Digital Supply Chain Twins—Conceptual Clarification, Use Cases and Benefits

Background: Digital supply chain twins (DSCT) are gaining increased attention in academia and practice as they emerge as one of the most important trends in logistics and supply chain management (LSCM). Still, there seems to be no common understanding of the term in scientific literature. Moreover, the broad field of LSCM allows for a multitude of feasible application areas and use cases, yet there exists no conclusive list of them as to date. Methods: This study builds upon a systematic literature review of 66 DSCT articles to identify application areas of DSCT in LSCM as well as specific use cases and their respective intended benefits. Results: To start with, the study derives a unified definition of DSCTs, including possible scopes of applications. Afterwards, five application areas of DSCT in LSCM are synthesized as well as 14 individual use cases and their respective intended benefits. Conclusions: The study leads towards a conceptual clarification of DSCT that is of importance for research and practice alike. For managers it additionally provides up-to-date use cases to guide DSCT applications in practice.

Defining and Exploring the Field and Practical Mode of “Epidemic Social Work”

“Pandemic social work” is a new concept put forward by academia in response to the epidemic, and it also points to a new field in which social work is emerging. Although most scholars mainly study its specific role in the current anti-epidemic, they do not define the meaning and field of this concept clearly, revealing the functional positioning of social work in the anti-epidemic in general, not only for the current global anti-epidemic Work has an adverse effect, and it is not without harm to the construction of this new field. Defining the concept and field of “Epidemic Social Work” needs to start from the nature of social work and learn from the successful experience of social work in other disaster areas. It is preliminarily delineated that epidemic social work is a branch of disaster social work. At the same time, in addition to conceptual clarification and field division, it also attempts to explore the theoretical basis and intervention mode of “Epidemic Social Work,” which is a new field of social work. The construction and current epidemic guidance are of great significance, and its value is obvious.

הכל הבל in Ecclesiastes 1:2 and 12:8 – Descriptive metaphysics of properties as comparative-philosophical supplement

In this article, a supplementary yet original contribution is made to the ongoing attempts at refining ways of comparative-philosophical conceptual clarification of Qohelet’s claim that הבל הכל in 1:2 (and 12:8). Adopting and adapting the latest analytic metaphysical concerns and categories for descriptive purposes only, a distinction is made between הבל as property of הכל and the properties of הבל in relation to הכל. Involving both correlation and contrast, the second-order language framework is hereby extended to a level of advanced nuance and specificity for restating the meaning of the book’s first-order language on its own terms, even if not in them.Contribution: By considering logical, ontological, mereological and typological aspects of property theory in dialogue with appearances of הכל and of הבל in Ecclesiastes 1:2 and 12:8 and in-between, a new way is presented in the quest to explain why things in the world of the text are the way they are, or why they are at all.

Effectiveness Measurement Methods for the Application of Design Thinking Approach

The design thinking approach is a widely applied mindset in businesses and began to become more and more popular in public services. Nevertheless, there are market segments, and players do not prefer to employ the tools and the methods offered by this fresh concept. After detailing the characteristics of the design thinking approach, the paper tends to provide possible solutions for its intensive spread in all sectors by offering concrete options for defining the benefits expressed numerically. Following a short conceptual clarification, the paper details two main issues. The first main point is: does the effectiveness expressed numerically influence decision- makers in facilitating an overall spread of design thinking approach? Secondly, three suitable measurement methods are introduced for evaluating the effectiveness with a comparison of their main features. Finally, the authors draw conclusions and evaluate the research question.

Henrich, Heyes and Tomasello on the cognitive foundations of cultural evolution

We give a brief overview of three accounts of the cognitive abilities that facilitated the emergence and transmission of cumulative culture in the recent hominin lineage. These accounts were developed by Joseph Henrich (e.g. 2016), Cecilia Heyes (e.g. 2018), and Michael Tomasello (e.g. 1999, 2008, 2014) in collaboration with others. We pay particular attention to the different abilities that these authors think are foundational to human cultural evolution, and to questions about whether these abilities first arose as products of genetic or cultural evolution. Our hope is that by clarifying the similarities and differences between these projects, we will identify points of disagreement that could tested empirically, and areas where further conceptual clarification is required.