The role of Industry 4.0 technologies on performance measurement systems of supply chains during global pandemics: an interval-valued intuitionistic hesitant fuzzy approach

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate Supply Chain (SC) Performance Measurement Systems (PMSs) (SCPMSs) that are suitable and applicable to evaluate SC performance during unexpected events such as global pandemics. Furthermore, the contribution of Industry 4.0 Disruptive Technologies (IDTs) to implement SCPMSs during such Black Swan events is investigated in this study.Design/methodology/approachThe research methodology is based upon a novel qualitative and quantitative mixed-method. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was initially employed to identify two complete lists of SCPMSs and IDTs. Then, a novel Interval-Valued Intuitionistic Hesitant-Fuzzy (IVIHF)-Delphi method was firstly developed in this paper to screen the extracted SCPMSs. Afterward, the Propriety, Economic, Acceptable, Resource, Legal (PEARL) indicator of the Hanlon method was innovatively applied to prioritize the identified IDTs for each finalized SCPMS.FindingsTwo high-score SCPMSs including the SC operations reference (SCOR) model and sustainable SCPMS were recommended to improve measuring the performance of the pharmaceutical SC of emerging economies such as Iran in which the societal, biological and economic issues were undeniable, particularly during unexpected events. Employing nine IDTs such as simulation, big data analytics, cloud technologies, etc., would facilitate implementing sustainable SCPMS from distinct perspectives.Originality/valueThis is one of the first papers to provide in-depth insights into determining the priority of contribution of IDTs in applying different SCPMSs during global pandemics. Proposing a novel multi-layer mixed-methodology involving SLR, IVIHF-Delphi, and the PEARL indicator of the Hanlon method is another originality offered by this paper.

Modelling spatial variations of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19): evidence from a global perspective.

In late December 2019, strange pneumonia was detected in a seafood market in Wuhan, China which was later termed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization. At present, the virus has spread across 232 countries worldwide killing 2,409,011 as of 17 February 2021 (9:37 CET). Motivated by a recent dataset, knowledge gaps, surge in global cases, and the need to combat the virus spread, this study examined the relationship between COVID-19 confirmed cases and attributable deaths at the global and regional levels. We used a panel of 232 countries (further disaggregated into Africa-49, Americas-54, Eastern Mediterranean-23, Europe-61, Southeast Asia-10, and Western Pacific-35) from 03 January 2020 to 28 November 2020, and the instrumental variable generalized method of moment's model (IV-GMM) for analysing the datasets. The results showed that COVID-19 confirmed cases at both the global and regional levels have a strong positive effect on deaths. Thus, the confirmed cases significantly increase attributable deaths at the global and regional levels. At the global level, a 1% increase in confirmed cases increases attributable deaths by 0.78%. Regionally, a 1% increase in confirmed cases increases attributable deaths by 0.65% in Africa, 0.90% in the Americas, 0.67% in the Eastern Mediterranean, 0.72% in Europe, 0.88% in Southeast Asia, and 0.52% in the Western Pacific. This study expands the understanding of the relationship between COVID-19 cases and deaths by using a global dataset and the instrumental variable generalized method of moment's model (IV-GMM) for the analysis that addresses endogeneity and omitted variable issues.

Supporting athlete wellbeing during a global pandemic: The case of COVID-19

This chapter explores the reactions, feelings and reflections of the first ten weeks of lockdown in England of Josh-a Performance Lifestyle Advisor for the English Institute of Sport-and the elite swimmers he supports. Salient events from the lockdown period- such as the move to land-based training, the delay of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the rising of social justice movements-are theorized to explore both the practical and existential challenges that arose from home confinement. The chapter concludes with considerations of how the COVID-19 pandemic might serve as a catalyst to re-conceptualize staff and athlete mental health and wellbeing in a design that surpasses prioritizing performance and, instead, seeks to prioritize the person first and the athlete second. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Risk connectedness between energy and stock markets: Evidence from oil importing and exporting countries

The surmounted environmental and energy challenges have motivated this study to explore the connectedness nexus between oil/renewable energy and stock markets for oil-exporting (importing) countries. We utilize the dynamic conditional correlation (DCC-GARCH) connectedness framework to compare the connectedness of oil/renewable energy with stock markets. Our results showcase higher total connectedness between renewable energy and stock markets. We find increased connectedness during three major pandemics (Swine Flu, EBOLA, and COVID-19). We performed a regression analysis that highlighted the impact of economic and financial uncertainties on connectedness as an additional analysis. The addition of dummy variables for three major pandemics indicates that COVID-19 significantly impacted the connectedness between oil/renewable energy and stock markets. For the robustness of our results, we employed time-varying vector autoregressions (TVP-VAR) connectedness framework to showcase that our results remain qualitatively similar and robust to different specifications. We draw useful implications for oil exporting and oil importing countries in particular, and we draft ramifications for investors, portfolio managers, policymakers, and macroprudential bodies in general.

NHS values, ritual, religion, and Covid19 death

Of paramount importance to the major British response to the Covid19 global pandemic was a dramatic intensification of the pre-existing significance of the National Health Service as the prime carrier of the core cultural value of life itself. A theoretical model accounting for how emotions generate 'values' and belief-like constructs from otherwise ordinary 'ideas', in a process embracing notions of identity and even of destiny, parallels innovative popular responses that ritualised gratitude to self-sacrificing health-care workers. This applause from countless doorsteps, along with daily medical-scientific-political bulletins, and a distinctive address from the Queen, generated both a diffuse and highly focused ritualization of British society, all at a time when major religious buildings were actually closed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Atmos-fear and semiotic devices: How to turn the right to healthcare into a war

This chapter explore the history of civilizations, the social regulation of fear and hope has been a powerful tool of control: opposite emotions that share the common orientation towards the uncertainty of the future. For example, all religions elaborate on a vision of the afterlife. The uncertainty of future fate, the fear of punishment, or the hope of salvation regulate people's conduct in the present. The iconography of heavenly or hellish places is used as a semiotic device to admonish believers and guide behavior in different spheres of everyday life. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, politicians, doctors, and journalists talked about the war on the virus. This powerful metaphor is meant to mobilize the populations towards a common goal by appealing to the emotional dimension. The military metaphor evokes a field of meaning that activates a sense of fear, sacrifice, togetherness, and belonging. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Global pandemics and epistemic crises in psychology: A socio-philosophical approach

Using COVID-19 as a base, this groundbreaking book brings together several renowned scholars to explore the concept of crisis, and how this global event has shaped the discipline of psychology. It engages directly with the challenges that psychology continues to face when theorizing societal issues of gender, race, class, history, and culture, while not disregarding "lived" experiences. This edited volume offers a set of pathways to rethink psychology beyond its current scope and history to become more apt to the conditions, needs, and demands of the 21st century. The book explores topics like resilience, interpersonal relationships, mistrust in the government, and access to healthcare. Dividing the book into three distinct sections, the contributors first examine the current crisis within psychology, then go on to explore how psychology theorizes the subject and the other in a social world of perpetual political, economic, cultural, and social crises, and lastly consider the role of crises in the creation of new theorizing. This is essential reading for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of theoretical and philosophical psychology, social psychology, community psychology, and developmental psychology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Global Agri-Food Sector: Challenges and Opportunities in COVID-19 Pandemic.

COVID-19 pandemic has been catastrophic for almost everything including the global economy. Among many sectors, the food and the agriculture sector was the worst hit following the immediate lockdown and market shutdowns. Though some stability was prevalent from supply side till date, however, the severe restrictions put in place to curb the spread of pandemic have endangered the supply of agricultural and food articles contemporaneously across borders and from field to fork. While the income decline due to price falland supplies chain disruptions due to pandemic have escalated the food shortages in several of developing and developed countries. Nevertheless the global demand for food items has remained more or less unchanged owing to their inelastic demand. Even within the global level, the scenario of food security and supply chain stability has been substantially deplorable for emerging and less developing countries due to their lack of insulation to the global shocks or pandemics. Notably, the technological backwardness, excessive know-how dependence and denied accessibility on several grounds lead to poverty and food hunger in these countries. At the policy level, a holistic approach specifically targeted towards the developing and less developed economies is highly warranted to ensure an appreciable progress towards the minimisation of sensitivity with regard to agriculture and food security. Apart from the measures to insulate them from global shocks, additional steps need to be taken to alleviate their technological backwardness and denied accessibility on certain socio-cultural norms.