Systemic Response: Developing a Strategic Response to Support Young Men of Color during COVID-19 Pandemic

The aim of this work is to provide insight into the California State University Young Men of Color Consortium (CSU YMOC), which was created to explore the unique challenges young men of color face during their postsecondary experiences, as well as advance effective approaches to better support them. Specifically, we focus on CSU Male Success Initiative programs and detail how campus partners worked collaboratively to support men of color during the previous academic year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the ways that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education across the P-16 spectrum, the MSIs were positioned uniquely to support some of the challenges that students endured. Recent reports reveal that the pandemic has exacerbated a number of difficulties, both old and new(er), that men of color experience in their college years, from accessing and transitioning to matriculating and persisting in higher education. We provide an overview of the CSU YMOC Consortium and present details about one program element (Critical Conversations) we incorporated this year as a measure to be responsive to challenges brought on by the pandemic. Finally, partners at three institutions share reflections on how their MSI shifted their efforts to meet students’ needs and provide support.

Strategic Submission to Rape is not Consent: Sexual Violence in the Colombian Armed Conflict

Academic literature is only beginning to understand victims’ rational calculations and agency related to sexual violence in war and conflict. This article deepens that analysis, emphasizing calculated action rather than passive victimization. This is a systematic study of victims’ strategic responses to sexual violence, and reports findings from an in-depth analysis of women who were raped in the context of Colombia's armed conflict (1964-present), revealing that this context triggers a strategic response by victims of rape. Specifically, some women calculate that submitting to unwanted sex is more likely to protect them and others, such as family members, from significant harm than resisting rape. However, while their strategic responses may protect them and allow them to keep their families safe from greater harm, the methods adopted by women in these situations may complicate their efforts at being recognized as victims, undercutting their access to legal and social rights in the aftermath of war and conflict.

Business model adaptation as a strategic response to crises: navigating the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose This study aims to explore how hotels adapt their business models as a strategic response to crisis situations. It sheds light on the processes and methods of business model adaptation during severe crisis situations, such as the COVID-19 outbreak. Design/methodology/approach A single-case study was conducted. Data were collected from the owner/manager of a boutique hotel chain in Chiang Mai, Thailand through an extensive interviewing process. The authors also examined corporate documents. The authors then re-organized the material as a coherent narrative about how the company navigated the COVID-19 crisis. Findings The findings show that the hotels in the study adapted their business models by cutting costs through stopping non-essential operations, increasing non-room revenues and adding new revenue channels, bringing in cash from advance bookings, securing financial support from creditors, leveraging government support and training staff for the “new normal.” Originality/value Few previous studies have focused on business model adaptation during the COVID-19 crisis. The investigation of this largely neglected area provides two main contributions. First, it extends the literature on crisis management in hospitality firms by examining business model adaptation patterns and processes during unprecedented crisis conditions. Second, it provides managerial insights and a business model adjustment framework to help practitioners in urban settings in their efforts toward recovery from the COVID crisis.

Indonesia’s Global Maritime Fulcrum: From Hedging to Underbalancing

This article examines why Indonesia’s vision of the Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF) was not properly developed in accordance to its strategic response to the increased rivalry between China and the USA in the Asia-Pacific region. Although the GMF initially focussed on achieving domestic agendas, Indonesia’s implicit intention is to utilise the GMF as a hedge in order to strengthen economic cooperation with China while keeping the USA engaged in the region’s security architecture. My article seeks to go beyond the existing literature’s employment of primarily structural realist analysis to understand Indonesia’s strategic behaviour by applying a neoclassical realist approach to Indonesia’s case, which better demonstrates current conditions exhibiting how conflicting elite interests generate political discord which in turn hinders the state’s ability to extract and mobilise domestic resources, ultimately hampering Indonesia’s ability to achieve its GMF goals. Although certain threats and opportunities within the international system have manifested themselves to actively encourage the proper implementation of GMF, this strategy remains underdeveloped since the time of its launch. Neoclassical realism provides a better explanation that enhances our understanding of how Indonesia assesses and responds to its strategic environment.

COVID-19 in the Gulf Cooperation Council Member States: An Evidence of Effective Response

Objectives: The World Health Organization (WHO) published a global strategic response plan in February 2020 aiming to mitigate the impact of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. It identified immediate activities required for global preparedness and response to the outbreak and set eight priority areas (pillars) essential for scaling up countries’ operational readiness and response. Despite a semi-annual progress report on implementing the Global Strategic Plan in June 2020, there is limited granular information available on the extent of the national plan’s content and implementation, particularly in the Member States of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Therefore, we sought to review the preparedness and responsiveness towards the COVID-19 outbreak in the GCC in the first phase of the pandemic and to document lessons learned for improving the ongoing response efforts and preparedness for future pandemics. Methods: A rapid appraisal was conducted in June 2020 according to the WHO Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan and the accompanying Operational Planning Guidelines. The survey was administered to public health professionals or/and infectious disease experts in the states. The findings were cross-triangulated with secondary data that was publicly available for each country. Results: The preparedness and response efforts of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE were fully compliant with all 11 (100%) pillars of the modified strategic response measures. Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar complied with eight of the pillars. The component on conducting COVID-19 related research was the lowest-performing across all the six states. Conclusions: All GCC states demonstrated an effective response to the pandemic, enhanced existing infrastructures, and accelerated reforms that would have otherwise taken longer. The lessons learned through the early phase of the pandemic continue to steer the states in realigning their strategies and resetting their goals of controlling the outbreak, particularly in the current context of vaccine introduction and increasing preparedness capacities for future pandemics.