater social good positively influences employee outcomes, but optimization of each outcome depends on the strength of those values.

This research answers two specific research calls. First, it applies signaling theory to the workplace context, positioning FLEs as the receivers and feedback mechanisms of firm-level signals. Second, using too-much-of-a-good-thing logic, it uncovers boundary conditions imposed by social and environmental constructs on frontline outcomes.

Nepal is exposed to frequent earthquakes. There is a felt need for promoting disaster risk reduction action at community level, promoting existing community cohesion for use in disaster preparedness and replication of positive experiences. Involvement of women has been identified as one of the effective ways to motivate and mobilize communities to reduce disaster risks and enhance disaster preparedness. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Frontline program was implemented in the four communities of Chandragiri municipality during 2015 with support from GNDR. Preparing the local risk profile and the action plans to reduce those identified risk was the main approach of the Frontline program.

During the Frontline survey, the community identified earthquake as the top threat in the community and non-structural mitigation as one of the priority actions. The members of the women network started advocating for earthquake safe communities and implementing the risk reduction measures. This action has developed understanding of the process, scientifically and systematically, and boosted their confidence with important new technical skills and new leadership roles in their community to mitigate the earthquake risk.

This case study records the experience of the women’s group in Nepal using their NSM learning in their own houses to reduce vulnerability. They started vulnerability reduction with their own kitchens and bedrooms by fastening their cupboards, frames, freezes, gas cylinders, etc. This led to implementing the mitigation measures in their locality and outside their community. This has been a step toward achieving a safer community through safer houses and schools.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of customer relationship management (CRM) at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP).

Qualitative interaction research methodology using case studies was used to conduct the research on the application of CRM at the BOP.

The key findings show that at the BOP, CRM is a key strategic tool that can be used by firms and can be facilitated by firms' relationships and connections to consumers' social networks.

Replication of the study might be required in other BOP markets, to improve generalizability using larger samples.

The study provides managers with insights into the importance of CRM at the BOP and the need for proper planning and management in order for the concept to be effective.

This research expands knowledge in the area by extending the research context of the BOP to include Africa, and it proposes a framework that can be used for implementing CRM at the BOP.

The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of media reactions to the BBC Television Panorama programme, Behind Closed Doors’ and to set this in the context of interviews with care staff about their reflections on publicity about poor practice in the care sector.

This paper reports on an analysis of media reactions to recent exposé of abuse in social care in England and data from an interview-based study of care workers. The interviews were analysed to consider the impact of such media reports on staff and to explore their views of action that might be need to be taken about care failings.

There are mixed reactions to exposé of poor care on television and to the debates that precede and follow their broadcast. Debates occur in print and on television, but also in social media. The particular exposé of care home practices by the Panorama programme, Behind Closed Doors, led to debate in England about the potential role of covert cameras in care homes. The interviews revealed that while care staff are affected by scandals in the media about social care, they do not necessarily focus on themes that the media stories subsequently highlight. Overall some are disenchanted while others have ideas of what needs to change to improve practice. Care staff consider that there remain problems in raising concerns about practices and some staff feel unable to stay in workplaces where they have made complaints.

The care workers interviewed may not be representative of the sector and they may have wished to provide socially acceptable answers to the researchers. Practice was not observed.

Local Safeguarding Adult Boards may wish to develop a communications strategy to deal with requests for reactions to media reports locally and nationally. Safeguarding practitioners may wish to prepare for increased referrals following media coverage of poor care in their areas. They may later be able to use media reports to discuss any local differences of interpretation over matters such as prosecutions for abuse. Trainers and educationalists may wish to clarify the importance given by care providers to raising concerns, the ways in which difficult conversations can be held, and the protections available to whistle-blowers or those raising concerns – with local examples to provide assurance that this is not mere rhetoric.

Television reports of problems with social care attract wide media interest but the authors know very little about how care workers respond to depictions of their work and their occupational grouping. This paper links media and expert commentator reactions to television exposé with data acquired from interviews with those on the frontline of care.

This conversation presents the reflections from five prominent disaster scholars and practitioners on the opportunities and challenges associated with research following disasters and explores the importance of ethics in disaster research.

This paper is based on the conversations that took place on Disasters: Deconstructed Podcast livestream on the 11th of June 2021.

The prominent themes in this conversation include ethical approaches to research, how we–as disaster researchers and practitioners–collaborate, engage, and cooperate, and whose voices are centred in a post-disaster research context.

The conversation contributes to ongoing discussions around the conduct and practice of disaster research.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze some barriers and the “drivers of localism” during the long-term disaster recovery process. The main question is: what types of discourses and practices about localism are being heard and revealed in the frontline?

Fieldwork, which was conducted from January 2010 to June 2013, consisted of participant observation and qualitative data collection. The authors opted for an approach that privileges narrative and observation, dialoguing with participants to gather local knowledge and information. Data were analyzed in light of the disaster recovery literature, focusing on disaster recovery as an expression of power relations.

Localism has been framed in diverse ways according to the interests of social groups placed in contextual meanings and, sometimes, in different phases of risk and disaster management. One important driver of localism is disaster narrative framing that allowed identification of how localism is composed, by whom and how.

One important aspect that needs further research is longitudinal studies to investigate how the barriers are changing between the generations, and how intergenerational dialogues can be promoted to sustain long-term participation and localism.

This study recommends the need to identify who is talking about the importance of local and how localism has been framed in policy and action. It is important to empower localism in order to provide ways for local people sharing what is going on in the frontline. But it is also essential to provide funding and means of implementation for local initiatives regarding advocating, researching and proposing disaster recovery interventions led by people.