bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Revolutionary and evolutionary change in emergency management
Authors: Mcentire David A.
Published: July 2024

The following paper acknowledges that disasters are on the rise and asserts that more must be done to counter their causes and minimise their adverse consequences. It reviews proposed shifts in thinking and suggests that recommendations to meet future challenges must be based on sound assumptions. The central finding of this study is that significant change in emergency management is needed, but may not be easily achieved because of numerous barriers that are inherent to the disaster problem. As such, preparedness measures and response operations will always be needed in spite of, and in addition to, further mitigation activities. Progress is therefore both likely and advantageous as long as emergency management policy is built on — but goes much further than — historical efforts.
Buildings emerge as drivers of health and profits
Authors: Muldavin Scott , Miers Chris R. , Mcmackin Ken
Published: July 2024

A confluence of factors has moved buildings to the forefront of efforts to promote the health and wellness of employees. This paper addresses why this has occurred, and how it will influence corporate real estate (CRE) and human resource decisionmaking in the future. The paper continues by describing and documenting a methodology for assessing the financial performance of health and wellness investments that can be used to analyse property and portfolio decisions (Property Health and Wellness ROI Model [The ROI Model]). The ROI Model is then applied to a hypothetical investment in the WELL Building StandardTM for a 200,000 sq.ft office building to demonstrate the sensitivity and substantial profit potential of building level investments in health and wellness. Proper financial assessment of health and wellness investments can enable dramatic improvements in occupant health and productivity, and provide a strong financial foundation for other energy and sustainability investments.3
Recommendations and personalisation: Three strategies for activating customer behaviour analytics insights
Authors: Earley Seth
Published: July 2024

This paper describes three approaches to personalisation and explains the methods for implementing each one. The reasons why many organisations have difficulty achieving effective personalisation are discussed, including lack of maturity in the required processes, architecture and data quality. Differences and similarities between personalisation and recommendations are reviewed, as well as the methods described for segmenting customers to present them with products and information tailored to their interests and needs. The paper identifies four dimensions that can be used for personalisation; preferences, location, topics and products/solutions. Methods required to carry out personalisation at scale are explained, and suggestions made regarding the development of the attributes needed for personalisation. The author highlights the importance of correctly modelling the customer journey in order to present the right information or products in response to signals from the customer.
Regenerating the urban: Evaluation of policy actions for strategic urban changes in the UK cities of Derby and Nottingham
Authors: Cheshmehzangi Ali
Published: July 2024

Many in the field of urban studies have analysed urban policy. This analysis can be used to evaluate the impact of policy in the face of continuous and rapid urban change and to help elaborate strategies that might reverse decline and propose effective regeneration programmes. Although challenges to achieving good governance structures and enabling urban regeneration remain, policy frameworks still depend on policy actions and outcomes as the key indicators for strategic urban change and development. With a focus on UK cities, this research paper explores the role of policy-driven urban strategies, and identifies the successes and failures in regenerating the city. As a result, this study aims to identify policy actions and creative initiatives that conceive mechanisms and approaches to regenerating the central cores of the cities (particularly small and medium-scaled cities). The comparative study of two urban regeneration case studies will help to identify how the UK cities deal with strategic urban changes and development of policy actions. The paper concludes with development of strategic urban change and how urban regeneration programmes help to reduce urban pressures.
Nature-based extended reality for inclusive learning in environmental design
Authors: Elvin George
Published: July 2024

As inclusive learning gains importance in higher education, can online education help make the virtual experience of nature and design in nature available to all? Too often, outdoor experiences such as field trips require resources beyond the reach of some students. But through the use of virtual reality headsets and related technologies, extended reality (XR) can create virtual nature-based educational experiences for all students. This is particularly important in environmental education, which centres on design for and understanding of natural environments. This paper proposes innovative online learning strategies and technologies in nature-based extended reality (NXR) courses for inclusive learning in environmental design. It describes the author’s planning of a NXR graduate architectural design course. It also offers a framework for structuring the ideas, activities and resources required to offer such NXR courses in an environmental design curriculum. A pilot NXR course has taken place in autumn 2022. Later publications will discuss the results of this experiment and evaluate its success. The pilot course is a graduate seminar in the author’s College of Design that has been taught for eight semesters. The pilot course can provide valuable lessons transferable to all of the design studio courses that form the backbone of a learner’s educational experience in the college. The pilot project is intended to create interactive, immersive, virtual experiences to all students on the course. NXR will allow the students to not only visit the site of a building design project and interact with design clients virtually, but also enable the students to design the project collaboratively in a virtual reality environment. This can be achieved without requiring students to buy or rent expensive equipment. More importantly, NXR learning makes these experiences available to all students regardless of ability and resources.
Brand journalism: How to engage successfully with consumers in an age of inclusive individuality
Authors: Light Larry
Published: July 2024

Brand journalism helps brands engage powerfully with the modern consumer. Marketers must build consistent powerful brands in an environment that demands global consistency, local differentiation and personal relevance all at the same time. There is also an important development in customer values and behaviours. The customer wants to be respected as an individual and wants to feel they belong to something bigger than just themselves: this is called a need for ‘inclusive individuality’. Brand journalism is the best approach for addressing these challenges.
Using social data to develop social intelligence: Case study of Cisco
Authors: Lau Leslie
Published: July 2024

Working with customers to identify their needs and provide solutions that support their success is central to the creation of long-lasting customer partnerships. Social media channels help develop and maintain these customer relationships. This paper describes the example of Cisco, which has over 515,000 Facebook fans and more than 288,000 Twitter followers on its corporate channel. Cisco also drives community engagement via other social channels including, but not limited to, YouTube, SlideShare and LinkedIn. In addition, it supports social media interaction with its customers, partners and prospects through the Cisco Blogs (blogs.cisco.com) and Cisco Communities (communities.cisco.com) platforms. Engaging with one’s audience through such social channels is an important key to developing strong relationships. Furthermore, the power of social media increases exponentially when one integrates social media into core business processes, leading to customer loyalty, deeper relationships and a true partnership between the company and its customers. This is the promise of social customer relationship management.
Patient access metrics in the ambulatory enterprise
Authors: Woodcock Elizabeth , Kier Sarah , Zhao Vivian
Published: July 2024

This paper explores published articles that report on results from research conducted on patient access in the ambulatory enterprise, and the relationship with tracking performance and developing appropriate metrics from which to measure and monitor. Examining the calculation and use of indicators to track access improvements, the authors suggest that industry metrics should be expanded and standardised in order to fully understand the current state of patient access management, as well as performance improvement opportunities. The primary objective of this paper is to propose an essential set of process and outcome metrics to provide insight for leaders of health care organisations to optimise performance related to patient access in the ambulatory enterprise. Tracking performance related to patients‘ access to care is essential for every health system. This article explores the best methods for measuring and tracking performance on patient access in the ambulatory enterprise. Patients‘ velocity to care begins in the ambulatory enterprise. Measuring access to care in the ambulatory enterprise is essential to the successful delivery of care in a health system, as the ambulatory setting is cost-effective and patient-centred.
Does risk culture matter? The relationship between risk culture indicators and stress test results
Authors: Fritz-Morgenthal Sebastian , Hellmuth Julia , Packham Natalie
Published: July 2024

A strong risk culture is generally thought to be valuable to an institution as it is said to strengthen the institution’s resilience. Can this claim be substantiated? In our research, we show that quantitative and qualitative risk culture indicators can be identified. Using a comprehensive dataset comprising 81 European banks, two scores are developed: a score for risk culture based on risk culture indicators, and a stress test score based on the 2014 ECB stress test outcome. Two hypotheses are tested: first, is there a relationship between the risk culture score and stress indicators (in this case, derived from the 2014 ECB stress test)? The results confirm that a relatively better stress test result corresponds to a better risk culture of a financial institution: two quantitative ratios, the leverage ratio and a variable quantifying adjustments derived from the AQR, entail significant explanatory power. Secondly, which individual risk culture indictors best explain the individual results of the ECB stress test? The qualitative factors showing a high significance are ‘governance’ and ‘other effects’, which include, for example, one-off effects.
Data colonialism on Facebook for personalised advertising: The discrepancy of privacy concerns and the privacy paradox
Authors: Chan Seyha
Published: July 2024

In the digital era, Facebook serves as one of the leading sources of personal data and monetises that information for advertising purposes. This study aims to investigate users' perceptions regarding personal data collection and privacy concerns on Facebook and to explore the mediation between privacy concerns and the privacy paradox in relation to personalised advertising outcomes. To address this gap, data was collected through a mixed-method approach by conducting an online survey with 155 respondents, followed by five in-depth semi-structured interviews. The study indicated that most respondents were concerned about their personal information being aggregated and monetised by Facebook without users' consent. Most survey respondents never/rarely clicked on Facebook advertising formats such as photo, video, stories, messenger, carousel, slideshow, collection and playable advertising. However, survey and interview data divulged that they sometimes clicked on and engaged in influencer advertising because they regarded this content as informative, attractive and reliable for product reviews. The study discovered that respondents felt ambivalent towards personalised advertising and sometimes traded their privacy to get immediate benefits from the advertising. Their privacy decision-making process was affected by a cost–benefit calculation, which resulted in what is known as the ‘privacy paradox’, where an individual intentionally divulges personal information on social media despite stating privacy concerns.
Eye tracking provides valuable insights in neuroscience: An empirical brand perception food marketing study
Authors: Pinci Francesco
Published: July 2024

This study examines the importance of product packaging as a marketing medium. Using the example of commercially available pasta, the research focuses on key visual aspects of its packaging, such as colour, shape, packaging material and logo. The findings from studies like this are particularly important to food and beverage companies as they help marketers better understand the consumer purchase decision process. The study analyses data gathered from surveys administered through Google Modules, and visualisation data obtained using iMotions eye-tracker software. The results confirm the importance of packaging design elements such as colour and product information when it comes to consumer buying behaviour.
Why sustainability? Because risk evolves and risk management should too
Authors: Antoncic Madelyn
Published: July 2024

This paper discusses the evolution of risk management to include the sustainability risk space, which has developed a range of approaches to measure and manage so-called nonfinancial risks (such as extreme climate change-induced catastrophes, data fraud and theft, and social ills, to name a few) that can pose significant micro- and macroeconomic threats. We note that, although the practise of sustainability risk management is still evolving, environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards and metrics have emerged that may help companies in their strategic planning and decision-making processes, as well as in measuring, managing, mitigating and/or where appropriate eliminating these material ESG-related risk exposures. Secondly, the paper summarises selected approaches to corporate sustainability reporting and observe that the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board’s industry-specific, financially material framework is uniquely well-suited for use in the context of identifying, assessing, responding to, and monitoring enterprise-level risks and opportunities. By drawing explicit links between sustainability and finance, this materiality-driven perspective has been shown to help companies enhance return on assets and return on equity, as well as risk-adjusted shareholder returns. The paper analyses shareholders’ increasing interest in ESG risks, opportunities, and related data, which helps them analyse performance across corporations and allocate economic capital to its best, most efficient users. Ultimately, investor-focused ESG reporting can help corporations address risks and opportunities in a way that is mutually beneficial to the organisation, its shareholders, and society at large, incentivising companies to become better global citizens and leading to more sustainable and inclusive economic growth and development. The paper concludes by suggesting business is the best agent for change that can help transition to a more robust and resilient global economy.
A study to identify winning strategies for the business community during the next pandemic
Authors: Spriggs Martin
Published: July 2024

This study examines the relationship between the healthcare system and the corporate sector to answer the following research question: how does the healthcare system best prepare small to medium-sized businesses for the next pandemic influenza? Data were collected and collated through a literature review, electronic survey and semi-structured follow-up telephone interviews. The participants were businesses with membership in the Alberta Chambers of Commerce, a provincial lobby group in Alberta, Canada. The findings indicate strategies that were effective in minimising impact to the business community during the H1N1 pandemic and suggest areas for the business community to improve in preparation for the next pandemic influenza. Recommendations focus on establishing new links for communication between the business community and the healthcare sector and improving strategies to increase the resilience of small to medium-sized businesses for the next pandemic influenza.
Digital transformation in Japan’s banking industry
Authors: Yanagawa Eiichiro
Published: July 2024

The emergence of digital has brought massive change to both the demand (consumer) side of financial services as well as the supply side (financial institutions). Financial institutions must not only understand these developments but also the work required to find new business models and IT solutions to manage them. When it comes to such modernisation projects, this paper advocates the following: (1) watch the market vigilantly; (2) focus on the customer experience; (3) bring flexibility to investments; (4) ensure digitisation contributes to increased revenue; and (5) formulate a roadmap focused on essential concrete resources and know- how rather than vague ideas of functionality that would be nice to have.
Five steps to organisational resilience: Being adaptive and flexible during both normal operations and times of disruption
Authors: Butler Chris
Published: July 2024

This paper outlines the importance of organisational resilience and the need for businesses to take a dynamic, innovative and proactive approach in managing risks to their reputation, operations, financial position and viability. It proposes a way of thinking about resilience that entails more than simply returning to the status quo ante following a disruption. Risks and disruptions should be seen as opportunities to adapt and evolve in the face of hyperconnected networks, advanced cyber threats, highly competitive environments and changing customer expectations. The advent of social media has upped the tempo for organisations, and future technological trends include automation, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and more targeted and innovative cyber attacks. Resilient organisations must increase collaboration and cooperation, both vertically and horizontally, internally and externally. To prepare for and respond to likely disruptions, C-suites must integrate more closely with production and systems. This paper proposes steps that organisations can take to improve their organisational resilience, which will have benefits both for normal operational activities, and when responding in a crisis.
Effectively hedging the interest rate risk of wide floating-rate coupon spreads
Authors: Schröder Thomas , Dunbar Kwamie
Published: July 2024

Bond issuers frequently immunise/hedge their interest rate exposure by means of interest rate swaps (IRS). The receiving leg matches all bond cash flows, while the pay leg requires floating rate coupon payments of form LIBOR plus a spread. The goal of hedging against interest rate risk is only achieved in full if the present value of this spread is zero. Using market data it is shown that under a traditional IRS hedging strategy an investor could still experience significant cash flow losses given a 1 per cent shift in the underlying benchmark yield curve. Consideration is given to the instantaneous interest rate risk of a bond portfolio that allows for general changes in interest rates. Two contributions are made. The paper analyses the size of hedging imperfections arising from the widening of the floating rate spread in a traditional swap contract and subsequently proposes two new practical, effective and analytically tractable swap structures: Structure 1: an improved parallel hedge swap, hedges against parallel shifts of the yield curve; and Structure 2: an improved non-parallel hedge swap, hedges against any movement of the swap curve. Analytical representations of these swaps are provided such that spreadsheet implementations are easily attainable.
Decarbonisation of facility services supported by IT
Authors: Pelzeter Andrea , May Michael , Herrmann Tim , Ihle Franziska , Salzmann Philipp
Published: July 2024

Building owners as well as building users expect climate-neutral building operation within the next one or two decades. The first step in this direction is the analysis on where and how much CO2 is emitted. Building operation requires a variety of facility services (FS), for instance, cleaning, security, catering, inspection and maintenance. For those services a method is needed that allows CO2 emissions to be determined transparently and evaluated with regard to their drivers. An additional challenge lies in the lack of key figures on CO2 emissions per product. Within the framework of the research project ‘CarMa – Carbon Management for Facility Services’ a modular method for the determination of CO2 in FS was developed in close collaboration with FM practitioners, service providers and academics. The CarMa method considers four modules: equipment, operating consumables, transport and overheads. The web-based IT tool carbonFM supports the definition and assignment of products, transport routes, etc. to the respective services. Once this information is entered into the database, the evaluation can start with regard to the significant CO2 drivers. The second step builds on these results and helps identify the benefits of potential alternatives in how to optimise the services with respect to CO2 emissions. Findings of the project are that mobility and machine use are key drivers of CO2 emissions in FS. Process design in FM should react, for example, by preferring a full-day assignment for its staff to employing various persons simultaneously only a few hours a day. On the other hand, route optimisation and time control of equipment use can reduce the consumption of fuel and electric power.
The search for identity in a global world: The case of Doha in Qatar
Authors: Boussaa Djamel , Alattar Deema , Nafi Sara
Published: July 2024

During the second half of the 20th century, urban areas in the Arabian Gulf countries underwent massive change as they transformed from small villages into global cities. This was due to these countries’ development from pearling- and fishing-based economies into ones based on oil, followed by in many cases by efforts to transition into more broad-based economies. In the case of Doha, the capital of Qatar, oil revenues have been used to develop a new modern city, but little attention was paid to the conservation of the local cultural heritage. Many buildings that were old were treated as reminders of an earlier, poorer life and thus gave way to more modern replacements. High-rise buildings were built for economic benefit and to project the image of a global city. Meanwhile, rapid development led to an expansion of the city in all directions. In parallel, the old city centre deteriorated and has become an area of refuge for low-income foreign workers. Today, Doha has become a global city, its coastal skyline gleaming with glassy high-rise buildings, but with few reminders of the local Qatari culture. The demolition process and construction of modern buildings and facilities has led many to feel that the city has lost its identity and sense of place. This paper explores the recent efforts to conserve and reconstruct the local city identity. For example, some construction projects are following newer trends based on renovation and rehabilitation; these include the rehabilitation project of Souk Waqif and the ongoing Msheireb regeneration project. In addition, a number of new projects make use of the local Qatari architectural style, as is the case with the Gulf Mall, the Ministry of Interior and the traffic headquarters buildings.
Breaking down silos between business continuity and cyber security
Authors: Phillips Rick , Tanner Brandon
Published: July 2024

Every year, most businesses experience a cyber attack of some sort. Despite the fact that these attacks can interrupt business operations, many organisations lack an effective business continuity response. While some organisations do have cyber security and incident response functions in place, they focus more on mitigating the attack itself than on ensuring business operations can continue in the interim. To understand why it is important to integrate cyber security into the business continuity plan, business continuity planners must first be familiar with the common cyber threats organisations face as well as the far-reaching impact of data breaches. Then, they must address the root causes of the breakdown between business continuity and cyber security: the lack of a security culture, boardroom support and a coordinated response. Practical steps for integrating cyber security into the business continuity response include starting a conversation with those responsible for cyber security, determining the appropriate response to cyber incidents, assessing the organisation’s recovery needs and testing the response strategy. Ideally, however, organisations should prevent attacks altogether. As employees are often the primary point of failure in cyber security preparedness, organisations should improve their cyber security posture by investing in education and awareness from the top down.
The evolution of model risk management processes
Authors: Garro Maurizio
Published: July 2024

Model risk is a relatively new area that only recently separated from operational risk. This paper provides an overview of what needs to be done in model risk management versus the older concept of model validation. The works published by the Federal Reserve and later by the European Baking Authority and Bank of England have helped to establish the foundations for a model risk framework. The real challenge for model risk is to evolve from a pure cost to a valueadded function for financial institutions. This journey requires the application of many elements, including a consistent model definition and performance monitoring of model risk in line with the risk appetite and business model of financial institutions. The final step is to identify a coherent and clear way to aggregate and report model risk to allow senior management to fully understand it in detail and integrate it in the broader risk management strategy.
The taxation of repos: Key tax risks and how to manage them
Authors: Walker Martin
Published: July 2024

Tax risks arise in connection with repo transactions, specifically the transfer of securities by way of collateral. These tax risks, including withholding tax, capital gains tax and transfer tax, have the potential to exceed commercial profits arising from a repo transaction and so should be fully understood and carefully managed. These tax risks can arise in the jurisdiction where the repo parties are based and in the market where the repo securities are issued, and are exacerbated by the fact that at the heart of every repo transaction is a tax ownership tension, with the result that it is not always clear whether the repo seller or buyer is the tax (or beneficial) owner of the securities posted as collateral and any income arising on those securities during the term of the repo. At the same time, tax authorities are increasingtheir scrutiny of financial market transactions and imposing new taxes on them. This article outlines the key tax risks arising in connection with repo transactions and how to manage them effectively in practice.
Disruptive and destructive? A typology of social bots in public relations
Authors: Choong Janica , Wang Ming (Bryan)
Published: July 2024

While social bots have the potential to become virtual influencers and shape online conversations about organisations, the public relations (PR) industry is largely not prepared for them. This paper provides a working definition of social bots in the context of strategic communication, reviews the use of social bots in PR and proposes a typology of social bots along two dimensions: intent and autonomy. The paper discusses major types of social bots in the PR industry and offers illustrative examples.
From lowly caterpillar to elegant butterfly : The story of the recent emergence of US selfstorage as an institutional-grade asset class
Authors: Williams Steve
Published: July 2024

No property sector has undergone a transformation quite as remarkable as US self-storage — truly a story of lowly caterpillar to elegant butterfly. This paper looks at 60 years of changing US lifestyles to find out what has driven America’s self-storage sector out of the industrial park and onto ‘Main Street USA’. Current statistics show rising values and falling cap rates, with self-storage portfolios becoming a prime target for US real estate investment trusts (REITs). Finally, the paper considers whether this is a trend likely to be repeated elsewhere in the developed world.
Office-to-residential conversions under permitted development: De-regularising the planning system
Authors: Derbyshire Mike , Havers Tim
Published: July 2024

The Government's drive to reduce planning regulations and simplify the planning system is continuing with the urgent requirement to increase housing supply remaining a key driving force. A temporary permitted development right to allow the conversion of B1(a) office buildings to C3 residential has been in place since 30th May, 2013 and the Government recently consulted on proposals to make both this amendment to the General Permitted Development Order permanent and to introduce further rights to convert other commercial buildings to residential without the need for planning permission. There has been considerable resistance to the existing temporary amendment from Local Planning Authorities, and this is likely to continue as further changes come into force. Take up of the temporary permitted development right has varied, with some areas, such as the London Borough of Islington, being inundated with prior approvals while other areas, such as Cambridge, have seen little market interest. Permitted development right conversions should be approached positively as the intention of policy and law makers is crystal clear, but proper attention should be paid to the potential pitfalls of the prior approval process, particularly during the initial bedding-in period following further amendments to the General Permitted Development Order. The new permitted development rights do, however, present an excellent opportunity to significantly increase asset values, while avoiding the need to make the usual planning contributions associated with the normal planning permission process.
Airport city developments: An airport investor's perspective
Authors: Poungias Peter
Published: July 2024

Since the 1990s, airports have been developing business operations outside the immediate field of aviation. In this context, the outstanding infrastructure which successful airports necessarily possess becomes a decisive locational advantage. Given an appropriate site and the right infrastructure, airports can be developed into airport cities. But not every airport is suitable for such development. This paper describes the factors key to the success of an airport city — above all, an individual purpose-designed approach integrated in the overall airport strategy.
Operational risk management and control: Managing data as a key enterprise asset
Authors: Manz Steve , Gesher Nolan
Published: July 2024

This paper explores the foundations for managing data as a key component of operational risk management (ORM). It reviews the drivers of ORM as they relate to middle and back-office operations, and the operational consequences of the legacy technology often used to meet these new challenges. The paper concludes by suggesting a framework approach to transform data management into an enterprise asset that supports the quest by operations professionals to master operational risk management. Readers will gain an understanding of specific market dynamics compelling the market towards change, the intricacies behind historical technology approaches and why these approaches can no longer support the organisations they serve, and the best practices approach to achieve a transformation to a new data management paradigm.
The future of digital retail payments in Europe: A place for digital cash?
Authors: Wandhöfer Ruth
Published: July 2024

This paper provides a perspective on the potential for central bank issued digital cash as a complementary retail payment tool for Europe. The research approach begins with a comparison of different types of money and their respective characteristics, including both traditional forms of money and private digital currencies such as Bitcoin. Against this backdrop and as an extension of the European Central Bank’s categorisation of forms of central bank issued cash, the paper elaborates the case for a central bank issued digital cash equivalent, labelled ‘d-cash’. Key questions ranging from the involvement of banks and non-bank payment service providers, to anonymity versus transparency and the role for consumer protection in d-cash are discussed. Following this theoretical analysis, the paper provides an overview of the current evolution of retail payments in Europe. The combination of infrastructure enhancements, regulatory change and technological innovations is poised to deliver more innovative services and bring more competition into the payments space. Depending on how these changes unfold over the coming years, European retail payments may be able to stand the competition with private digital currencies when it comes to payments. However, in the context of the substantial cash usage in Europe, which represents significant costs to society, the idea of introducing d-cash should be explored further.
Probabilistic causality and decisions on bailouts of financial institutions
Authors: Moreira Fernando
Published: July 2024

This paper uses probabilistic causality measures to support decisions about bailouts of financial institutions in non-crisis periods. The model suggested is simple and can easily be applied by practitioners. The approach is tested with daily market-based data of six large UK financial institutions. Contrary to what many experts claim, this study shows evidence that rescuing financial institutions is not always needed in order to prevent systemic crises.
Blockchain applications in humanitarian logistics
Authors: Gopal Gurram , Garcia Alvaro
Published: July 2024

Disaster relief is a key aspect of humanism and humanitarian actions. The delivery of adequate supplies at the right time and right place is critical for survival and recovery of the affected people, animals, plants and other entities. Since every dollar counts towards saving a life, the traceability of the shipments must be ensured, and the organisations involved in the process need to be aware of the delivered items to avoid duplication of relief efforts. Responsive, efficient and transparent supply chains have been difficult to build and execute as many disasters occur in underdeveloped or developing countries with poor infrastructure, corruption and other challenges. This paper explores the application of blockchain technologies to create a database ledger that can assure traceability and reliability and also avoid duplication. The use of ‘smart contracts’, which can be automatically executed in a blockchain, to promote transparency in contracts and performance and the movement of money across all parties is also studied. Large organisations such as the United Nations (UN) or the World Health Organization (WHO), which often take the lead in organising the relief efforts, can initiate the development of blockchains for humanitarian logistics and draw manufacturers, transportation carriers, other logistics providers, banks and other partners into the blockchain network. Assuring both the aid donors and the recipients that the funds have been used wisely and transparently will expand future aid contributions and enable more effective relief to disaster areas. This is especially critical now as climate changes on our planet are expected to result in more disasters with extremely dire consequences, especially in poorer regions of the world.
How data-driven partnerships can help resource-constrained marketing departments attract new students
Authors: Takacs Audrey
Published: July 2024

Community colleges are losing enrollment at a faster pace than ever before in their history due to demographic and economic shifts. Facing competition from four-year colleges and universities, community colleges must get their message out on social media and digital platforms from which traditional-age college students (17–24) prefer to consume information. With multiple responsibilities and limited resources, however, community college marketing and communications departments must collaborate with digital marketing experts to strategically allocate time and advertising dollars. Macomb Community College in Michigan has found that these data-driven partnerships provide a tangible return on investment (ROI) and allow for wider bandwidth in reaching targeted audiences. Education marketing and communication professionals will learn how Macomb increased traffic to its website and strengthened its social media presence during a highly competitive era in educational marketing. Introduced to the various metrics the college uses to analyse and optimise their digital marketing efforts, the reader will gain insight into the types of data that can help a college effectively market to prospective students. Including an internal strategy for message clarity and continuity, the paper offers a model on which readers can build campaigns with a measurable ROI that reach their prospective students on the digital channels those students patronise.
Two paths to tomorrow’s money
Authors: Mclaughlin Tony
Published: July 2024

Payment systems need to be modernised to meet the needs of 21st-century digital economies, but which road to follow? The publication of the Bitcoin white paper in 2008 raised the prospect of global digital currencies without central issuers or intermediaries. While cryptocurrencies have yet to achieve the status of money, the underlying ‘token’ technology has prompted big tech interest in stablecoins and central banks to evaluate novel forms of national currency issuance. Although crypto has captured the column inches, most real-world action in payments since 2008 has been elsewhere — the rollout of instant payments schemes, the adoption of electronic money wallets by hundreds of millions of people and the FinTech revolution. This paper suggests that we stand at a crossroads. Will the future of money be digital tokens, restructuring the financial system as we know it, or a much needed overhaul of account-based payments?
Understanding risk in accountable care organisations
Authors: Barr Lynn , Loengard Anna , Shell Eric , Yinug Louise
Published: July 2024

The US healthcare system is in the midst of a transition from reimbursement based on the volume of services to that based on the value and quality of services provided to patients. Accountable care organisations (ACOs), or groups of providers that come together to meet certain financial and care quality goals, are illustrative of this movement. This paper presents two prerequisites for a successful Medicare ACO, which serves aged and disabled beneficiaries. First, an ACO makes strategic use of population health techniques, including advanced primary care and nurse-led services such as annual wellness visits (AWV) and data-driven chronic care management (CCM). Second, an ACO must achieve significant scale to avoid unexplained swings in year-to-year savings and losses. The paper demonstrates that, in spite of early success, rural ACOs face additional challenges, including a strong aversion to risk in light of their economic fragility and community-based governance and random pricing inaccuracies created by cost-based reimbursement.
Collateral warranties and third party rights explained
Authors: Kirby Kate
Published: July 2024

Employers on construction projects commonly need to consider the rights of other interested parties, such as a future purchaser (if they are going to sell the property), a future tenant (if the property will be let when completed) or if they require funding from a bank/financial institution to complete the project. This paper explains the two most common methods of ensuring that these parties also have rights (if needed) to bring claims against the parties involved in the construction project, and the key practical differences between using collateral warranties or granting third party rights and their advantages and disadvantages.
Reflections on a year in Newcastle
Authors: Slater David
Published: July 2024

Looking back over their first 12 months, an Executive Director of Environment and Regeneration in Newcastle reflects on the impact of the worldwide recession on the city. Although some significant developments have occurred, private-sector investment has generally slowed, particularly in housing. The city has responded by developing long-term plans for economic growth, and setting up a city development company and a science city company. The city has also secured investment in potential growth sectors identified in the 2006 OECD report. It is well on with developing its long-term economic plan jointly with its neighbouring authority Gateshead, and will also develop its planning framework with its neighbour. The city's five strategic regeneration areas identified in the early 2000s had ambitious plans. These have been reviewed and a mix of responses developed, including extra public sector investment and a move away from wholesale demolition. More work with public sector partners and local residents is a growing trend. Recognition of Newcastle as a housing growth point has helped confidence, although short-term delivery targets have been reduced. The city council has used its financial and talent assets to invest, has strengthened its relationship with its outstanding housing management organisation, Your Homes Newcastle, and is transforming its own structure in readiness for more change to come as a result of the ongoing recession.
Using the disaster crunch/release model in building organisational resilience
Authors: Elwood Alan
Published: July 2024

Systems or process models aim to simplify a specific problem by isolating the major influencing factors (although at the expense of other factors). By so doing, they aim to enable their users to predict how systems or processes will behave as those pre-selected criteria alter. They are of course limited, as they do not fully represent reality, and their effectiveness degrades as social phenomena are included; nonetheless, they are helpful in guiding understanding. The field of organisational resilience already boasts certain models, such as the cultural web and the 7Cs of crisis management. This paper, however, argues that other models from related fields can aid resilience planning. In particular the paper takes the crunch/release model for disaster management, and explores how a model developed to assist with the management of major emergencies in nation states can help organisations to build resilience. The paper will describe the model and then adapt it to cater for the tangible, intangible and social or cohesive factors of organisational resilience. By using this model to understand these resilience components, organisations can gain clarity on what ultimately determines their own resilience levels and therefore how best to enhance that resilience.
Transforming the role of the orthopaedic sales rep in the hospital supply chain
Authors: Benedict Tony
Published: July 2024

The intent of this paper is to evaluate critical elements in transforming the role of the orthopaedic sales rep and determine the next generation business model for either a ‘Rep-less’ or ‘Rep-Lite’ model by understanding the current role and the functions the rep performs in the operating room. An overview of trends in volume and reimbursement changes impacting the orthopaedic service line will be discussed along with a possible path to a new care model with a clinical support function outlined as a compromise to the current sales rep model. Finally, a proposed framework will be presented that transforms the value analysis and service line functions into a new care management model that integrates resource management into a more robust evidence based practice framework for realising the full value of the cost, quality, outcome movement.
The Home Box Office, Inc. (HBO) Archive’s analogue-to-digital preservation pipeline: A case study examining the migration workflow of 2-inch Quadruplex to MXF AS-02
Authors: Thai Charlotte , Steele Richard , Echols Ewell ‘Evan’
Published: July 2024

This article discusses the HBO Archive’s Endangered Formats Project, a preservation initiative that started in 2017. The purpose of this project was to migrate some of HBO’s oldest original programming off obsolete media formats. The first format targeted for migration was the 2-inch Quadruplex videotape. These tapes were digitised and transferred to file as MXF AS-02 (Material Exchange Format Application Specification) bundles. These preservation packages were ingested into a media asset management system in addition to being backed up to seventh-generation LTO (linear tape-open) tapes.
Digitising the British Library’s collection of Hebrew manuscripts: Challenges and insights
Authors: Keinan-Schoonbaert Adi , Lewis Miriam
Published: July 2024

The British Library’s collection of Hebrew manuscripts is one of the most significant in the world. Funded by The Polonsky Foundation, the Hebrew Manuscripts Digitisation Project has been digitising 1,250 manuscripts since 2013, in line with the Library’s commitment to digitisation and opening up access to its collections. The main aim of this paper is to describe the project’s digitisation experiences and challenges. By building digital scholarship and engagement directly into the workflow of this project it has been possible to create new interactions and opportunities to this unique and significant collection.
Behavioural insights for improving the practice of risk management
Authors: Shefrin Hersh
Published: July 2024

This paper explains the main concepts underlying the behavioural approach to risk management, and illustrates these concepts through a discussion of rogue trading in financial institutions. Incidents of rogue trading partly involve psychological issues associated with the traders themselves, and partly involve the risk cultures of the organisations in which the traders function. For this reason, issues are discussed from both a ground-level perspective and a bird’s-eye perspective. The ground level focuses on the psychological issues associated with individual rogue traders, while the bird’s-eye view provides a broader view of the risk environment in which rogue traders reside.
An exploration of comfort brands and the theory of brand comfort
Authors: Damon Aiken K. , Meuter Matthew L. , Sukhdial Ajay
Published: July 2024

This paper advances a new theory of brand comfort that arises from physical comfort, combined with cognitive components (driven by rational trust judgements of quality and reliability) and emotional components (driven by perceptions of affective trust, authenticity, nostalgia and brand love). Two exploratory studies reveal that consumers frequently crave, seek out and attain comfort through branded comfort foods as well as non-food comfort brands. Further, the studies each uncover that attaining comfort through brand consumption yields feelings of emotional support, safety, nostalgia and social connectedness. Findings suggest that consuming comfort brands is an extremely widespread practice, especially in the current era of fear, isolation and social distancing.