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This paper aims to study the dimensions and subdimensions of humanitarian supply chain resilience through the case of an non-governmental organization (NGO) logistics organization facing the international COVID-19 pandemic.

The methodology of this empirical research paper is based on a qualitative study using semistructured interviews with key actors of the Médecins Sans Frontières Logistique (MSF Log), NGO during the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 and 2021.

The data analysis highlighted four main dimensions of humanitarian supply chain resilience: organizational capacity, collaboration, flexibility and humanitarian culture. The transversal importance of the information system and that of the humanitarian culture were also pointed out. Furthermore, the authors have identified the subdimensions of each dimension; these subdimensions further elaborate the main dimension and provide a more detailed understanding of the concept. These dimensions require both proactive and reactive actions to be effective. Finally, based on these empirical results, a conceptual model of humanitarian supply chain resilience is proposed.

Additionally, further research can be done to explore the impact of digital technologies on the humanitarian supply chain resilience and how these technologies can be used to improve the resilience of humanitarian supply chains. Additionally, future research can also be conducted to explore how to measure the resilience of humanitarian supply chains and how to develop methods to improve the resilience of these supply chains.

The dimensions and subdimensions of resilience that have been highlighted may provide a guide for managers to target their actions, both responsively and proactively, to act on resilience over time when facing a crisis such as an international pandemic.

The value of this research is linked to the findings that result not only from literature about resilience but are also founded on an empirical and qualitative study of an NGO logistics organization facing an international crisis. The research provides an in-depth understanding of the practical application of supply chain resilience in a humanitarian context and the specific challenges and opportunities that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic for MSF Log. It also highlights the importance of information systems and humanitarian culture in maintaining the supply chain resilience. The findings of this research can be used as a guide for other humanitarian organizations to improve their supply chain resilience in times of crisis.

The “relevance literature” often moans that the publications of top-ranked academic journals are hardly relevant to managers, while actionable research struggles to get published. The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical explanation of this phenomenon.

This paper addresses the relevance debate in management science through the theoretical frame of the theories of the firm.

This paper proposes that business organizations should tend to internalize specific applied research. Applied to management research, this could explain why the “market” for academic publications might be more relevant for generalizable and conceptual research than for applied, contextualized research.

The paper is conceptual. However, it provides a new prospect to the rigor-relevance debate and to the ranking of researchers and business schools.

Business organizations should tend to internalize specific, applied research. Consequently, academic publications should concentrate on generalizable, “Mode 1” research.

The conclusions could justify the evolution of the rating of universities and researchers towards a multi-dimensional rating, including measures of the socio-economic impact of the research, instead on focusing on academic publications only.

This paper offers a new point of view on the rigor-relevance debate. It supports the idea that applied and conceptual research are different forms of knowledge and should be “traded”, produced and rewarded differently.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. 10;

Firms can indicate their genuine commitment to economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability through substantive engagement with all the different stakeholders involved. Making stakeholder engagement an inherent part of voluntary sustainability reports signals awareness and concern for relevant sustainability issues. On the contrary, reports limiting disclosure to more generic information invite assumption that preserving corporate image is the company's real objective.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

This chapter examines James Steuart’s explanation of the relationship between banking system and economic development. Unlike other Scottish thinkers of the time, Steuart argues that the origin of commercial nations was not, in his view, a consequence of human nature and a long period of historical evolution. The establishment of the system of trade and commerce that gives rise to a “commercial nation” is conditioned by a series of elements that can render its appearance impossible. This chapter examines how the establishment of the system of trade and commerce that gives rise to a commercial nation is conditioned, according to Steuart, by the development of the banking system. It also broaches Steuart’s explanation of how the banking system functions within a non-commercial nation, which the Scottish author called “the infancy of banking.”

Despite the global nature of the UN Global Compact (UNGC), a platform for the development, implementation and disclosure of responsible and sustainable corporate policies and practices, the participation of organisations is unequally distributed across societies. This paper aims to explore the relationship between national cultures, as defined by Hofstede, and organisations voluntarily affiliating with the UNGC.

This study tests the relationship between national culture and firm affiliation with the UNGC using data derived from Hofstede’s works and information available on the UNGC website and other websites and accounting databases, covering 282 firms in 30 countries on 4 continents.

The results indicate that firms in countries with high individualism or high masculinity rankings are more likely to affiliate with the UNGC. In addition, organisations in countries with less uncertainty avoidance, short-term orientation and high restraint are also more likely to affiliate with the UNGC.

The results are interesting for initiatives like the UNGC. The development strategies and democratisation tools developed by this initiative will have to take into account the specific cultural features of different countries.

The purpose of this study is to document the concrete practices put in place by United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) affiliated firms and their application of the UNGC Communication on Progress (COP).

The paper examines the practices implemented by firms on the Fortune 500 list that have affiliated with the UNGC and issued a COP separate from their annual report or a sustainable development report. According to the UNGC, the COP policy sets out a description of practical actions the company has taken or plans to take to implement the ten principles.

The findings tend to show that firms affiliated with the UNGC use a variety of practices to integrate these principles. Many adopt policies based on an international standard relating to a UNGC principle. However, the reporting process supported by the UNGC does not seem to fully promote the widespread application of these practices.

The documentation of these practices will serve as a reference for any business interested in adopting the UNGC principles or for government and non-government organisations, including accounting standard setters, aiming to promote and support the universal principles on human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption. In addition, the study reveals weaknesses in the UNGC COP policy that could limit more extensive application of these practices.

The purpose of this paper is to document health care needs expressed by people living with diabetes, describe the solutions they envisaged for improving the quality of primary care (PC) services and empower them to make better use of PC services.

A participatory research approach was used. Six workshops were organised to provide diabetes patients with knowledge on available services and to engage them in sharing their experience. Group discussions were recorded. Data were analysed using the thematic analysis method.

In total, 79 persons living with diabetes for a mean of 13 years participated. Needs expressed were grouped under seven themes: assurance of satisfactory follow-up by a family physician, continuous access to services adapted to evolving needs, motivation to adopt and maintain healthy behaviours, maintenance of knowledge about diabetes, psychological support, financial constraints, and collaboration with secondary-level services. Patients proposed solutions for improving services that were grouped under five themes: facilitating access to services, disseminating information about available services, centralising diabetes information on the internet, offering personalised services and improving interprofessional collaboration.

Needs expressed by diabetic patients concern different aspects of care such as accessibility, organisation, coordination, and better dissemination and visibility of services. The solutions proposed by patients focussed on better access to information and interprofessional services.

The workshop format used in this study offers an original and interesting approach and tool for actively engaging patients in quality improvement of services.

Relying on the theories of substitutes for leadership and psychological empowerment, this study aims to explore how perceptions of customer positive feedback can substitute for managers’ transformational leadership in driving frontline employees’ psychological empowerment and, in turn, task performance.

The authors tested the research hypotheses with frontline employees working in 17 equipment rental stores. Employees completed a questionnaire about customer positive feedback, transformational leadership and psychological empowerment, and supervisors completed a separate questionnaire about employees’ task performance. A total of 178 employee-supervisor dyads formed the final sample of the study.

The results provided support for our hypotheses. Psychological empowerment fully mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and task performance. Moreover, customer positive feedback moderated the indirect relationship between transformational leadership and task performance such that it was significant and positive only when customer feedback was low.

This paper contributes to the service marketing literature by showing that customer positive feedback can substitute for managers’ leadership in helping frontline employees feeling more in control of their work and psychologically empowered. Another useful contribution for practitioners is that customers may have a positive impact on frontline employees’ motivation state, which past research has little explored.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the substantiveness of stakeholder engagement by examining voluntary disclosures tied to the engagement process. The objective is to draw a portrait of stakeholder engagement practices and determine whether they genuinely contribute to informing stakeholders or whether they are simply intended to manage stakeholders’ impressions.

The authors performed an exploratory content analysis on 113 sustainability reports published in 2018 in the Global Reporting Initiative database. The authors investigated disclosures tied to consulted stakeholders, communication modes and material issues resulting from the engagement process. The authors then assessed the substantiveness of these disclosures to determine the extent of the impression management tactics deployed in the stakeholder engagement disclosures made by Canadian companies.

Data analysis showed that more than a third of Canadian firms tend to make generic disclosures on their stakeholders’ engagement. As well, almost half the engagement modes disclosed are unidirectional and fewer than 33% of Canadian companies disclose on relevant sustainability issues. Furthermore, only 26% of the sample seek assurance on the information disclosed. Overall, the authors note an important trend in impression management used in sustainability reporting and underscore a potentially significant sectoral effect in the tactics used.

These data provide new insight into stakeholder engagement processes and highlight the strategies used by Canadian companies to manage their stakeholders’ impressions rather than their expectations. The study also contributes to a better understanding of the underexplored stakeholder engagement process and provides regulatory organisations with deepened insights to better frame stakeholder engagement disclosures.