scholarly journals Measuring Resilience Potentials: A Pilot Program Using the Resilience Assessment Grid

Safety ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Karen Klockner ◽  
Peter Meredith
Keyword(s):  
Road Transport ◽  
Safety Performance ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Resilience Engineering ◽  
Operational Safety ◽  
The Face ◽  
System Variability ◽  
System Resilience ◽  
Technical Systems ◽  
Resilience Assessment

Researchers in the resilience engineering space have proposed the notion that organisations operating in complex socio-technical systems cannot ‘be’ resilient but can have the ‘potential for resilient performance’. This theoretical stance also suggests that organisations wanting to enhance their potential for resilience begin by measuring their operational safety performance against four key potentials, these being: the Potential to Anticipate; the Potential to Respond; the Potential to Learn; and the Potential to Monitor. Furthermore, to measure these four key resilience constructs, organisations have been recommended to use a Resilience Assessment Grid (RAG) developed as part of this theory. However, scarce research appears to have been conducted that bridges the theory and practice divide on just how organisations can pragmatically measure their current performance against these four resilience potentials using the RAG. Therefore, this research was interested in undertaking a pilot study using RAG theory in order to examine an organisation’s four resilience potentials, and was conducted within a large road transport organisation in Australia. Results indicated that measuring both the four individual potentials and a combination of the four potentials was possible using a RAG and proved effective in providing a snapshot of operational safety system resilience concepts. Recommendations on how to increase organisational resilience potentials were provided to ensure future safety endeavours would enhance the organisation’s potential to be resilience in the face of system variability and operational demands.

scholarly journals The Governance of Covid-19: Anthropogenic Risk, Evolutionary Learning, and the Future of the Social State

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-594
Author(s):  
Simon Deakin ◽  
Gaofeng Meng
Keyword(s):  
Theory And Practice ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
External Shocks ◽  
Feedback Effects ◽  
International Agencies ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Face ◽  
Anthropogenic Risks ◽  
Industrialised Countries

Abstract We consider the implications of the Covid-19 crisis for the theory and practice of governance. We define ‘governance’ as the process through which, in the case of a given entity or polity, resources are allocated, decisions made and policies implemented, with a view to ensuring the effectiveness of its operations in the face of risks in its environment. Core to this, we argue, is the organisation of knowledge through public institutions, including the legal system. Covid-19 poses a particular type of ‘Anthropogenic’ risk, which arises when organised human activity triggers feedback effects from the natural environment. As such it requires the concerted mobilisation of knowledge and a directed response from governments and international agencies. In this context, neoliberal theories and practices, which emphasise the self-adjusting properties of systems of governance in response to external shocks, are going to be put to the test. In states’ varied responses to Covid-19 to date, it is already possible to observe some trends. One of them is the widespread mischaracterisation of the measures taken to address the epidemic at the point of its emergence in the Chinese city of Wuhan in January and February 2020. Public health measures of this kind, rather than constituting a ‘state of exception’ in which legality is set aside, are informed by practices which originated in the welfare or social states of industrialised countries, and which were successful in achieving a ‘mortality revolution’ in the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Relearning this history would seem to be essential for the future control of pandemics and other Anthropogenic risks.

scholarly journals Enhancing Maritime Crew Resource Management Training by Applying Resilience Engineering: A Case Study of the Bachelor Maritime Officer Training Programme in Rotterdam

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 378
Author(s):  
Jaco Griffioen ◽  
Monique van der Drift ◽  
Hans van den Broek
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Human Error ◽  
Crew Resource Management ◽  
Management Training ◽  
Training Programme ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Safety Performance ◽  
Resilience Engineering ◽  
Crew Resource Management Training

This paper sets out to enhance current Maritime Crew Resource Management (MCRM) training, and with that to improve the training of technical and non-technical skills given to bachelor maritime officers. The rationale for CRM training is improving safety performance by reducing accidents caused by human error. The central notion of CRM training is that applying good resource management principles during day-to-day operations will lead to a beneficial change in attitudes and behaviour regarding safety. This article therefore indicates that enhanced MCRM should play a more structural role in the training of student officers. However, the key question is: what are the required changes in attitude and behaviour that will create sufficient adaptability to improve safety performance? To provide an answer, we introduce the Resilience Engineering (RE) theory. From an RE point of view, we elaborate on the relation between team adaptability and safety performance, operationalized as a competence profile. In addition, a case study of the ‘Rotterdam Approach’ will be presented, in which the MCRM training design has been enhanced with RE, with the objective to train team adaptability skills for improved safety performance.

The future of the printed book in the era of technological advancement: an imperative for digital innovation and engagement

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhoydah Nyambane
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
The Body ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Young Generation ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Face ◽  
Book Publishers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to establish the place of the printed book in the era of technological advancement with the assumption that the print media is facing imminent death in the face of readily available and convenient online information. Also the paper aims to assess how the development of new technologies have affected the production, circulation and readership of the printed book, especially among the young generation. Design/methodology/approach Explanatory study was used with closed-ended approach to collect data from 50 students of the Technical University of Kenya and 5 key informant interviews with selected book publishers in Nairobi. The uses and gratification theory was used to explore the knowledge-seeking behavior among the respondents. Findings Findings showed that more than 80% of the respondents preferred the internet to the printed book, which, according to them, has no future in the face of technological advancement. Book publishers, on the other hand, felt that the printed book has a bright future among specific audiences who are committed to it, and especially those in the rural areas who have no access to the internet. While they agreed that the internet has posed a major challenge to the sales and readership of the printed book significantly, it is helping in marketing the printed book as opposed to killing it. New bookshops in Nairobi and modern libraries in high schools, tertiary institutions and universities demonstrate that the printed book is not dying soon. Research limitations/implications The researcher experienced challenges in data collection as the respondents were busy preparing for final examinations and hence many of them were not willing to spare time to fill the questionnaire. To solve this, the researcher had to spend more time to collect data as opposed to if the students were free and ready to participate in the study without any pressure. Practical implications The findings can be used as a basis for further research to widen the scope that can help bring a wider perspective to the topic. The results can also inform policy guidelines on the topic and also contribute to the body of knowledge. Social implications The topic touches on social phenomena that are affecting a number of young people and their information-seeking habits in the era of digital revolution. The way the young generation seek and use information should be of interest not only to academic staff but also to policymakers. Originality/value The paper is original based on primary data that was collected by the researcher from the respondents. It is backed by secondary data to bridge the gap between theory and practice.

scholarly journals Canon Fodder and the Intimacy of Dialogues

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Freeden Blume Oeur
Keyword(s):  
Toni Morrison ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Feminist Methodology ◽  
Du Bois ◽  
The Face

Michael Burawoy’s 2021 essay, “Decolonizing Sociology: The Significance of W.E.B. Du Bois,” forges dialogues between the scholar denied and established theorists with the aim of reconstructing the sociological canon. My commentary situates the author’s essay and his own Du Boisian turn in a long career dedicated to reflexive science and recomposing theory. I reflect on the seemingly innocuous notion of a dialogue itself: its implications for sociological theory and practice, and how it supports decolonial efforts. Thinking with Toni Morrison, Hazel Carby, Lisa Lowe, and others, I offer a sketch of a decolonial methodology—what I call a Du Boisian shadowplay—that brings into view the intimate dimensions of imperialism. Ultimately, such a feminist methodology reconstructs dialogues that reflect on researcher standpoints and nested imperial histories; and in the face of today’s social crises, nurtures dialogues that are animated by an ethic of love.

Aquatic Stewardship Education in Theory and Practice

2007 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Conservation Education ◽  
Federal Aid ◽  
Aquatic Resources ◽  
The Public ◽  
Excise Taxes ◽  
The Face ◽  
Fisheries Conservation ◽  
Sport Fish

<i>Abstract.</i>— In 1950, Congressman John Dingell (Michigan) and Senator Edwin Johnson cosponsored a piece of legislation that changed the face of fisheries conservation. The Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act (Public Law 81-681), also known as the Dingell- Johnson Act, allowed excise taxes collected on rods, reels, creels, and artificial baits to be placed into a special account for apportionment to the states. In 1984, the Sport Fish Restoration Act was further strengthened by additional legislation that increased available funds and formed the new Aquatic Resources trust fund. The Wallop-Breaux Amendment, in addition to increasing funds for conservation programs and boating access, allowed states to use up to 10% of the states’ annual apportionment on Aquatic Resources Education. Since 1984, states, nongovernmental organizations and industry have developed numerous programs that engage and educate the public on sound conservation issues that protect and enhance the environment for the next generation. This chapter provides an overview of successful, research-based conservation education programs that augment the overall effort to sustain the fisheries of the United States.

IO, Coagency, Intractability, and Resilience

2013 ◽  
pp. 342-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Hollnagel
Keyword(s):  
Safety Assessment ◽  
Assessment Methods ◽  
Resilience Engineering ◽  
Safety Issues ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Technical Systems ◽  
Integrated Operations ◽  
Circulus Vitiosus

Technological developments continuously create opportunities that are eagerly adopted by industries with a seemingly insatiable need for innovation. This has established a forceful circulus vitiosus that has resulted in exceedingly complicated socio-technical systems. The introduction of Integrated Operations in drilling and off-shore operations is one, but not the only, example of that. This development poses a challenge for how to deal with risk and safety issues. Where existing safety assessment methods focus on descriptions of component capabilities, complicated socio-technical systems must be described in terms of relations or even functional couplings. In order to design, analyse, and manage such systems, it must be acknowledged that performance adjustments are a resource rather than a threat. Safety can no longer be achieved just by preventing that something goes wrong, but must instead try to ensure that everything goes right. Resilience engineering provides the conceptual and practical means to support and accomplish that change.

Strengthening and Enriching Audit Practice

2012 ◽  
pp. 97-108
Author(s):  
Peter A. C. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Network Visualization ◽  
Viable System Model ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Visualization Analysis ◽  
The Past ◽  
Network Layers ◽  
The Face ◽  
Viable System

The audit profession has been facing reassessment and repositioning for the past decade. Enquiry has been an integral part of an audit; however, its reliability as a source of audit evidence is questioned. To legitimize enquiry in the face of audit complexity and ensure sufficiency, relevance, and reliability, the introduction of Stafford Beer’s Viable System Model (VSM) into theory and practice has been recommended by a number of authors. In this paper, a variant on previous VSM-based audit work is introduced to perfect auditing assessment of accountability and compliance. This variant is termed the “VSM/NVA variant” and is applicable when the VSM model is in use for an audit. This variant is based on application of Network Visualization Analysis (NVA) to a VSM-modeled organization. Using NVA, “decision leaders” can be identified and their socio-technical relevance to VSM systems explored. This paper shows how the concepts of decision leaders and their networks can enrich and clarify practical applications of audit theory and practice. The approach provides an enhanced real-world understanding of how various VSM systems and network layers of an organization coalesce, and how they relate to the aims of the VSM model at micro and macro levels.

The Face of Judgement in Measure for Measure

2019 ◽  
pp. 163-175
Author(s):  
Kevin Curran
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Ethical Relation ◽  
Modern Culture ◽  
Faculty Psychology ◽  
Affective Quality ◽  
Legal Writing ◽  
Measure For Measure ◽  
The Face

Like a number of other Renaissance comedies and romances, Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure ends with a scene of judgment in which punishment and reward is distributed among a group of characters. Measure for Measure insistently links judgment to the spatial and revelatory dynamics of facing and unmasking. Adducing evidence from two early modern archives – legal writing on the theory and practice of judgment and treatises on physiology and faculty psychology – Kevin Curran addresses two related questions: (1) What can a historical understanding of the face in early modern culture tell us about the phenomenology of judgment in Measure for Measure? And (2) how does Shakespeare’s staging of judgment create a participatory experience in the playhouse grounded in sensation? The essay ultimately argues that the face in Measure for Measure functions as a hinge between the ethical relation of judgment and the ethical relation of theater, one that insists of the embodied and affective quality of both forms of interaction.

Optimizing Supply Chains Through System Dynamics Modelling and Simulation

2021 ◽  
pp. 31-56
Author(s):  
Pedro B. Agua ◽  
Anacleto C. Correia ◽  
Armindo Frias
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Organizational Systems ◽  
Complex Behaviour ◽  
Cognitive Limitations ◽  
The Face ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Dynamics Modelling ◽  
Technical Systems ◽  
Parameters Of Interest

In critical activities and organizations, decision making in the face of complexity has been a growing normal. Complexity troubles humans due to cognitive limitations. Moreover, humans are merely able to understand cause-and-effect relationships that are close in time and space, not the paradigm of many complex socio-technical systems. Decision-making processes shall rely on models that help harness a problem´s associated complexity – among them the dynamics of supply chains. Models typically fall into two broad categories: mental and formal models. Supply chains are complex systems, which may exhibit complex behaviour patterns. Decisions and policies within organizational systems are the causes of many problems, among them undesirable oscillations and other problematic patterns of the parameters of interest. A system is a grouping of parts that work together for a purpose. Hence, the systems dynamics methodology is an adequate approach to deal with fuel supply chain management. A model was developed that helps manage marine gasoil supply chains in the context of the navy.

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