INNOVATIVE UTILIZATION OF VIRTUAL CONFERENCING APPLICATIONS: BASIS FOR NEW TECHNOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT APPROACH

In this fourth industrial revolution of technologies, video conferencing applications are now utilized for online business meetings, online classes, and scientific and experimental purposes engaged in a virtual meeting room due to rigorous cases of coronavirus disease 2019. Several difficulties and technical disruptions were encountered in using the said apps, especially during online classes and business conferences. In connection thereto, this Optimization and Innovative Utilization of Virtual Conferencing Applications dissertation were developed to have a new basis for a technological management approach based on the most commonly used video conferencing applications. The encountered problems, considered factors, and optimization processes were also determined. Descriptive quantitative research was used as methodology, and initial closed-ended questionnaires, evaluation forms with a 4-point Likert scale, interviews, consultations, and testing were the instruments and sources of data. Three hundred one (301) respondents were randomly selected around the Province of Laguna, Philippines, composed of 203 respondents from schools, 78 respondents from companies, and 20 professional evaluators. The developed strategic model was evaluated using 6 out of 8 general characteristics of the ISO/IEC 25010: 2011 system quality model, which includes usability, reliability, performance efficiency, maintainability, compatibility, and security. All data gathered were validated as well as the statistical treatments such as percentage, weighted and composite means, and t-test, which was used to determine the significant difference between the normal and optimized utilization of video conferencing applications. Obtained results revealed that utilizing the developed strategic model was significantly more acceptable and effective rather than the normal utilization of the common apps. The teachers and students and as well as the workers of business enterprises are the beneficiaries of this study to optimize and utilize the said applications for better learning and optimal workflow © 2006-2023 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved

Emotional Labour During the COVID-19 Pandemic—Current Inquiry and Suggested Future Research Directions

The objective of this article is to examine the impact of macro-extreme emotional experience (MEEE) and the new societal norms during the COVID-19 pandemic on health and well-being and their situational consequences on emotional labour of frontline employees. The vast literature on emotional labour in the past has focused on several situational cues, and individual and organizational factors as antecedents. We did a systematic review of available literature on emotional labour, literature on sentiment analysis and emotional experience during the pandemic and analysed COVID-19 related blogs using Natural Language Processing (NLP) in RStudio. At the same time, we attempted to look at the possible intervention of individual factors of MEEEs and social aspects of the new societal norms as antecedents on emotion regulation process and its outcome and propose a conceptual framework for future research on emotional labour under the ‘new normal'. It was concluded that perceived risk, fear and anxiety are extreme emotions that individuals are experiencing during the pandemic. © 2023 XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources.

What's So Funny About COVID-19? How Some Comic Strip Artists Have Approached or Avoided a Sensitive Subject

Newspaper comic strip artists in the "funny pages” have approached the subject of the COVID-19 pandemic in a number of ways. There was a delayed reaction to the pandemic because of the significant lead times preceding when the strip appeared in the paper. Some artists chose never to address the pandemic;other strips are "classic” in that they had appeared previously before the pandemic (e.g., Classic Peanuts, For Better or Worse) or were firmly grounded in a different time period (e.g., Prince Valiant) and would not be expected to broach the subject. A variety of aspects of the pandemic were fodder for the strips and panels such as: shortages and rationing, quarantine behavior, hand washing and mask wearing, escapism, family togetherness and its opposite, loneliness, social distancing, virtual meetings and telecommuting. Some of these subjects are exaggerated in an attempt to highlight their humorous, even ludicrous, aspects. Others are especially poignant and pay tribute to health care workers, delivery persons, grocery store employees, teachers, and other unsung heroes helping people get through the worst of the pandemic. Special attention is paid to the themes discussed in the following three comics: Dr. Rex Morgan, MD, Frank and Ernest, and Pearls Before Swine. Thirty-seven comic strips and panels appearing in the daily and Sunday editions of two different Kentucky newspapers to which the author subscribes;they form the basis for the study. These nationally syndicated strips were analyzed from the time of the first stay at home order in mid-March 2020 until the end of February 2021. This examination is exploratory in nature. Trends in the number of cartoons addressing aspects of COVID-19 are analyzed, but more importantly an attempt is made to interpret the themes of the comic strips or panels. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

The new normal: governance, disruption and the post-truth era

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the new normal within a continuum of three types of disruption, each of varying duration. References to the new normal draw attention to the periodic and rising importance of different levels, types, and consequences of game-changing disruption for those in governance roles.Design/methodology/approach In this conceptual research, given the discussion of a return to normalcy near the expected end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors organize the literature on disruption in governance into a disruption continuum - emergency, crisis and super crisis - to demonstrate the differences in each type of disruption to establish a distinct view of the new normal.Findings Within the three types of disruption, the first two suit the rational authority model in which disruption is turned over to those in governance roles. However, the rational authority model comes under attack in the super crisis and is increasingly associated with the post-truth era.Social implications In Type 3 disruptions or super crises, the failure of those in control to set the parameters of the new normal raises concerns that the center no longer holds, and as a result, the assumption of an attentive public splinter into multiple contending publics, each with its version of data, facts and images.Originality/value The new normal is typically treated after the result of a black swan or rare and surprising long-lived disruption. In this work, the formulation of the recurrence, ubiquity and controversy engendered by super crises suggests that it is one of the features attenuating and giving rise to fractious incivility in the post-truth era.

The Broad Impact of Infectious Disease Epidemics on Human Civilization: A Public Health Perspective

Slow acceptance and delayed response of the state/public have been a common feature in the history of infectious disease pandemics. Globalization affects both the genesis and the control strategies of the pandemics. The general public, health professionals, political leaders as well as administrative authorities, all have shown some or other changes in their routine working or living style while handling the COVID-19 situation. Gradually, the new ways of living ‘the new normal' have transformed into new behaviour. The response of different sections of society has also been different. The bulk of the changes was linked to the fear and panic about the chances of spread/catching of infection which brought the world to its knees. The second wave of the Corona pandemic in 2021 saw shortage and black marketeering of medical supply essentials. Vaccination has emerged as the dominant strategy this time. In the atmosphere of too many rumours, fake news, disinformation and so on, a third wave has now been predicted. There is a significant role of public health discipline in controlling any pandemic like Corona. Generic, age-old preventive measures are the only way out for the infections which spread through the respiratory route, with a fast person-to-person spread. Corona pandemic has provided a lesson for us that for communicable disease control, there is a need to inculcate a nature-friendly responsible behaviour to ensure peaceful co-existence between people and microbes. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021.

Recovery From Crisis

Whilst there is no universally agreed definition of ‘recovery' in the context of a healthcare system post-crisis, for the purpose of this chapter, recovery is defined as the change to functioning and operations in acute care hospitals from crisis state to non-crisis state. This chapter will present a summary of some of the experiences of healthcare systems worldwide to the COVID-19 pandemic including the successes and shortcomings from all levels within the system. We will present the impact of the pandemic on the building blocks of the healthcare system and outline considerations for its recovery as the early pandemic surge subsides. We will then present a case study of the recovery process from the perspective of SBH Health System in Bronx, USA, following the first surge of COVID-19 in March 2020. Within this, we intend to highlight specific areas for improvement that were indicated by our healthcare system during the crisis and use these lessons learned to implement a plan for recovery of hospital services, continued improvements in-patient care and preparedness for future crises. © SBH Health System 2022.

Instructional media selection principles for online medical education and emerging models for the new normal.

The COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting need to avoid in-person classes, compelled many faculty members to convert to a completely online instructional format. The literature on selecting media for medical educators, however, provided little assistance for them to make choices that facilitated learning through using alternative online instruction practices. In this study, we addressed the lack of guidance for the use of media to facilitate the effective online medical education. To optimise the transition from face-to-face educational modalities to online learning, we incorporated insights from theories of media synchronicity and learning. We considered the value of existing learning theories in influencing how we could guide entrenched face-to-face educators to online learning practice. Therefore, we employed existing theories and practice to assist in developing an algorithmic approach to guiding these educators. We reassessed the way taxonomies of learning objectives, practice-oriented learning experiences, the social and collaborative features of learning activities, and media synchronicity theory could have augmented face-to-face teaching, and influenced how these could be reconfigured to assist in the transition to online learning. Consequently, we have developed key principles to inform the continuity of design and selection of instructional media in the transition to medical online learning. We have constructed specific criteria for media selection that correspond to the 12 goals of medical learning. We found that the majority of the goals can be more enhanced by synchronous media than asynchronous versions. We discuss the role of instructional media in emergency online medical education as well as emerging models of media selection for the new normal in medical education and future directions for medical education media research.

Relationships, Rights, and Responsibilities: (Re)viewing the NHS Constitution for the post-pandemic 'new normal'.

Action needs to be taken to map out the fairest way to meet the needs of all NHS stakeholders in the post-pandemic 'new normal'. In this article, we review the NHS Constitution, looking at it from a relational perspective and suggesting that it offers a useful starting point for such a project, but that new ways of thinking are required to accommodate the significant changes the pandemic has made to the fabric of the NHS. These new ways of thinking should encompass concepts of solidarity, care, and (reciprocal) responsibility, grounded in an acceptance of the importance of relationships in society. To this end, we explore and emphasise the importance of our interconnections as NHS stakeholders and 're-view' the NHS Constitution from a relational perspective, concentrating on the rights and responsibilities it describes for patients and the public as NHS stakeholders. We argue that the NHS Constitution, of which most stakeholders are probably unaware, can be used as a tool to engage us, and to catalyse conversation about how our responsibilities as NHS stakeholders should change in the post-pandemic 'new normal'.