Prasenjit Roy, Matteo Rossi, Charbel Salloum, Hajer Jarrar and Biswajit Ghose
This study aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the working capital management (WCM) efficiency of resilient and nonresilient firms listed on India’s BSE 500…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the working capital management (WCM) efficiency of resilient and nonresilient firms listed on India’s BSE 500 index. It focuses on key WCM components such as cash conversion cycles (CCC), accounts receivable periods, inventory conversion periods and accounts payable periods.
Design/methodology/approach
Panel data from 2012 to 2023 is analyzed using the System Generalized Method of Moments model. This study differentiates between resilient and nonresilient firms based on liquidity stress tests and cash flow performance before and during the pandemic.
Findings
Resilient firms demonstrated superior WCM efficiency, maintaining shorter CCCs, effective receivables and inventory management and stable payables. Nonresilient firms faced significant inefficiencies, including extended CCCs and slower receivables and inventory turnover, exposing gaps in their WCM practices.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited to the pandemic period. Future research could explore broader timeframes to understand the long-term effects on WCM.
Practical implications
Managers should enhance WCM strategies, focusing on cash flow optimization to strengthen firm resilience during crises.
Social implications
Efficient WCM supports job retention, preserves supplier relationships and stabilizes local economies, contributing to broader community resilience during crises.
Originality/value
This study extends the resource-based view by emphasizing WCM as a critical internal resource that supports firm resilience during economic crises. It contributes new insights into how Indian firms adapted their WCM strategies in response to COVID-19.
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The study explored the impacts of climate change on water resources, and the community-based adaptation practices adopted to ensure water security in a rural community in Limpopo…
Abstract
Purpose
The study explored the impacts of climate change on water resources, and the community-based adaptation practices adopted to ensure water security in a rural community in Limpopo Province, South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The participatory approach was used to allow community members to share their challenges of water scarcity, and the measures they have developed to cope with inconsistent water supply.
Findings
The study results show that the community obtains water for household consumption from the reticulation system supplied by Mutale River and the community borehole. These resources are negatively impacted by drought, change in the frequency and distribution of rainfall, and increased temperature patterns. The water levels in the river and borehole have declined, resulting in unsustainable water supply. The community-based adaptation practices facilitated by the water committee include observance of restrictions and regulations on the water resources use. Others involve securing water from neighbouring resources.
Originality/value
This type of community-based action in response to climate change could be used as part of rural water management strategies under climate change.
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Colin Paton and David McMenemy
This research investigates the presence of communitarian philosophy within contemporary Scottish public library strategy, exploring links between philosophy, politics and practice.
Abstract
Purpose
This research investigates the presence of communitarian philosophy within contemporary Scottish public library strategy, exploring links between philosophy, politics and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper follows a qualitative research approach, combining content analysis and discourse analysis methodologies for the analysis of a corpus of Scottish public library trust documentation according to a thematic framework of communitarian values.
Findings
The analysis revealed strong links between trust strategy and communitarian values but also highlighted contradictions within this form of communitarianism which belied a deeper neoliberal philosophical foundation. The research therefore identified a communitarian strategic service shift which introduced benefits of social inclusion, community autonomy and common good but also brought concerns of an inherently weakened communal foundation and the survival of a neoliberal status quo.
Research limitations/implications
The analysis is focused on strategy in Scotland only and thus can only claim to be representative of that country. However, the growth in communitarian strategies in the public sector is informed from the analysis undertaken.
Practical implications
The paper provides a novel analysis of public library strategy and thus contributes to the understanding of public library practice in the modern era.
Social implications
The impacts of communitarian philosophy in the public sphere are under-researched and how these changes impact the mission of libraries needs to be better understood.
Originality/value
This is the first analysis to consider public library strategy from a communitarian point of view. As such, it provides novel insights into a growing area of public service development.
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Marco Marabelli, Federico Rajola, Chiara Frigerio and Sue Newell
This paper aims to investigate how virtual communities of practice (V‐CoP) develop in large‐scale virtual projects.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate how virtual communities of practice (V‐CoP) develop in large‐scale virtual projects.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study of a large‐scale ES implementation was conducted in Italy and in the USA.
Findings
It was found that management can encourage the formation of V‐CoP if, along with the creation of virtual project teams they promote informal interaction between the team members, encourage commitment, and put together “the right mix of people”.
Originality/value
Understanding how the technical and the functional communities communicated is meaningful to understand the extent to which different CoP can, virtually, overcome context‐specific barriers.
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Elise Remling and Joeli Veitayaki
Drawing on qualitative fieldwork on a remote outer island in Fiji, this paper aims to address a shortcoming in the literature on climate adaptation in the Pacific. Internationally…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on qualitative fieldwork on a remote outer island in Fiji, this paper aims to address a shortcoming in the literature on climate adaptation in the Pacific. Internationally community-based adaptation (CBA) is recognised as a promising approach to help vulnerable populations adjust to climate change. However, with pilot projects in their infancy documented experience for Pacific Islands remains scarce. This limits the ability of the region – faced with persisting development challenges and predicted significant climate impacts – to learn from and build on previous experiences and develop robust responses to climate change.
Design/methodology/approach
By using a community-based initiative in response to environmental challenges and unsustainable development as a proxy, the paper interrogates the potential usefulness of the CBA framework for the Pacific and identifies potential strengths and weaknesses. Sketching out the process and its outcomes, it shows how the initiative has resulted in a diversity of strategies, ranging from pollution control measures, to improved governance of resources and community participation in decision making, to livelihood and income diversification.
Findings
Findings indicate that CBA could have a lot of potential for building more resilient communities in the face of climate change and other pressures associated with modernising Pacific societies. However, to be effective, interventions should pay attention to people’s development aspirations; immediate economic, social and environmental benefits; dynamics of village governance, social rules and protocols; and traditional forms of knowledge that can inform sustainable solutions.
Originality/value
The conclusions provide a reflection on the CBA framework in general and make concrete suggestions for practitioners on how the framework could be usefully implemented in the Pacific context.
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Shihui Feng, Liaquat Hossain and Douglas Paton
Disaster education is considered as a newly emerging area of research and practice, which promotes community-based educational approaches for building resilience. Given the…
Abstract
Purpose
Disaster education is considered as a newly emerging area of research and practice, which promotes community-based educational approaches for building resilience. Given the atypical nature of these disturbances, people and communities need to develop the knowledge required to anticipate and understand what they could have to contend with and proactively develop strategies that can minimize their risk and afford ways to cope with and adapt to adverse situations in an effective manner. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that informal education resulting from daily activities related to work, family life, or leisure can be harnessed to develop disaster resilience within community settings.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper provides the discussion and synthesis of literature covering community resilience, disaster risk reduction (DRR) and informal education. In doing so, this study proposes a conceptual framework and implementation strategies for harnessing informal education in building community resilience.
Findings
To harness informal disaster education for community resilience, the authors suggest a conceptual framework and four implementation strategies with the corresponding implications: cultivate social environment for conversations, discussions, reflections and learning; design social activities for promoting and encouraging informal learning; appropriate interventions by informal educators in social activities; and transparent resources and channels for information and social supports. A compilation of a number of community-based DRR practices involving civil society organizations has been incorporated in the proposed framework for exemplifying informal disaster education for community resilience.
Originality/value
Promoting informal education in community settings is aimed at building community resilience in a collective way, which is especially important in disaster-prone areas. Informal education for community resilience not only educates individuals how to deal with disasters, but also connects individuals together to be more resilient in their ability to cope or bounce back from adverse events in their life.
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Yuthasak Chatkaewnapanon and Joan Marie Kelly
Community arts practice gives voice to a younger generation, who must be studied as part of the development process from commencement, to accomplish building sustainable…
Abstract
Purpose
Community arts practice gives voice to a younger generation, who must be studied as part of the development process from commencement, to accomplish building sustainable destination development in the direction of future prosperity for the rural community.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper challenges a relatively weak critical practice of the community-based tourism (CBT) by introducing community arts methodologies as a research approach in the context of tourism, the opportunity is created to give voice to a younger generation that must also be included in the development aims of the CBT to achieve sustainable community tourism development.
Findings
The CBT aims to support access to quality participation in the development process. However, investment in education and building tourism entrepreneurs is not inclusive of the future generations beyond the original generation. Consideration of the desires and imaginations of the future generations must be part of the CBT project for tourism development sustainability. Building awareness of the fragility and value of tourist attractions and resources, in a younger generation that never experienced the original attractions of the traditional village, is critical to achieving the objectives of the CBT.
Research limitations/implications
The paper is not yet attempting to examine the empirical data of this research. Rather, it challenges current CBT research processes as having a narrow reach into a community.
Practical implications
Tourism developers and local communities should include an understanding of what directions and what opportunities the next and future generations will have to continue sustainable development. Including children’s imaginations into a community’s tourism development plans will benefit awareness of the present context and assist locals in forecasting the next stage of village development. The present tourism planners would then have a holistic vision for a design strategy sustaining rural livelihoods that acknowledge the limits of nature-based resources and cultural resources.
Social implications
Community arts research offers the possibility of inclusive participation of community members. Arts methodology attempts to articulate ideas in visual form, for the aim of discussion, reflection and realization of the desires and concerns of the community in terms of lifestyle, environment and cultural heritage, in preparation for the future generation taking control of tourism development. The process aims to impact future decisions effecting the course of tourism development in rural Thailand.
Originality/value
The paper discusses the potential contribution of community arts practice as a complementary tool by taking into account different aspects of sustainable tourism into CBT concept. The paper evaluates what has been missing in advancing our understanding of sustainable rural tourism development in Thailand. It fills the gaps with a methodological approach that gives voice to the local community. The purpose of this paper is to rethinking the ideology and approach of CBT to be inclusive of all demographics of society for the goal of achieving sustainable tourism and sustainable community development in Thailand context.
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Lucie Počinková, Claudia E. Henninger, Aurelie Le Normand and Marta Blazquez Cano
This paper aims to explore consumers’ voluntary disposition practices through swapping events organised by community-based enterprises. The paper investigates consumers’…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore consumers’ voluntary disposition practices through swapping events organised by community-based enterprises. The paper investigates consumers’ decision-making strategies and factors affecting voluntary clothing disposition via public swapping events across the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper investigates UK swapping events, through conducting 18 semi-structured consumer interviews. Data were transcribed and analysed using the seven-step guide proposed by Easterby-Smith et al. (2018).
Findings
Findings indicate that within community-based enterprises an implicit social contract emerges between the enterprises and swappers which has an influence on the clothing brought to swaps, thereby impacting the competence and meaning elements of practice. This is linked to peer-pressure susceptibility which affects consumers’ participation in swapping. The findings further reveal an emerging consumer strategy aiding decision-making process regarding items brought to swaps. The use of a particular strategy is found to be linked with the respective level of swapping expertise.
Research limitations/implications
Though the interviews provide a rich narrative, this paper is limited by its sample size meaning data cannot be generalised. Although the data is limited by singular country perspective, research participants were recruited from across the UK, thus, offering a broad picture of the swapping practice.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to and advances an understanding of swapping events organised by community-based enterprises. The theory of social practice lens offers a unique viewpoint on the elements influencing the consumers’ decision-making process with reference to voluntary disposition.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the humanitarian service management categories that influence long-term transformation within complex community-based service ecosystems.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the humanitarian service management categories that influence long-term transformation within complex community-based service ecosystems.
Design/methodology/approach
This study utilizes mixed methods to present a dynamic model that provides insight into the complexities of supplying, distributing and transporting charitable resources to underserved communities. The interdisciplinary study draws on the theory of service-dominant logic and service science, presents critical elements of transformative service research and uses system dynamics approach to propose a visual causal loop model.
Findings
This study develops a dynamic model for studying humanitarian service and value propositions in underserved communities. This paper combines the extant literature to emphasize key humanitarian service categories that influence, and are influenced by, service exchanges within community-based contexts.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is limited in providing quantitative methods in analyzing the case study data. However, the research is still helpful in providing acumen via the causal loop diagram to specifically look into each variable and see their cause and effect relationships in the community-based ecosystem. The research represents an opportunity to model the humanitarian aid and relief scenarios to help make more effective decision-making interventions.
Practical implications
The model serves as a managerial tool to determine critical services that optimize resource utilization within the community-based service ecosystems. Insights from this research are broadly applicable to the contexts of humanitarian logistics and supply chain management (HLSCM) solutions for community-based ventures.
Originality/value
This paper conceptualizes how the management of service-for-service exchanges, logistics services and charitable donation management provides transformational humanitarian services and value propositions within underserved communities. This study further provides fundamental contributions by addressing research gaps in the HLSCM domain by supporting service research and the community-based context.