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Covid-19 turned the world upside down. What started as an impossible situation turned into a problem with new possibilities. Individuals, families, communities, and states worked tirelessly to restore balance to overworked systems. Using semi-structured interviews with teachers and administrators, this high school social worker set out to examine how COVID-19 challenged staff to rethink current educational practices like home visits. This qualitative ethno-infused phenomenological study examines the experiences of home visits by a school social worker during COVID-19. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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PurposeThis study aims to investigate the multiple influence paths or underlying mechanisms of entrepreneurial leadership (EL) on adaptive innovation from the perspectives of organizational learning and resource management, drawing on complex adaptive system theory.Design/methodology/approachWith a questionnaire survey of 317 senior and middle managers from different firms in China, structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized conceptual model, and bootstrapping method was employed to examine the multiple mediating effects.FindingsResults indicate that EL has a significant and positive effect on adaptive innovation. This relationship is partially mediated through exploitative learning, exploratory learning, resource bricolage and boundary-spanning integration, respectively. The impact of EL on adaptive innovation is also sequentially transmitted through exploitative learning and resource bricolage or exploratory learning and boundary-spanning integration.Originality/valueAdaptive innovation has become a firm competition strategy to cope with dynamic changes in current uncertain environment where EL can play its effectiveness to engage firms in such innovation activities. However, the question of why and how EL drives adaptive innovation has yet to be discussed. This study highlights the innovation effectiveness of EL and the triggering process of adaptive innovation, and contributes to several countermeasures for firms to implement leadership and innovation practices responding to uncertain environment.
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The virus has a big impact on the whole world. The new Coronavirus has a great impact on everyone's life and will even lead to changes in the world pattern. Because of the virus, society is not functioning properly, the recession, people's expectations of economic development are falling. Trains and planes were suspended in some areas. In this paper, computer is used to simulate SIR model, based on system dynamics, to study the spread of infectious diseases. The SIR model passes reality and limit tests. On the basis of the original model, supplementing the original model, isolation and vaccination can effectively stop the spread of the virus. It can slow the outbreak of the virus and reduce the number of infected people. Panic comes from the unknown, and our confidence in defeating the 2019-nCoV virus comes from our scientific base. © 2022 IEEE.
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According to the smoke detector and functional flexibility principles of human behavioral immune system (BIS), the exposure to COVID-19 cues could motivate vaccine uptake. Using the tool of Google Trends, we tested that coronavirus-related searches-which assessed natural exposure to COVID-19 cues-would positively predict actual vaccination rates. As expected, coronavirus-related searches positively and significantly predicted vaccination rates in the United States (Study 1a) and across the globe (Study 2a) after accounting for a range of covariates. The stationary time series analyses with covariates and autocorrelation structure of the dependent variable confirmed that more coronavirus-related searches compared with last week indicated increases in vaccination rates compared with last week in the United States (Study 1b) and across the globe (Study 2b). With real-time web search data, psychological scientists could test their research questions in real-life settings and at a large scale to expand the ecological validity and generalizability of the findings.
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The residential sector in Thailand has been a fast-growing energy consumption sector since 1995 at a rate of 6% per year. This sector makes a significant contribution to Thailand's rising electricity demand especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study projects Thailand's residential electricity consumption characteristics and the factors affecting the growth of electricity consumption using a system dynamics (SD) modeling approach to forecast long-term electricity consumption in Thailand. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown can be seen as a forced social experiment, with the findings demonstrating how to use resources under particular circumstances. Four key factors affecting the electricity demand used in the SD model development include (1) work and study from home, (2) socio-demographic, (3) temperature changing, and (4) rise of GDP. Secondary and primary data, through questionnaire survey method, were used as data input for the model. The simulation results reveal that changing behavior on higher-wattage appliances has huge impacts on overall electricity consumption. The pressure to work and study at home contributes to rises of electricity consumption in the residential sector during and after COVID-19 pandemic. The government and related agencies may use the study results to plan for the electricity supply in the long term. © 2023 World Scientific Publishing Co.
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One of the key indicators to measure the sustainability and resilience of a city during a public health crisis is how well it can meet the daily needs of its residents. During the COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai in 2022, e-commerce shopping and delivery became the most important method for ensuring the city's material supplies. This article uses the distribution data of a fresh e-commerce platform's pre-warehouse and static population distribution data to establish a basic material supply system evaluation model for the city and explore its resilience potential. Focusing on the central urban area of Shanghai, this study uses a population heat map with geographic coordinates to reflect the static distribution of residents and obtains the distribution data of the e-commerce pre-warehouses. Using kernel density analysis, the relationship between the pre-warehouses and the residents' needs is established. Through analysis, it was found that the supply capacity of fresh food in different areas of Shanghai during the lockdown could be categorized as insufficient, adequate, or excessive. Based on these three categories, improvement strategies were proposed. Finally, this article suggests establishing a scientific supply security system to promote urban sustainability and prepare for future challenges.
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The increasing anxiety and reactivity across society witnessed in elections, responses to COVID-19, and even within personal posts on social media platforms is a phenomenon that is growing invasively and pervasively present in ministry leadership. Murray Bowen's family systems theory (1978) seminal concepts of societal emotional process and emotional reactivity describe the phenomenon with acumen. This article outlines these two concepts and provides current examples of how they are being experienced by ministry leaders. Biblical examples demonstrate that the phenomenon has always been present in ministry leadership. Practical guidance is provided for ministry leaders to address this growing challenge by means of their own self-differentiation, thus providing an accessible response and strategy to this pervasive leadership issue.
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The more recent crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the contemporary protocols of the Western European-American parasitic paradigm. As any scholar of the Black Radical Tradition have argued, the emergence of global capitalism is indelibly tied to the emergence of the transatlantic slave trade and is constitutive of the emergence of Black(ness)/racialization of Black people. Furthermore, the underlying assumptions of Western modernity's so-called scientific paradigm for comprehending the world, facilitates the justification of the ascendancy of whiteness in a hierarchy of being. Both racial capitalism and coloniality of being embodies the parasitism of the modern world-system that results in the dynamics of the pandemic.
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[...]shifting ideologies surrounding "the family” inform and carry implications for economic, political, cultural, and social practices and activities. [...]of this dominance and influence of the family, this special issue centers on family-focused library and information science (LIS) research and is borne from conversations and reflections posed at a 2019 iConference Session for Interaction and Engagement of the same name. [...]in "Students and Parents: How Academic Libraries Serve a Growing Population,” Marta Bladek employs multiple sources of data to draw attention to the challenges and barriers postsecondary students who are also parents must contend with as they attempt to access academic library services and supports. [...]the articles in this issue also highlight the diverse areas within LIS that may be enriched by a consideration of the family context, including the study of information practices (Han;McKenzie;Ortiz-Myers and Costello), archival practices and personal information management (Krtalić, Dinneen, Liew, and Goulding), consumer health information (Charbonneau and Akers), reader response theory (Velez), early literacy (Prendergast and Sharkey), and library service provision (Bladek).
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A critical issue in the study of scientific communication from a systems theoretical perspective is its role in multiple intersystem relationships. During COVID-19, politics has adopted scientific findings to inform political decisions. However, science has in response actively coordinated its operations for providing desired stimuli to politics. Luhmann identified advice as a form of structural coupling that links political and scientific systems. Advice is not a monolithic intervention by which one side acts on the other but is rather an interface that enables the two systems to relate through distancing. In this article, I empirically illustrate how the structural coupling of the political system and scientific system through advice manifests itself in an examination of the roles that various organizations (expert meeting and cluster task forces) have played in Japan's response to COVID-19. Through this analysis, I provide a theoretical insight regarding these organizations and a more detailed case analysis of the transformation of certain organizations to re-describe the system theoretical insights of advice in the form of scientific communication between politics and science.
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When the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world in March 2020, it impacted all areas of society. Most conspicuous were the lockdowns that were quickly imposed in many countries along with other restrictions. These in-terventions into the everyday life of ordinary citizens were, perhaps not surprisingly, often met with resistance by citizens and businesses that felt their rights were being trampled on by governments. In this paper, we analyse reactions towards the far-reaching measures taken by the Danish government to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the fur industry and thereby prevent the development of new mutations of the virus: to cull all minks and temporarily ban mink production in Denmark. We argue that by studying this case, valuable lessons can be learned regarding how a business community reacts when faced with a great reset. Taking the current climate crisis into consideration, it must be expected that emission-heavy industries, like agriculture, will be faced with calls to radically change their mode of production in the near future. In this sense, we propose to view the Danish mink case as an early example of what a great reset could look like, how it is perceived by those who experience it first-hand, and how feelings of resentment and resistance can develop following a logic of (mis)recognition.
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PurposeGlobal and interconnected supply chains are increasingly exposed to systemic risks, whereby individual failures propagate across firms, sectors and borders. Systemic risks have emerged from the decisions of individual firms, e.g., outsourcing and buffer reduction, and are now beyond their control. This paper aims to identify appropriate approaches to mitigating those risks.Design/methodology/approachSystemic risks require analyzing supply chains beyond a dyadic perspective. This study approaches the problem through the lenses of complex systems and network theories. Drawing on the lessons learned from other systemic-risk-prone systems, e.g. energy and financial networks, both in research and practice, this study analyzes the adequate level of governance to monitor and manage systemic risks in supply chains.FindingsThe authors argue that governance institutions should be mandated to overview and reduce systemic risks in supply chains from the top down, as central bankers do for the financial system. Using firm-level data and tools from network analysis and system dynamics, they could quantify systemic risks, identify risk-prone interconnections in supply chains and design mitigating measures. This top-down approach would complement the bottom-up supply chain management approach and could help insurers design policies for contingent business interruptions.Originality/valueInstead of looking at supply chains purely from the firms' angle, the perspective of insurers and governments is brought in to reflect on the governance of risks.
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Purpose: This study aims to create a system dynamics simulation model to forecast the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) if some decision-making is executed to reduce the negative of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In particular, this study will focus on SMEs that belong to the furniture industry because the furniture industry is one of the leading industries in Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach: The study develops a system dynamics-based model by using three subsystems, i.e. the "production subsystem,” "demand and revenue subsystem” and "raw material (or wood supply) subsystem.” Findings: The best scenario is the third scenario which increases the capacity to the normal situation and government subsidy during and after the pandemic. This scenario gives the best performance for industry revenue and gross domestic product (GDP). However, for the government, the most significant expenditure occurs in the third scenario. This seems a trade-off for the government whether to save the wooden-based furniture industry by encouraging the industry to continue operating during the pandemic accompanied by high subsidies or limiting the activities of the wooden-based furniture industry to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by providing low subsidies. Research limitations/implications: First, this study does not try to combine the system dynamics (SD) methodology with the other method or use a multi-methodology since SD has several limitations and the other method may have several advantages compared to SD. Second, the models used in this study do not consider the decline in forest area and quality. Third, the demand for wooden-based furniture is obtained from historical data on domestic and foreign sales and fourth, the model does not include the government budget as a constraint to make any subsidy to help the SMEs. Practical implications: This study provides essential insights into implementing the policies in the world pandemic situation when SMEs face lockdown policy. Social implications: The study revealed that relevant policy scenarios could be built after simulating and analyzing each scenario's effect on SMEs' performance during the pandemic. Originality/value: This study will enrich the previous study on the impact of the pandemic on SMEs and the dynamic system modeling on SMEs. The previous study discussed the pandemic's impact on SME performance and the impact's analysis in isolation from the dynamic nature of SME owners' decisions or government policy. In this study, the impact generated from the pandemic situation could be different depending on the decision and policies taken by managers from SMEs and the government. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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In the context of the industrial revolution 4.0 that is firmly taking place globally, the digital transformation process is considered a revolution that changes the operating and business model. In Vietnam, logistics is one of eight areas that need to be prioritized in the national conversion program to 2025, the orientation towards 2030 by the Prime Minister under Decision No. 749/QĐ-TTg. Digital transformation is an essential solution that helps businesses improve their competitiveness, increase labor productivity, sustainably develop businesses, and integrate with the global economy. This study analyzes the influencing factors of digital transformation and the situation in Vietnam's logistics enterprises. This paper used a qualitative research method carried out through direct interviews with 20 digital transformation experts in the field of logistics about the current situation, adjusting models and scales, and discussing research results. Quantitative research was conducted online through 258 survey questionnaires of logistics enterprises in the country. The authors performed descriptive statistics, tested the scale, analyzed EFA using SPSS software, and tested the research hypotheses. Research results indicate that five factors—managers, digital transformation human resources, information technology, investment cost, and support services for digital transformation—affect the digital conversion activity in logistics enterprises. Afterward, the research team proposed solutions to promote this operation in Vietnam's logistics enterprises, contributing to implementing critical tasks of the government's digital transformation.
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PurposeCOVID-19 affects the peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation industry. With regard to prospect theory, individuals' negative emotions, such as institutional distrust, are easily evoked and impede consumption intention in an environment of permeating uncertainty and risks. While existing research indicates the negative effects of institutional distrust, scant research has explored its antecedents and intervention mechanisms. This study thus aims to unveil the influencing factors and explore mitigating mechanisms of customers' institutional distrust of P2P accommodations.Design/methodology/approachOnline reviews data were used to identify the underlying critical issues. The authors developed a model to depict how institutional distrust is formed under the boundary condition of subjective norm by the results. The model was verified using a questionnaire survey. Finally, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted to ensure its robustness.FindingsThe external environment and internal platform effectiveness are two critical aspects affecting institutional distrust of P2P accommodations. The external environment influences institutional distrust through perceived threat, explaining the formation mechanism of customers' institutional distrust through customers' internal psychology. Furthermore, the authors found subjective norm moderating the effect of perceived threat on customers' institutional distrust.Research limitations/implicationsThis is one of the first studies, to the best of the authors' knowledge, to explore institutional distrust of P2P accommodations after COVID-19. The finding contributes to studies on P2P accommodation by uncovering the contingent role of subjective norm in influencing customers' institutional distrust.Originality/valueThis is a pioneering study that explores the antecedents and mitigating mechanisms of institutional distrust of P2P accommodations during the new normal of COVID-19.
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As universities contend with high rates of student attrition from intended STEM majors, due to many students' difficulty in passing entry-level mathematics courses, they must examine the systems they have in place and determine how best to support these students. Historically, graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are assigned to introductory calculus classes, which serve as undergraduate-level gatekeeping courses. On one hand, this allows for additional instructors to assist mathematics faculty;however, many universities do not provide adequate training in pedagogy for their GTAs. Untrained GTAs may not have the requisite pedagogical content knowledge to teach and support struggling students. GTAs should be prepared to teach both content and disciplinary literacy, so they can help students build mathematical knowledge.This two-case qualitative study examines how GTAs trained in pedagogical content knowledge are able to build mathematical literacy knowledge within a calculus instructional system through the theoretical lenses of Knowledge Building (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2003), Ecological Systems (Bronfenbrenner, 1977) and Activity Systems (Engstrom, 1987). As acquisition of mathematical literacy and fluency in the mathematics spoken and written registers is imperative for students to progress in higher-level mathematics courses, experienced GTAs are positioned to provide supports for students who work toward achieving proficiency in calculus.Even working within system constraints, such as social distancing mandates during the covid-19 pandemic, these GTAs were able to draw on their pedagogical content knowledge to help remediate students in a hybrid classroom environment. Seven Knowledge Building principles surfaced in both the calculus system and the GTAs' classrooms. Universities should consider providing extensive training in pedagogy for their GTAs to become more effective instructors to help offset high attrition rates of their intended STEM majors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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This paper adopts Leiper's ([1990]. Tourist attraction systems. Annals of Tourism Research, 17(3), 367–384. https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-7383(90)90004-B) tourism system theory to examine the impact of COVID-19 on Kenya's tourism sector. The authors argue that tourism remains an important source of national revenue in Kenya and the severe negative effects of the pandemic as well as the resulting government measures to curb the spread of the disease threaten to undermine the gains made in recent years to revive the sector. The paper identifies that while much emphasis has been put on the impact of the disease on countries' national health systems and its epidemiology, few studies have been conducted to examine the relationship between COVID 19 and the tourism sector, especially in developing countries. The paper provides researchers and practitioners with an analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on the social and economic dimensions of tourism in Kenya and concludes with a set of recommendations that can shape Kenya's post-pandemic tourism sector recovery plans.
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Iraq's oil Industry Is the country's main source of income. Iraq's manufacturing sector has always been heavily dependent on the country's oil exports. Since the end of the Iraq War, Iraq has expanded its output and is currently the region's second-largest producer. For this investigation, the grey model was run using data on the monthly international price of Iraqi oil from October 2020 through September 2022. Researchers evaluated the MAPE and accuracy rate to choose which model to employ for oil price forecasting, and we found that the GM(2,1) model was the best fit for capturing the dynamics of the Iraqi oil market (precision rate = 96%, MAPE = 4%).
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Forecasting the demand for cold chain logistics of agricultural products will help to achieve the balance between supply and demand of agricultural products and promote the healthy development of the cold chain logistics industry of agricultural products. This paper collects relevant data from 2015 to 2020 in Shanghai, and uses grey correlation analysis to conduct correlation analysis on the factors influencing the demand for cold chain logistics of fresh agricultural products. The traditional GM (1,1) model, the new information GM (1,1) model and the metabolism GM (1,1) model are used to forecast the demand for cold chain logistics of agricultural products in Shanghai in the next five years respectively. The grey correlation analysis shows that the employees of the tertiary industry and the total import and export of goods have the greatest impact on the market demand of cold chain logistics and the results of the three GM (1,1) models show that the sum of squared errors of using the new information GM (1,1) model is smaller. Finally, using the new information GM (1,1) model to forecast the demand for cold chain logistics of agricultural products in Shanghai from 2021 to 2025, and it is found that the overall demand for agricultural cold chain in Shanghai is on an upward trend. © 2022 IEEE.
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Orientation: It is widely acknowledged that career development needs to be viewed as a critical element by organisations to capacitate employees and contribute to organisational success. The role of career development in capacitating leaders to ensure effective quality management (QM) of training is not well known. Research purpose: This research aimed to investigate officers in corps training units' perceptions regarding the role of career development in managing the quality of training in the South African (SA) Army. Motivation for the study: Limited research exists concerning the career development of leaders responsible for the QM of training internationally and nationally. This study intended to fill the gap. Research design and method: Qualitative focus group interviews were conducted using a sample comprising 49 officers at six SA Army corps training units. Main findings: The appointment of unqualified and incompetent leaders in critical positions, lack of continuity in the staffing of personnel, the appointment of incompetent personnel in training positions and the lack of mentors and opportunities for mentoring of officers adversely affected the QM of training in the SA Army. Practical/managerial implications: There is a need for leaders in the SA Army to ensure that career development strategies are adequately planned and managed in the training context. This will ensure that leaders with adequate potential are appointed and developed to guarantee high-quality training. Contribution/value-add: This research provided an empirical description of the role that career development plays in the organisational system to ensure adequate QM of training.