Hwayoung Kim and Ryuji Kakimoto
This research aims to identify the qualitative differences between local hazard mitigation plan (LHMP) of the developing country when compared to those of developed countries. It…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to identify the qualitative differences between local hazard mitigation plan (LHMP) of the developing country when compared to those of developed countries. It also seeks to demonstrate the relative importance of public private partnership and the need for PPs to be integrated into LHMP because they help to create strong LHMP, thereby making communities will become more resilient to not only floods but also other natural disasters. It focuses on the components of hazard mitigation from a developed country perspective and how these influence the contents/focus of the LHMP especially when compared to those of a developing country.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on official information such as population, climate and major threat that has faced, research sites were selected. Each LHMP can be downloaded from the official city websites, except Korea. Through plan evacuation protocols the LHMP for each city – USA (Baltimore), Japan (Kumamoto) and Korea (Pohang) – were assessed three times by the research team. Plans were evaluated using a plan coding evacuation process.
Findings
The LHMP of the developing country did not contain maps illustrating to the people who are exposed to flood and evacuation routes and who are vulnerable (both economically and physically), when compared with the developed countries plan. However, quicker response because of simple political hierarchy can be possible in Japan and Korea when compared to the USA, which has three different tiers of political governments – federal, State and Local government – though Korea is a developing country.
Originality/value
In recent times, pre-disaster response, which is a proactive approach to natural disasters, is an emerging issue rather than post disaster response because of sustainable and resilient ideas of the locals that have repeatedly suffered from natural hazards. This study compares LHMPs of each country to better understand strengths and weakness, as well as to identify strategies that will enhance the quality of mitigation plan for the developed country and developing country. It is hoped that this study will inform and augment existing literature by assisting underdeveloped and developing countries suffering from floods with the preparation of their LHMPs based on the suggestion of this research.
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Phong Nha Nguyen and Hwayoung Kim
This study aims to identify the characteristics of the maritime shipping network in Northeast Asia as well as compare the level of port connectivity among these container ports in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify the characteristics of the maritime shipping network in Northeast Asia as well as compare the level of port connectivity among these container ports in the region. In addition, this study analyses the change in role and position of 20 ports in the region by clustering these ports based on connectivity index and container throughput and route index.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs Social Network Analysis (SNA) to delineate the international connectivity of major container ports in Northeast Asia. Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is used to identify each port's connectivity index and container throughput index, and the resulting indexes are employed as the basis to cluster 20 major ports by fuzzy C-mean (FCM).
Findings
The results revealed that Northeast Asia is a highly connected maritime shipping network with the domination of Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Busan. Furthermore, both container throughput and connectivity in almost all container ports in the region have decreased significantly due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The rapid growth of Shenzhen and Ningbo has allowed them to join Cluster 1 with Shanghai while maintaining high connectivity, yet decreasing container throughput has pushed Busan down to Cluster 2.
Originality/value
The originality of this study is to combine indexes of SNA into connectivity index reflecting characteristics of the maritime shipping network in Northeast Asia and categorize 20 major ports by FCM.
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Jungsun (Sunny) Kim, Mehmet Erdem, JeoungWoo Byun and Hwayoung Jeong
The purpose of this study is to investigate the perceived importance of soft skills for hotel employees, their willingness to use electronic learning (e‐learning) as a training…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the perceived importance of soft skills for hotel employees, their willingness to use electronic learning (e‐learning) as a training tool to improve their soft skills, and the impact of hotel employees' individual characteristics (i.e. motivation, self‐efficacy, technology anxiety) on their intentions to use e‐learning across different age groups.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample was randomly selected from hotel employees working at various upscale international chain hotels in South Korea. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to simultaneously measure the impact of four independent variables on the intention to use e‐learning for both younger and older learners.
Findings
The analysis revealed that responsibility, self‐esteem, sociability, and working with diverse groups were rated more important by younger hotel employees. The results suggest that learners who have higher extrinsic motivations in using e‐learning will be more likely to use e‐learning. However, the other variables (i.e. technology anxiety, self‐efficacy, and intrinsic motivation) did not significantly affect the intention to use e‐learning.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are practical for hotel managers/trainers, because they can focus on external rewards instead of internal rewards to motivate employees to use e‐learning. Age did not have a moderating effect between technology anxiety and the intention to use e‐learning. Since the respondents tend to be younger and have a higher standard of education compared with those of the general population, they may more accurately represent hotel employees at upscale or international chain hotels.
Originality/value
The study proposes a framework to examine the impact of hotel employees' individual characteristics on their intention to use e‐learning. The study also validates some relationships that have shown inconsistent results in previous studies. Future research could employ qualitative studies to investigate underlying dimensions of the variables tested in this study.