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Natural disasters represent an increasing threat to businesses, putting at risk their continuity in light of sustainable performance conditions. The present chapter explores the role of organizational resilience and of human capital in manufacturing companies hit by a natural disaster, an earthquake in the current study, by considering performance in the long run. In doing so, a survey has been performed on a sample of 131 manufacturing companies hit by the Emilia earthquake (Italy) in 2012, considering both perceptual data and balance sheet data. This represents a key contribution of this chapter, as extant literature on the impact of resilience on business performance has mainly used perceptual data; conversely, our study, considering balance sheet data, enables a more comprehensive and realistic view of the phenomenon. The sample was selected from the AIDA database, as it includes revenue data that we could add to the perceptual measures obtained by administering a structured questionnaire. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was then employed. The results show the importance of developing adaptive processes that leverage on the organization’s human capital and resilience to respond to adverse exogenous events. More specifically, it has been found that human capital and organizational resilience are profitable to post-disaster economic performance in the long run, supporting the economic sustainability of affected businesses. The implications are related to reinforcing new business solutions and adaptive strategies, looking at both organizational resilience and human capital investment to reach a stable economic business performance in the long-run after a detrimental event.

The spent electroless copper bath is deactivated at the overflow by the automatic addition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to prevent copper from plating out in the drain lines, causing the lines to become blocked. Caustic (NaOH) and formaldehyde (HCHO) are then added to the deactivated electroless copper solution in a batch treatment process. Powdered aluminium or aluminium fines are added to precipitate out the copper as metallic copper. The copper concentration (<1 ppm) can be made stable for several days if necessary. The metallic copper is filtered out and salvaged. The mother liquor is neutralised (pH 6·5–9·0) and discharged. United States patent applied for, 07–345865.

It is well recognized that disasters, whether naturally occurring or the result of human invention, affect a region on many levels. Not only are disasters felt within the painful context of human tragedy, loss of life, and physical suffering, but disasters can also destroy the immediate socio-economic fabric of the affected population as well as the ability of a region to sustain itself during the slow process of recovery and reconstruction. As Newton (1997) notes, “disasters are not isolated from the social structure within which they occur; rather, they are social phenomena” (p. 219).

The purpose of the research is to develop a conceptual framework to anticipate the vulnerability of value of commercial properties towards changing risk of flooding. The existing patterns, themes, and issues associated with property value and their vulnerability towards flooding were identified and used to inform the development of the conceptual model.

Literature review is performed to identify the factors affecting vulnerability of commercial property values to the impact of flood risk in the UK. The review approach was based on related literature contributing to identified themes and sub-themes. The extant literature is summarized into two distinct themes of “vulnerability” and “value” contributing to changing risk of flooding. The synthesised literature is then utilized in developing the conceptual map which further paved the way towards designing the conceptual framework.

The generic conceptual framework presented explores the interaction between different internal and external influencing factors affecting the vulnerability of value of commercial property system. The framework highlighted the importance of space and time within the system. An extensive review of previous studies in both the residential and commercial sectors for different disaster studies reveals that the main research challenge in assessing the vulnerability of property values are the intensive data requirements. The need for data is considered to be the main restrictive factor resulting in lack of empirical studies in this field.

This study brings together two existing research domains of flood vulnerability and property value. Practitioners and researchers will find this study useful in developing an improved understanding of the vulnerability of commercial properties to flooding. The conceptual framework is an important outcome of the research which will encourage further research in this considerably neglected field.

Drawing on the health belief model and affective events theory, the main objectives of this study are to: (1) analyze which health beliefs about COVID-19 (probability, seriousness and worry) trigger feelings of social isolation; (2) investigate whether psychological capital buffers the escalation of social isolation and (3) analyze the role of the feelings of social isolation as a mechanism that yields drawbacks on mental health, life satisfaction and performance.

Data came from two waves of online surveys administered to 678 employees of a private university in Mexico.

Results of structural equation modeling showed that beliefs of worry of getting COVID-19 trigger social isolation feelings, which, in turn, yields drawbacks on mental health, life satisfaction and performance (i.e. task, creative and organizational citizenship behavior). Moreover, psychological capital buffers the increases in feelings of social isolation generated by beliefs of the COVID-19 severity.

This study provides insightful recommendations for handling future events that might imply social restrictions as a measure of contagion containment.

We contribute to Affective Events literature by linking it to the health belief model. A main criticism of affective events theory is its exogenous blindness and lack of attention to how affect reactions are triggered at work. We address this limitation by bridging health belief model and affective events theory to show what specific health beliefs of COVID-19 produce affects and behavioral reactions in employees.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute a deeper understanding of how natural disasters influence entrepreneurial intentionality as an important antecedent of entrepreneurial intention. It reviews the conceptual and operational backgrounds of natural disaster research and entrepreneurship theories and formulates a distinctive conceptual approach to entrepreneurial intentions in natural disaster settings.

An exhaustive review of research articles published in peer-reviewed entrepreneurship journals is provided and focuses on entrepreneurship, natural disasters, and entrepreneurial opportunities.

Six propositions about the influence of natural disasters on entrepreneurial intentions in ways that are distinct to the specific circumstances of post-disaster environments.

The paper’s findings serve as a useful foundation for future research of post-disaster entrepreneurial behavior. The propositions highlight the relationship between opportunities, self-efficacy, feasibility, desirability, fear of failure, and resilience that complement macro-level research with micro-level antecedents. Implications entail new methodological avenues for future studies of humanitarian and post-disaster entrepreneurial activities.

This paper suggests ways in which public policy and educational, state and community programs can be designed and executed so that entrepreneurial intentions are developed and entrepreneurial action is not hindered. Moreover, it clarifies several ways to achieve more effective action (or inaction) to serve those affected by natural disasters and minimize disaffection.

The study illustrates that natural disasters can and do create opportunities for entrepreneurial behavior even as they generate powerful and sweeping negative effects on socioeconomic systems. Its unique approach explores individual-level variables concerning intent and motivation that drive entrepreneurial decisions in disaster contexts.

Soft robotics is currently a rapidly growing new field of robotics whereby the robots are fundamentally soft and elastically deformable. Fabrication of soft robots is currently challenging and highly time- and labor-intensive. Recent advancements in three-dimensional (3D) printing of soft materials and multi-materials have become the key to enable direct manufacturing of soft robots with sophisticated designs and functions. Hence, this paper aims to review the current 3D printing processes and materials for soft robotics applications, as well as the potentials of 3D printing technologies on 3D printed soft robotics.

The paper reviews the polymer 3D printing techniques and materials that have been used for the development of soft robotics. Current challenges to adopting 3D printing for soft robotics are also discussed. Next, the potentials of 3D printing technologies and the future outlooks of 3D printed soft robotics are presented.

This paper reviews five different 3D printing techniques and commonly used materials. The advantages and disadvantages of each technique for the soft robotic application are evaluated. The typical designs and geometries used by each technique are also summarized. There is an increasing trend of printing shape memory polymers, as well as multiple materials simultaneously using direct ink writing and material jetting techniques to produce robotics with varying stiffness values that range from intrinsically soft and highly compliant to rigid polymers. Although the recent work is done is still limited to experimentation and prototyping of 3D printed soft robotics, additive manufacturing could ultimately be used for the end-use and production of soft robotics.

The paper provides the current trend of how 3D printing techniques and materials are used particularly in the soft robotics application. The potentials of 3D printing technology on the soft robotic applications and the future outlooks of 3D printed soft robotics are also presented.

The purpose of this paper is to review existing literature at the intersection of resilience and entrepreneurship. It identifies six scholarly conversations, each of which draws on distinct notions of resilience and entrepreneurship. Based on those conversations, shortcomings in the existing literature are discussed and avenues for future research are outlined.

A systematic multi-disciplinary review of 144 papers that are categorized into six scholarly conversations to build the foundation for a critical discussion of each line of inquiry.

This paper identifies six conversations or research streams at the intersection of entrepreneurship and resilience: resilience as traits or characteristics of entrepreneurial firms or individuals, resilience as a trigger for entrepreneurial intentions, entrepreneurial behavior as enhancing organizational resilience, entrepreneurial firms fostering macro-level (regions, communities, economies) resilience, resilience in the context of entrepreneurial failure, and resilience as a process of recovery and transformation. The review revealed these publications imprecisely define constructs and use a limited amount of the extant scholarship on both entrepreneurship and resilience. Future research should take a more holistic approach to explore entrepreneurship and resilience from a multi-level and longitudinal perspective, especially in the context of socio-ecological sustainability.

This paper incorporates insights on resilience and entrepreneurship across academic disciplines to show how future contributions could benefit by incorporating research from other fields. In doing so, it provides a starting point for more nuanced discussions around the interrelationships between the different conversations and the role entrepreneurs can play in promoting a positive, long-term trajectory for a socio-ecological system.

Dietary supplements have been subject to considerable criticism because of their lack of regulation and questionable claims; yet, research indicates that consumers who are more health conscious are more likely to use supplements because the products are associated with preventive health behaviors. This research aims to examine whether consumers’ familiarity with supplement advertising or their level of health consciousness significantly affects their attitudes toward three different types of dietary supplements. It also assesses whether advertising familiarity and health consciousness are related to perceptions of supplement price.

This paper used a point-of-purchase approach and collected data at a nationwide supplement retail store in a major metropolitan area in the southeast, resulting in a final sample of 136 consumers. In addition to the survey items, data were collected on a number of demographic factors, including gender, age, marital status, race and education.

Results suggest that health consciousness is significantly related to attitudes toward different supplement types and perceptions of supplement price, but familiarity with supplement advertising is not related.

The results suggest that health consciousness is a significant predictor of attitudes toward different nutritional supplements and the perceived price of supplements, but familiarity with advertising is not a predictor. Implications for marketers and public policy are provided.

While this research informs public policy, it is especially useful for marketers and advertisers of dietary supplements.

This paper outlines ways in which struggling ethnic minority entrepreneurial service ventures and their owners might respond to unforeseen economic and social shocks. Interviews with owners of Bangladeshi Curry Houses in the United Kingdom — whom historically have lower performance rates compared to other ethnic minority businesses in the country — reveal that the entrepreneurs' response strategies undertaken to survive and remain in the business despite the challenges faced from operating in a turbulence environment.

The authors conducted depth phone interviews with owners of Bangladeshi Curry Houses in London during January and February of 2021. The Gioia methodology was applied to the interview scripts to identify which crisis themes exist.

Despite no advanced educational training, Bangladeshi owners have applied all of the different crisis management techniques present in larger companies: retrenchment, persevering, innovation, and exit. Although the results show that government schemes aimed at helping small businesses have contributed significantly to their survival, concerns regarding the post-health crisis situation remain challenging and threatening for their growth and survivability.

The results indicates that the ethnic minority owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are less likely to plan for the future operations; furthermore, they tend not to have formulated a strategy for dealing with an external shock hence affecting and threatening their performance and competitiveness in the marketplace.