Search results

Recent US federal executive orders have prioritized equity within the federal government, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has declared equity as a foundational pillar in their 2022–2026 Strategic Plan. This research study investigates the distributive equity of the most locally disseminated FEMA grant, the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG).

The Commonwealth of Virginia was selected for our research study due to its exposure to natural hazards, recent disaster losses, variance among local emergency management programs, and high-profile political disputes against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. EMPG data from 2020 to 2023 were analyzed for correlations with social vulnerability (SoVI®), community resilience (BRIC), previous disaster losses (SHELDUS), and the National Risk Index (NRI). A difference of means test was conducted on the jurisdictions that opted out of participation in the EMPG.

Virginia’s current EMPG funding is allocated disproportionately to wealthier local jurisdictions with lower social vulnerability, higher community resilience, and lower previous disaster losses. Jurisdictions that opted-out or received the minimum amounts had a disproportionately higher amount of total disaster losses.

This study provides a novel approach to evaluating the equity of public funding dedicated to local disaster preparedness. The findings are instructive to federal lawmakers, state governments and global initiatives in climate resilience with a similar allocation process focused solely on population sizes. The framework of this research study is easily replicable, and the metrics are publicly available for future researchers.

China is playing an increasingly prominent role in global business. However, there has been relatively little research on Chinese inpatriates working in Western countries, particularly in non-Anglo cultural contexts. This study attempts to explore the process of cross-cultural adjustment (CCA) and integration into corporate headquarters of Chinese inpatriates working in France, including the favorable factors that accelerate this process.

Based on a qualitative, single-case study of Group X, a pseudonym for a French multinational enterprise, the authors drew on semi-structured interviews with 18 Chinese inpatriates and investigated their CCA and integration process at the French headquarters of their employer.

The CCA and integration process of Chinese inpatriates at the French headquarters includes three stages: honeymoon and/or crisis period, adjustment and/or integration period and mutual growth period. Chinese inpatriates mainly face language barriers and Sino-French cross-cultural challenges. They overcome these challenges by learning the language and culture of the host country and using co-cultural and cross-cultural Guanxi. Experiences vary, with some Chinese inpatriates bypassing the honeymoon and/or crisis stage and entering directly into the adjustment and/or integration stage and some even leapfrogging both initial phases to attain a stage of mutual growth. Favorable factors for this CCA and integration acceleration include experience of living abroad, the host country language proficiency, organizational service support and the English working environment.

The study enhances the theoretical framework of Chinese expatriates’ psychological adjustment process through two key contributions. First, it enriches the three stages by incorporating new aspects, namely the honeymoon facet at the crisis stage, the integration into the headquarters facet at the self-adjust stage and the promoting organizational growth facet at self-growth stage. Second, it adds precision to the horizontal timeline by incorporating two additional initial points for the adjustment and integration process. Until now, Chinese inpatriates and the French context have received little attention, and this research takes a step forward by illuminating the CCA and integration process of Chinese inpatriates in this non-Anglophone country.