Corporate Philanthropy in Silicon Valley

Recognizes the generosity of employers and employees, and makes suggestions for ways companies and their leaders can encourage even greater levels of giving

Essays Examining Humanitarian Supply Chains: Investigating Operational Characteristics, Activities, and Performance

As the frequency and severity of disasters continue to increase, the need for collaboration amongst all humanitarian stakeholders in humanitarian supply chain activities during all aspects of the disaster cycle has become more critical to the success of relief operations. Humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are voluntary organizations operating in highly dynamic and chaotic environments to provide aid to people in need. But as the impact of disaster increases and the funding becomes more limited and competitive, they face mounting pressures from stakeholders to improve the quality of their operations. Similarly, private organizations are also under higher levels of scrutiny to become more socially responsible. In response, literature has turned to service operations and corporate social responsibility research, focusing on customer service and integration improvements as a path toward more effective disaster relief outcomes. Therefore, this dissertation aims to build upon this humanitarian service research stream. This dissertation examines how the humanitarian supply chain\u27s operational characteristics affect the workforce and community integrative behaviors, operational activities in the wake of disasters, and collaborative efforts between relief actors. Essay 1 employs approach-avoidance theory to examine the effects of trauma exposure on aid worker behaviors and supply chain integration activities. It also examines the moderating effects of various forms of supervisor support. Utilizing a scenario-based vignette experiment, results indicate that trauma exposure induces both approach and avoidance behaviors. As such, it simultaneously hinders cooperative commitment and improves organizational commitment among aid workers. Furthermore, we find that supervisor support strengthens these relationships. As such, this study contributes to disaster management, integration, and leadership literature streams. It highlights environmental mechanisms to aid worker integrative behaviors and provides decision-making guidance to NGOs regarding where to direct support investments. Essay 2 combines religion with volunteer management. It employs both social capital and person-organization fit theory to examine the effects of NGO religiousness and volunteer religious fit, on volunteer behaviors and operational performance. Utilizing two scenario-based video experiments, results indicate that NGO religiousness lessens social capital, negatively impacting volunteer behaviors and operational performance. Conversely, when NGOs and volunteers experience religious fit, it helps to minimize the negative effects of NGO religiousness and improve their operational performance. As such, this study contributes to the Humanitarian Operations literature by advising strategy around religious alignment and volunteer behaviors, retention, and operational performance. Essay 3 focuses on the vital role of private organizations in disaster relief and the importance of private-NGO collaboration. Employing resource dependence and matching theory, it examines mechanisms of private organization attitudes toward private-NGO partnerships. It also examines how the influence of these mechanisms may differ across disaster relief stages. Utilizing a scenario-based vignette experiment, results indicate that NGO resource capabilities motivate private organizations and their willingness to engage in private-NGO partnerships. As such, this study contributes to the private-NGO partnership literature and informs NGOs’ strategy around private organization motivations, decision-making, and alliance formation. This dissertation produces insights across the humanitarian supply chain, informing important curiosities involving NGOs, private organizations, aid workers, and the customers/communities they serve

Essays Examining Humanitarian Supply Chains: Investigating Operational Characteristics, Activities, and Performance

As the frequency and severity of disasters continue to increase, the need for collaboration amongst all humanitarian stakeholders in humanitarian supply chain activities during all aspects of the disaster cycle has become more critical to the success of relief operations. Humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are voluntary organizations operating in highly dynamic and chaotic environments to provide aid to people in need. But as the impact of disaster increases and the funding becomes more limited and competitive, they face mounting pressures from stakeholders to improve the quality of their operations. Similarly, private organizations are also under higher levels of scrutiny to become more socially responsible. In response, literature has turned to service operations and corporate social responsibility research, focusing on customer service and integration improvements as a path toward more effective disaster relief outcomes. Therefore, this dissertation aims to build upon this humanitarian service research stream. This dissertation examines how the humanitarian supply chain\u27s operational characteristics affect the workforce and community integrative behaviors, operational activities in the wake of disasters, and collaborative efforts between relief actors. Essay 1 employs approach-avoidance theory to examine the effects of trauma exposure on aid worker behaviors and supply chain integration activities. It also examines the moderating effects of various forms of supervisor support. Utilizing a scenario-based vignette experiment, results indicate that trauma exposure induces both approach and avoidance behaviors. As such, it simultaneously hinders cooperative commitment and improves organizational commitment among aid workers. Furthermore, we find that supervisor support strengthens these relationships. As such, this study contributes to disaster management, integration, and leadership literature streams. It highlights environmental mechanisms to aid worker integrative behaviors and provides decision-making guidance to NGOs regarding where to direct support investments. Essay 2 combines religion with volunteer management. It employs both social capital and person-organization fit theory to examine the effects of NGO religiousness and volunteer religious fit, on volunteer behaviors and operational performance. Utilizing two scenario-based video experiments, results indicate that NGO religiousness lessens social capital, negatively impacting volunteer behaviors and operational performance. Conversely, when NGOs and volunteers experience religious fit, it helps to minimize the negative effects of NGO religiousness and improve their operational performance. As such, this study contributes to the Humanitarian Operations literature by advising strategy around religious alignment and volunteer behaviors, retention, and operational performance. Essay 3 focuses on the vital role of private organizations in disaster relief and the importance of private-NGO collaboration. Employing resource dependence and matching theory, it examines mechanisms of private organization attitudes toward private-NGO partnerships. It also examines how the influence of these mechanisms may differ across disaster relief stages. Utilizing a scenario-based vignette experiment, results indicate that NGO resource capabilities motivate private organizations and their willingness to engage in private-NGO partnerships. As such, this study contributes to the private-NGO partnership literature and informs NGOs’ strategy around private organization motivations, decision-making, and alliance formation. This dissertation produces insights across the humanitarian supply chain, informing important curiosities involving NGOs, private organizations, aid workers, and the customers/communities they serve

Emergency Services Workforce 2030: Changing work literature review

The Changing Work Literature Review collates a high-level evidence base around nine major themes related to internal workforce management approaches and working environments of fire, emergency service, and rural land management agencies. It is an output of the Workforce 2030 project and is one of two literature reviews that summarise the research base underpinning a high-level integrative report of emerging workforce challenges and opportunities, Emergency Services Workforce 2030. Workforce 2030 aimed to highlight major trends and developments likely to impact the future workforces of emergency service organisations, and their potential implications. The starting point for the project was a question: What can research from outside the sphere of emergency management add to our knowledge of wider trends and developments likely to shape the future emergency services workforce, and their implications? The Changing Work Literature Review focuses on nine themes relevant to changes that have implications for emergency service organisation’s internal workforce management approaches and working environments: 1) Recruitment, assessment, and selection, 2) Socialisation and training, 3) Work design, 4) Diversity and inclusion, 5) Managing mental health and wellbeing, 6) Leadership, 7) Change management, 8) Managing an ageing workforce, and 9) Managing volunteer workforces

Trust: a planning guide for wildfire agencies and practitioners

In increasing numbers, agency personnel, interest groups, and residents of at-risk communities are coming together to consider wildfire problems and taking steps to solve them. Particularly with regard to fire management, trust among parties is an essential element to successful local programs. Despite a growing body of research literature on this topic, there are few practical guides for fire managers and practitioners about how to build and evaluate trust amongst stakeholders. This guides aims to bring clarity to the trust concept and focus it specifically for use in fire management settings. Authors: Bruce Shindler and Christine Olsen, College of Forestry Oregon State University Oregon, USA Sarah McCaffrey, USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station USA Bonita McFarlane and Amy Christianson, Natural Resources Canada Canadian Forest Service Alberta, Canada Tara McGee, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences University of Alberta Alberta, Canada Allan Curtis and Emily Sharp, Charles Sturt University New South Wales, Australi

PREdictive model for DISaster response configuration (PREDIS decision platform)

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonThe extraordinary conditions of a disaster, require the mobilisation of all available resources, inducing the rush of humanitarian partners into the affected area. This phenomenon called the proliferation of actors, causes serious problems during the disaster response phase including the oversupply, duplicated efforts, lack of planning. The aim of this research is to provide a solution to reduce the partner proliferation problem. To that end the main research question is put forward as “How to reduce the proliferation of partners in a disaster response”? Panel analysis of the historic record of 4,252 natural onset disasters between 1980 to 2013 via regression analysis, MA and AHP gives rise to the formation of a predictive decision-making platform called PREDIS. It is capable of predicting the human impact of the disaster (fatality, injured, homeless) of up to 3% of errors and enables the decision makers to estimate the required needs for each disaster and prioritises them based on the disaster type and socio-economics of the affected country. It further renders it possible to rank and optimise the desired partners based on the decision maker’s preferences. Verification of the PREDIS through a simulation game design using a sample group of decision makers, show that this technique enables the user to decide within one hour after the disaster strike using the widely available data at the time of the disaster. It also enables non-experts to decide almost identically to experts in terms of the similarity of the choices and the speed of the decision.The lack of an extensive database for the potential humanitarian partners from which to choose, is the limitation of this research in addition to the lack of standardised set of minimum requirements for the suitable partners.The model is also as strong as its data feed which is inconsistent in various humanitarian sources

Service quality at the London 2012 Games – a Paralympics Athletes Survey

Purpose – This paper reports on aspects of service quality at the London 2012 Paralympic Games,from a rather unusual perspective, the athletes. To date there has been little evidence captured about athlete’s satisfaction at sporting events, and specifically about their perceptions of the service quality provided. Design/methodology/approach – Unique ‘full’ access to the London 2012 Paralympics allowed to the collection of data directly from the athletes. The study reports the questionnaire findings from a sample of 250 respondents. Findings – From this study an operational assessment and performance framework has been generated composed of 10 criteria and 73 items or sub-criteria, which can be used as a benchmarking tool to plan, design and compare future sport mega-event. Moreover, the study evidence based the high quality of the 2012 Paralympics Games, as he athletes rated, on a 5 point Likert scale, 64 items in the ‘very satisfied’ category, a very positive set of feedback for the Games organisers. Research limitations/implications – The methodology applied was appropriate, generating data to facilitate discussion and draw specific conclusions from. A perceived limitation is the single case approach; however, this can be enough to add to the body of knowledge where very little evidence has been captured so far and where the objectives were to explore the Paralympics games service quality and performance. Practical implications – This research provides a tangible evidence base to support future sport event decision-makers, planners and designers in this highly complex ‘arena’. In any system, there are always areas for improvement (AFIs), these are highlighted within the paper for further investigation. Originality/value – This is the first paper to identify and synthesize aspects of sport mega event service quality from the athletes viewpoint and informs how well designed, organised and managed the London 2012 Games were from a primary user perspective. The paper makes a defined contribution by developing evidence based recommendations for this important yet under researched area

The QuakeAware Business Plan

This business plan details the operating, marketing, financial, competitive, and technological landscapes of QuakeAware. QuakeAware is a website and iPhone / Android mobile phone application that helps citizens prepare for and react to a local earthquake. Presently, QuakeAware faces the challenges of becoming a sustainable enterprise and selecting the optimal strategic direction and operating mode for its future growth. This business plan identifies and assesses the options available to QuakeAware and outlines the recommended next steps. A strategic analysis and a business framework will bolster our plan to source grant funds. This will allow us to hire a full time employee to further QuakeAware‘s goal of providing community earthquake safety in selected earthquake-prone regions around the world. To achieve these goals, QuakeAware will need to register itself as a \u27Not for profit\u27 organization, develop grant funding and earned income streams, maintain a key relationship with a government partner, and transition toward a volunteer-driven organization