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This study contributes to the academic discourse on the evolution of virtual qualitative enquiries in the wake of the accelerated adoption of digital technology following the COVID-19 pandemic. Employing a critical-reflection approach, this study explored the experiences of investigators who conducted 150 soft laddering interviews, either online or face-to-face. The research provides a theoretical reflection on online soft laddering and its application with new technological tools, such as video conferencing and social media, demonstrating how these tools mitigate logistical and relational limitations while enhancing data collection scope and reach. The findings indicate that technological advancements are fostering a gradual hybridisation of digital and physical methods, particularly those utilising synchronous interviews. As the physical and digital realms converge, this trend leads to the phygitalisation of qualitative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vaccine, a distinctive product with specific characteristics, plays a crucial role in enhancing human immunity against diseases for their eradication. Given the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on humanity, numerous challenges lie ahead, underscoring the necessity to develop and enhance medical, economic, and managerial components of vaccine development, as well as to integrate digital technologies and coordinate all stakeholders to respond effectively to the epidemic. All of these considerations refer to the need for a vaccine lifecycle management approach. Despite existing literature, many studies focus on isolated stages, neglecting the essential holistic view required to understand interconnections and the overall impact of proposed solutions on the whole lifecycle. This study addresses this research gap, by systematically tackling major challenges throughout the vaccine lifecycle. Our research contributes to the literature by (a) providing a systematic examination of the literature surrounding Vaccine Lifecycle Management, offering insights into the existing challenges and issues faced in the various stages of vaccine development, production, distribution, and administration, and (b) proposing recommendations or directions for improvement in managing the entire lifecycle of vaccines. Our results could be valuable perspectives for decision-makers involved in the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the COVID-19 pandemic in the rear window, the sport industry ramped up efforts to evaluate the financial and cultural detriment of the global public health crisis. Therefore, this study aimed to assess how the altered sport and physical exercise habits of college students at Southeastern Conference (SEC) member institutions impacted their physical and mental well-being. Drawing from social ecology theory, data were collected through a qualitative online survey consisting of open-ended questions, disseminated via email to SEC college students. Study findings indicate the critical role of access to physical exercise and sports in the overall well-being of society and may prove invaluable for addressing future public health emergencies and crises. Theoretical and practical recommendations include the development of sustainable outdoor recreation activities as well as coping strategies and alternatives to traditional sports and physical exercise (e.g., immersive virtual reality options). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employment relations in Europe today differ from how they were prior to the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, as key terms and conditions (e.g., wages) and sectors of economic activity (e.g., platform work and the green economy) are now subject to direct political intervention by the European institutions. Transnational (horizontal) competition within the Single European Market has long provided a context for national employment relations in Europe, and various national institutions impacted workers' rights and conditions of employment. Under the new economic governance (NEG) regime triggered by the financial crisis, political (vertical) intervention in employment relations created strong pressure toward the commodification of labor. The COVID pandemic involved policymaking in the opposite (decommodifying) direction. That said, and as the articles in this special issue clearly demonstrate, commodifying pressures are still strong, and the full realization of Social Europe is arguably as elusive as ever. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the effect of a supplier's customer concentration level on its operating performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a large sample of publicly listed U.S. manufacturing firms, we measured abnormal changes in operating performance of the sample firms across two distinct stages of the pandemic: the disruption phase ( $ N = 2,557 $ N = 2 , 557) and the recovery phase ( $ N = 2,454 $ N = 2 , 454). Our regression results show that the effect of customer concentration varied depending on the phase of the pandemic. Suppliers with a concentrated customer base performed worse during the first year of the pandemic when the global supply chain experienced significant disruptions. During this disruption, firms with lower degrees of customer concentration managed their supply chain risks more effectively, resulting in higher operating performance than their benchmark firms. However, when firms entered the recovery phase, we found that a firm's concentration level had the opposite effect on its operating performance. During the recovery phase, firms with concentrated customer bases could coordinate and collaborate more effectively with major customers, leading to improved operating performance. Based on our findings, we discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of managing the supply chain structure during its disruption and recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Detraining is the partial or complete loss of physical training-induced adaptations as a result of exercise interruption or reduction. The COVID-19 pandemic led to the discontinuation of many older adult exercise programs and led to increased depressive symptoms (DS), increased sedentary behavior (SB), and decreased quality of life (QoL). Objective: To evaluate the effects of detraining, in the pandemic, on physical capacity and its relationship with DS, QoL, and SB of community-dwelling older adults. Methods: The physical capacity (static balance, dynamic balance, and lower limb and handgrip strength) of 35 participants was assessed prepandemic and after 18 and 24 months of the pandemic. DS, QoL, and SB were evaluated only at 18-month period. The analysis of variance for repeated measures or the Friedman and Pearson or Spearman tests were used for statistical analysis. Results: There was a decline in dynamic balance (p <.001) and strength in the lower limbs (p <.001) in the first 18 months, as well as maintenance in the following 6 months. The reduction in dynamic balance during the 18 months of the pandemic was associated with greater DS (p =.015; r =.414) and worse QoL (p =.024; r = −.381) in this period. More time spent on SB (p =.024; r =.386) in the 18th month was associated with worse dynamic balance in the following 6 months. Conclusion: Detraining in the pandemic setting led to long-lasting harmful effects, which can last for 2 years, on the physical capacity of community-dwelling older adults. Implication: Our findings highlight how periods of detraining can interfere in physical and mental health of older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many public health experts worried that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s presidential campaign would elevate an anti-vaccine movement that's seen its reach and fundraising skyrocket since the COVID-19 pandemic. But a closer look at what's happening in state governments shows that Kennedy—America's most famous anti-vaxxer—isn't the leading edge of the anti-vaccine movements effort to make inroads in electoral politics. At a time when routine school vaccination rates are dropping to precarious lows in many places, the anti-vaccine movement has seen great success in getting supportive politicians elected, and notching previously unattainable wins in statehouses across the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study describes the adaptation process of a female sailor experiencing several career-change events and transitions. Qualitative data were collected longitudinally as part of a sport psychology consultation process. Data analysis was guided by the meta-model of adaption in sport. Along two Olympic cycles (i.e., Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024), the athlete experienced multiple changes. These included two transitions between sailing classes, teaming up with a partner, long training camps, an injury, the coronavirus pandemic, and competing in major championships. Transition demands included building team cohesion and developing self-efficacy and mental strength. The athlete exhibited successful and poor adaptation. The applied work facilitating her successful adaptation is presented. Her adaptation ability developed as she progressed in her career, en route to becoming a world champion. These findings provided initial applied-practice support for the meta-model of adaption in sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the current study was to explore elite athletes' experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on both growth and well-being. Informed by two complementary theoretical models, this research focused on elite athletes' potential to experience growth. Five elite athletes completed the Stress-Related Growth Scale–Revised and underwent semistructured interviews to develop a narrative of their experiences. Through a thematic analysis, we articulated elite athletes' experiences of both illusory and real adversarial growth following the COVID-19 pandemic. Four themes illustrated their experiences: the COVID-19 experience, searching for positives, self-transformation, and the social impact. A fifth theme, well-being, was integral throughout, involving the continued protection and development of athlete well-being. Future research recommendations and implications include further exploration of adversarial growth experiences after the pandemic and long-term effects of the pandemic on elite athletes, the creation of an adversarial growth measure, and engagement with this research to inform support measures to decrease the impact of adversity on elite athletes' well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate the superstar effects in Major League Baseball, focusing on a particularly unique international athlete, Shohei Ohtani, using a fixed effects panel regression with multiway clustering. Ohtani's scarce talent as both a pitcher and a hitter provides the potential to have outsized influence on demand at home (superstar effect) and away (superstar externality) games, providing new marketing opportunities for the league. We compare Ohtani's impact on attendance with other top pitchers, particularly after large attendance drops attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that his superstardom played a key role in bringing fans back to baseball games. Results revealed a large attendance externality, especially after the pandemic, that increased away attendance by up to 40% in 2021 specifically (and up to 20% overall). We propose that Ohtani provides an opportunity for Major League Baseball to leverage a recognizable face of baseball and leverage superstar value that was previously shown to be in decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Banks' information technology (IT) capabilities affect their ability to serve customers during the COVID-19 pandemic, which generates an unexpected and unprecedented shock that shifts banking services from in-person to digital. Amid mobility restrictions, banks with better IT experience larger reductions in physical branch visits and larger increases in website traffic, implying a larger shift to digital banking. Stronger IT banks are able to originate more Paycheck Protection Program loans to small business borrowers, especially in areas with more severe COVID-19 outbreaks, higher internet use, and higher bank competition. Those banks also attract more deposit flows and receive better mobile customer reviews during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic strongly influenced daily practices, and this manifested in social interactions, communications and consumption. This work addresses the relations between branding and cultural trends in strategic communication and advertising in different contexts of the pandemic. First, we reviewed the concepts of branding and cultural trends. From there, it was necessary to develop a methodological proposal to articulate a connotative semiotic analysis with the semiotic square and a cultural trend mapping. The analysis was carried out through an independent and comparative reading of two-time phases: confinement (2020) and end of constraints (2022). Three telecommunications brands in Portugal act as case studies in a random and probabilistic sample of two audiovisual texts from Christmas campaigns each. Finally, a theoretical-operational triangulation is obtained between branding, cultural trends and semiotic analysis in promoting local brands that redefine spaces, social relations, and identity expression during and after the COVID-19 pandemic confinements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two-sided "credit-line channel"—relating to drawdowns and repayments—explains the severe drop and partial subsequent recovery in bank stock prices during the COVID-19 pandemic. Banks with greater exposure to undrawn credit lines saw larger stock price declines but performed better outside of crises periods. Despite deposit inflows, high drawdowns led to reduced bank lending, suggestive of capital encumbrance upon drawdowns. Repayments of credit lines unencumbered capital which explains the stock price recovery starting Q2 2020. Bank provision of credit lines resembles writing put options on aggregate risk, and we propose how to incorporate this feature into bank stress tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study examined the English soccer player Marcus Rashford's personal brand and illustrates the transformational difference celebrity athletes can make through social activism and advocacy for philanthropic causes through their skillful use of social media. It employed a textual analysis methodology and drew conceptual insights from the revised Model of Athlete Brand Image to chronicle how Rashford's social activism and philanthropy resonated with his fans, followers, and the public on social media. His authentic social activism and philanthropic advocacy for disadvantaged and vulnerable children gave the nation a "feel-good" story during the COVID-19 crisis and enhanced his personal brand image. This case study recommends that future analyses of celebrity athlete personal brands should consider including three new categories in the marketable life section of the revised Model of Athlete Brand Image: social activism, cobranding partnerships, and awards and honors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic led to restrictions in production worldwide. Numerous firms were affected and unable to keep up production due to lockdowns. In disruptive events like this, the resilience of the production system is of central importance, as the survivability of the entire firm depends on it. In this context, the literature argues that cutting-edge technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), raise the proactive and reactive capabilities of firms, enabling them to better resist and recover from disruptive events and thus, show a higher resilience. This paper takes up this topic and observes the Covid-19 pandemic with the aim to analyse whether a firm's AI-readiness had an impact on its production resilience during the spring 2020 lockdown in Germany. For this purpose, we combine two large-scale surveys containing data from 237 manufacturers in Germany and test hypotheses based on quantitative analyses. Our results show that firms could indeed benefit from AI-enabled production during the lockdown. However, it is also clear that manufacturers have to exceed a certain AI threshold to significantly increase their resilient capabilities and realise positive effects. Our findings not only hold implications for research, but also provide recommendations for the resilience management of manufacturers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ever-happening disruptive events interrupt the operationalisation of manufacturing organisations resulting in stalling the production flow and depleting societies with products. Advancements in cutting-edge technologies, viz. blockchain, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, digital twin, etc. have attracted the practitioners' attention to overcome such saddled conditions. This study attempts to explore the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in building the resilience of production function at manufacturing organisations during a COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, a decision support system comprising an integrated voting analytical hierarchy process (VAHP) and Bayesian network (BN) method is developed. Initially, through a comprehensive literature review, the critical success factors (CSFs) for implementing AI are determined. Further, using a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) based VAHP, CSFs are prioritised to determine the prominent ones. Finally, the machine learning based BN method is adopted to predict and understand the influential CSFs that help achieve the highest production resilience. The present research is one of the early attempts to know the essence of AI and bridge the interplay between AI and production resilience during COVID-19. This study can support academicians, practitioners, and decision-makers in assessing the AI adoption in manufacturing organisations and evaluate the impact of different CSFs of AI on production resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: This study investigated adherence to physical activity (PA) guidelines and associated sociodemographic factors among older Koreans from 2011 to 2020. Methods: Utilizing four public data sets from the National Survey of Older Koreans, the study included the data on 40,993 older adults 65 years and older in South Korea, collected between 2011 and 2020. Adherence to PA guidelines and sociodemographic factors were assessed through self-reported questionnaires. The data were analyzed using a two-way analysis of variance and post hoc tests. Results: Overall adherence increased from 39.1% in 2011 to 48.2% in 2017, then decreased to 37.6% in 2020 (p <.001). Men had higher adherence than women (p <.001). Age-related adherence peaked in the young-older group (65–74 years old) and was lowest in the oldest-old group (85+ years old) (p <.001). Marital status, education, and income were also significantly related to PA adherence (p <.001) across the years. Conclusion: Although continuous increase in adherence to PA among Koreans 65 years and older was observed, the decline in PA levels during the COVID era underscored the need for targeted interventions and well-informed health care policies to address demographic challenges. Still, considering that data were collected during the recommended social distancing period, a cautions interpretation of these findings is warranted. Significance/Implications: Health policies aiming to improve adherence to PA guidelines should prioritize Korean older adults who are female, belong to the oldest-old group, are single, and have low education and income levels, with the goal of enhancing health equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors investigate how race and political partisanship affected variations in workplace and non-workplace mobility at three COVID-19 phases—lockdown (2020), reopening (2021), and endemic COVID (2022). They theorize that structural racism compelled relatively greater workplace mobility rates in Black communities during lockdown, and reduced Black workplace mobility during reopening and endemic COVID. By contrast, they posit elite-level anti-science skepticism and its amplification resulted in Trump-voting communities experiencing relatively higher workplace and non-workplace mobility rates than non-Trump-voting areas throughout the pandemic. Regressions primarily using county-level Google Mobility Reports data support the hypotheses, conditioning on state-level fixed effects and county-level urbanity, COVID job-type sorting, demographics, and socioeconomics. The county-level results are complemented by outcomes from novel individual-level COVID lockdown survey data, helping connect the proposed individual-level mechanisms to the county-level findings. The authors conclude that work mobility during COVID was racialized and politicized, offering empirical insights into how systematic disadvantages can lead to increased and unequal precarity during periods of acute economic or social crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in an unprecedented era of public admiration for healthcare workers. Indeed, the title "healthcare heroes" became a ubiquitous moniker for healthcare providers of all stripes during the pandemic, a sentiment reflected in countless advertisements and banners. Paradoxically, these same "healthcare heroes" who were being publicly celebrated for their work in the fight against a novel coronavirus also faced stigma for their work amid the virus and infected patients. Using grounded theory, we document how stigmatized members of an occupation experience and respond to mixed—and even conflicting—social evaluations. We contribute to the literature on stigma and social evaluations more broadly by showing how targets of stigma evaluate their evaluators through nuanced logical and emotional processing and, moreover, that such processing can lead recipients of mixed evaluations toward a number of outcomes not previously theorized. We explore the concept of "dirty heroes," where workers are celebrated and stigmatized along distinct dimensions of work traditionally studied in dirty work (i.e., physical, social, and moral). Our findings further illustrate how high-legitimacy occupations can be subject to "hero-washing," whereby workers are publicly celebrated yet privately neglected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social distancing measures are typically recommended to contain the spread of infectious diseases. To improve the public's voluntary compliance, governments and health authorities seek to publicize timely information about the pandemic. Yet social planners may exaggerate or downplay their private information about the disease's severity to elicit their preferred level of social distancing. This is because the relative weight they assign to the costs of isolation over public health may be unbalanced, and people may not fully consider how their social distancing may influence others' infection risk. Consequently, messages and claims about the pandemic may be distrusted. The author investigates whether and when communication can be fully or partially credible despite apparent incentives for misrepresentation. The author finds that a government would communicate truthfully in equilibrium if and only if the disease severity levels are not too close to each other in the public's prior belief. Nevertheless, an increasing difference between the severity levels need not enhance the credibility of communication. Greater communication credibility may hurt social welfare. Moreover, as the government becomes more concerned about the costs of social distancing, its equilibrium messages may become more or less trustworthy. The article's results can benefit social planners and users of their messages (e.g., analysts, researchers, investors). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of short-term economic dynamism in responding to crisis induced supply shortages. We focus on the domestic manufacturing ramp-up of surgical masks, respirators, and their intermediary products in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We develop a novel method for timely identification and validation of the evolving state of domestic manufacturing. To unpack the activities of domestic manufacturers and related institutions, we triangulate across 56 qualitative interviews, certifications, Thomasnet.com®, industry associations, and other public data. We find that while large manufacturers could rapidly scale up, onshore, or diversify production to enter into domestic production of critical medical supplies, these large manufacturers alone were insufficient to meet the spike in demand. In face of this shortage, small and medium enterprises (SME), who entered into mask and respirator production as de novo firms, spin-offs, and by diversifying, were important in increasing overall domestic capacity and serving markets unmet by large hospital distributors. These firms often had fewer competencies and resources compared to larger firms, and received less effective government support. Despite these disadvantages, a number of SMEs succeeded in entering into domestic production, and our interviews suggest this capacity could have been better integrated into the national response. We propose new theory for how and when federal and state governments should support short-term economic dynamism (firm entry into target products and/or markets) during crises to address supply shortages, and the types of market and network failures federal or state governments may be most effective at addressing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the first half of 2020, the difference in savings from mortgage refinancing between high- and low-income borrowers was 10 times higher than before. This was the result of two factors: high-income borrowers increased their refinancing activity more than otherwise comparable low-income borrowers and, conditional on refinancing, they captured slightly larger improvements in interest rates. Refinancing inequality increases with the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and is characterized by an underrepresentation of low-income borrowers in the pool of applications. We estimate a difference of $5 billion in savings between the top income quintile and the rest of the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine how broad changes in work arrangements and lifestyles brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have affected households' location decisions. Using data on over 360,000 residential, interstate moves over the last 5 years, we find that more than 12% of moves were directly influenced by the pandemic. Among pandemic-influenced movers, over 15% of households cite that remote work influenced their move. Lifestyle-related (job-related) migration increased (decreased) significantly, particularly for the set of households who are likely to have access to remote work. We further find that these changes in migration patterns are positively related to post-pandemic economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By applying institutional theory in retail and COVID-19 settings, this paper investigates the impact of legitimacy dimensions on customer loyalty, considering the moderating effect of the perceived COVID-19 threat. The data collected by a consumer survey in Japan and Croatia were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling. The results from both samples reveal that moral and cognitive legitimacy are critical loyalty drivers. The perceived COVID-19 threat moderated the relationship between cognitive legitimacy and loyalty. The study also reveals some differences between the countries. The impact of pragmatic legitimacy is significant only in Croatia, while perceived threat negatively moderates the relationship between moral legitimacy and loyalty only in Japan. The study provides recommendations for managers on how to gain loyalty through actions supporting legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated fiction readers' motivations for reading, their relevant needs regarding the fiction attributes, and their expectations for future fiction recommendation services. Seventy-six participants shared their fiction search and reading experiences through an open-ended, free-writing-style online survey. Findings show that readers' motivations (a sense of connection, comfort and safety, diverse selection, escapism, coping with stressful circumstances) and corresponding fiction elements (e.g., author's background information, themes, mood) were closely related to the situations or contexts that readers experienced, especially so for stress stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With heightened uncertainties and risks in the fluctuating business environment, existing studies have concentrated on elucidating how service organizations leverage human resource practices to adapt to and survive such unforeseen and disruptive threats. However, how such practices could serve the strategic objective of cultivating a sustainably thriving workforce across different situations is not well understood. Thriving is a core transitional state that fosters positive behaviors, such as creative customer‐related problem‐solving. Applying social information processing theory, we propose and test a model by exploring how organizations that engage in thriving‐oriented human resource management (HRM) encourage employees to take responsibility and promote constructive change, thereby activating their creative problem‐solving behaviors. Specifically, we theorize and develop measures to promote thriving‐oriented HRM in Study 1. In Study 2, we collected multisource and multi‐wave data from 296 frontline service employees and 45 supervisors in China. Our findings reveal that thriving‐oriented HRM is positively related to felt responsibility for change, which ultimately encourages creative problem‐solving. We also show that the threat imposed by a crisis, that is, the COVID‐19 pandemic, strengthens the positive relationship between thriving‐oriented HRM and felt responsibility for change. Our study contributes to the HRM literature, especially on thriving‐oriented HRM and employee perception, and has practical implications for service organizations in the uncertain context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To evaluate the influence of previous physical activity (PA) during childhood, adolescence, and current PA practice on the production of antibodies and inflammatory response between the first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Methods: Fifty-nine men and 56 women were evaluated before the first vaccine, and 12 weeks later, blood samples were taken to quantify production of anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 immunoglobulin G antibodies and cytokines. Previous PA during childhood and adolescence was self-referred, and current PA was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Results: A positive and significant association was observed only between PA practice during adolescence and an increase in antibody production in adulthood (β = 2012.077, 95% confidence interval, 257.7953–3766.358, P =.025). Individuals who practiced PA during adolescence showed higher production of antibodies between the first and second vaccine dose compared to nonpractitioners (P =.025) and those that accumulated ≥150 minutes per week of current moderate–vigorous PA (MVPA), and presented higher antibody production in relation to who did <150 minutes per week of MVPA (P =.046). Individuals that were practitioners during childhood produced higher G-CSF (P =.047), and those that accumulated ≥150 minutes per week of current MVPA demonstrated lower IP-10 levels (P =.033). However, PA practitioners during adolescence presented higher G-CSF (P =.025), IL-17 (P =.038), IL-1RA (P =.005), IL-1β (P =.020), and IL-2 (P =.026) levels. Conclusion: Our results suggest that adults that accumulated at least 150 minutes of MVPA per week or practiced PA during adolescence developed an improved immune and inflammatory response against COVID-19 vaccination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study, which is based on actual events, presents a dynamic analysis of the development, implementation, and post-implementation review of establishing an enterprise risk management (ERM) system for a U.S. multinational nonprofit firm over a 5-year period, 2015–2020. Using the Risk and Insurance Management Society Risk Maturity Model (RIMS RMM), questionnaire-based risk data and multi-dimensional risk mapping indices are used to identify and prioritize the firm's key strategic risks leading to the development of mitigation strategies whose performance are reviewed post ERM implementation, including during the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic. The results reveal that the firm's risk management system has been ad hoc and uncoordinated. Post-implementation review of the ERM program shows improvements in financial and operating positions resulting from risk diversification, enhanced profitability, exploitation of natural hedges, and improved board governance. The results further show that the recommended mitigation strategies have been effective in managing the adverse impact of the pandemic. Overall, the evidence offered in this study provides further support on the valuation benefits of ERM maturity within a real-world environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning-by-doing is an important concept in economics as it is one of the main driving forces of economic progress. However, corporate learning is a slow process, so outsourcing manufacturing can override the long-term benefits of accumulating productivity knowledge. Semiconductor industry is also strongly featured by the learning effect, however, due to high capital requirements of building fabs, there are companies that fully outsource, while others try to keep production in-house. The chosen business model now gets further importance due to bottlenecks and supply issues perceived in the industry since the COVID-19 outbreak. Accordingly, we model the make-or-buy decision problem of a firm that decides on the optimal mix of outsourcing and in-house production, considering productivity gain via learning-by-doing and the economic impact of resilience. By presenting numerical simulations, we aim to capture the pre-pandemic and the current state of the semiconductor industry. Our model highlights that tendencies of being fabless were reasonable in the past. Although recent industry conditions have made in-house production more beneficial, this optimal strategy may be fragile due to changes of relative production costs or the extent of economic impact of chip shortages, which may underline the relevance of government incentives aiming to revitalise semiconductor industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to determine factors associated with participation of community-dwelling older Australians (≥65 years) in the Exercise Right for Active Ageing program, consisting of 12 low- to moderate-intensity group exercise classes, delivered weekly, in person or online, by accredited exercise scientists and physiologists across Australia. Out of 6,949 participants recruited, 6,626 (95%) attended one or more classes and were included in the primary analysis, and 49% of participants attended all 12 classes. Factors associated with higher class attendance included participation in yoga/flexibility/mobility classes, attendance at a free trial class (adjusted incidence rate ratio [95% confidence interval]: 1.05 [1.03, 1.08]), and attending online classes (1.19 [1.11, 1.26]). Factors associated with lower class attendance included state of residence, living in inner regional areas (0.95 [0.93, 0.98]), and having two or more comorbidities (0.97 [0.95, 0.99]). High class attendance suggests that the Exercise Right for Active Ageing program was well received by older Australians, particularly in states less impacted by COVID-19 lockdowns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a grounded theory study of two prominent performing arts organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic, we develop theory about how organizations respond to adversity over time. Building on research on resilience, resourcefulness, and crisis management, we induce a process model that unpacks the mechanisms and dynamics that enable organizations to act resiliently. We find that organizations approach adversity using two types of resourcefulness. Promotive resourcefulness focuses on opportunities from adversity, which leads to acting resiliently. We show how promotive resourcefulness becomes sustained over time by endogenously producing resources—crisis agency, trust, and hopefulness—which expands an organization's identity and leads to resilient acts. In contrast, preventative resourcefulness focuses on minimizing worst-case outcomes, which leads to a lost organizational identity and relatively weak adversity adjustment. We find that preventative resourcefulness becomes part of cycles that erode trust, limit crisis agency, and generate hopelessness. Additionally, we explain how financial, emotional, and operational updating can shift preventative to promotive resourcefulness, allowing organizations to act resiliently later in a crisis. Our findings unpack critical mechanisms and processes that explain whether and how organizations act resiliently over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on an in-depth study of physicians facing the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy in 2020, we advance theory on how professionals in their workplace respond to knowledge disruptions associated with complex societal challenges that undermine the adequacy of their knowledge base to solve professional problems. We show that, in the context of uncertainty generated by the knowledge disruption and the inability to mitigate this uncertainty through typical knowledge-based strategies, professionals experience a trail of negative epistemic emotions. Despite these negative epistemic emotions, and motivated by a heightened sense of moral duty, professionals engage in service-oriented practices of collegial and humanistic work that depart from the knowledge-centric practices of their usual work. We detail how the repeated development of positive moral emotions when performing such practices leads professionals to ultimately consolidate and embed service-oriented practices in their professional work. Our study contributes to the literature on professions and organizations by theorizing the distinctive category of knowledge disruptions of unmitigable uncertainty and by uncovering the microlevel dynamics and mechanisms that sustain professionals' responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Big data on job postings reveal multiple facets of the impact of COVID-19 on corporate hiring. Firms disproportionately cut new hiring for high-skill positions, with financially constrained firms reducing skilled hiring the most. Applying machine learning methods to job-ad texts, we find that firms have skewed their hiring toward operationally-core functions. New positions display greater flexibility regarding schedules and tasks. While job posting levels show signs of recovery starting in late-2020, changes to job descriptions and skill profiles persist through early-2022. Financial constraints amplify these changes, with constrained firms' new hires witnessing greater adjustments to job roles and employment arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This longitudinal study examines young adult mental health (MH) trajectories after exposure to natural disasters (i.e., hurricanes, wildfires, mudslides) across four waves, two pre- and two during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants (n = 205) answered questions about anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs) across Waves (Ws) s 1-4 and pre-pandemic factors (prior trauma history, disaster exposure, life stressors since disaster) at Wave (W) 1. Hierarchical linear modeling was conducted to examine MH trajectories and associations with pre-pandemic factors. Only the PTSS trajectory significantly differed across all Ws, with the largest increase between Ws 2 and 3 (pre- and during-pandemic time points). Prior trauma history and life stressors since the disaster were significantly associated with all MH trajectory intercepts but not growth rates.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerabilities of global supply chains (SCs) and highlighted the need for more resilient and viable SCs. Panic-buying, in particular, has been a major challenge for SCs as it can create sudden surges in demand that are difficult to anticipate and manage. However, the literature lacks viable SC models and strategies to address panic-buying related challenges. As such, this research aims to identify and model viable recovery strategies to increase SC's agility, resilience, and survivability and reduce panic-buying's impact during a large-scale disruption in critical SCs. This study contributes by developing an integrated agent-based modeling (ABM) and optimisation method to simulate the behaviour of SCs under different scenarios and evaluating the effectiveness of four proposed strategies and three recovery plans. The findings reveal that increasing production at decentralised manufacturing facilities can be achieved by increasing order frequency to multiple suppliers and by partnering with third-party transporters, which can mitigate the effects of panic-buying. This results in higher output and availability of essential goods in the market, significantly managing panic-buying related challenges. Lastly, the study recommends practical solutions for businesses to enhance their SCs' responsiveness to sudden demand surges from panic-buying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context : In March 2020, public health concerns resulted in school closure throughout the United States . The prolonged sport cessation may affect knee injury risk in high school athletes. The purpose of this study was to describe and compare risk of knee injuries in high school athletes during 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 academic years, and stratify by gender, severity, mechanism of injury, injury type, and knee anatomic region . Design : Historical-prospective cohort study . Methods : This historical- prospective cohort study included 176 schools in 6 states matched by sport participation in control and COVID years from July 1, 2019 to June 30,2021. Injury rates per 1000 athletes per year were calculated with 95% confidence intervals. A negative binomial regression was performed to assess potential differences in knee injuries between academic years . Results: 94, 847 and 72,521 high school athletes participated in the 2019-2020(19-20) and 2020-2021 (20-21) seasons. Knee injury risk was higher in the 20-21 season (19-20: 28.89% [27.82-29.96-]; 20-21: 33.82% [32.50-35.14]). Risk increased for male athletes from 2019- 2020 to 2020-2021 (19-20: 29.42% [28.01-30.83]; 20-21 : 40.32% [38.89-41.75]). Female knee injury risk was similar between years (19-20: 25.78% [24.29-27.27]; 20-21: 26.03% [24.31-27.75]). Knee injuries increased by a ratio of 1.2 ([95% CI, 1.1- 1.3], P <.001) during 2020-2021. Conclusions,· Knee injury risk and relative risk increased among males in 2020-2021. Results indicate changes in knee injury risk following return from COVID shelter in place among high school athletes and implicate potential negative downstream effects of interrupted sports training and participation on high school injury risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has posed a threat to society worldwide. The aim of the study was to analyze changes in the physical fitness of 11- to 15-year-olds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Cross-sectional research was conducted in randomly selected schools in Kraków (Poland) during the years 2020 and 2022. The study group included 1635 adolescents aged 11–15 years. The results of fitness tests such as flexibility, standing broad jump, handgrip strength, overhead medicine ball throw, shuttle run (10 × 5 m), and 30-second sit-ups were analyzed. Body height and weight measurements were also taken. The standing broad jump and handgrip strength were normalized. A statistical analysis was performed to compare the differences between groups using 2-way analysis of variance with the Tukey HSD post hoc test or Kruskal–Wallis test. Results: The test results revealed a deterioration decrease in sit-ups, standing broad jump, shuttle run, and normalized standing broad jump in both sexes. Furthermore, the test results among girls showed a decrease in overhead medicine ball throw and flexibility. An increase in test results of both sexes was noticed in handgrip strength of the right and left hand. Among boys in 2022, the results were better in the flexibility test and overhead medicine ball throw compared with their peers from 2020. Conclusion: This study indicates a decrease in overall physical fitness in adolescents. The observed results may be associated with a decrease in physical activity, changes in nutrition, and restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a dynamic model of corporate investment and financing, in which shocks to the value of collateralizable assets generate variation in firms' debt capacity. We show that the degree of similarity among firms' financial flexibility forecasts cross-sectional variation in return correlation. We test the implications of the model with firm-level data in two empirical analyses using i) an instrumental variable approach based on shocks to the value of collateralizable corporate assets and ii) the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis as an event study. We find that firms in the same percentile of the cross-sectional distribution of financial flexibility have 62% higher correlation in stock-return residuals than firms 50 percentiles apart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hear from a public library director of a small library in Michigan. The author assumed the role as a first-time library director. This column explores the opportunities and challenges of taking on a directorship of a small public library. An emphasis on customer service and building the library into a community player is a key theme. The library's relationship to the city and other city departments is also discussed. Leading a public library through the COVID pandemic is touched on as well. This column is a glimpse into the operation of municipal government and public libraries. Smaller public libraries are special places in a community and this column helps you understand how they function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the fierce competition in e-commerce, e-tailers are required to rapid responses to a variety of customised orders with multiple frequencies and strict delivery times. The delay or insufficient supply caused by disruptions might result in lost sales during long-term processes. To address this problem, a two-stage stochastic programming model considering profits, consumer service level (CSL) as well as market priorities is developed to manage long-term disruptions. We analyse multi-period consumer transaction data and formulate geographical relevance (GR) to link each marketplace with historical data in related regions and then prioritise market segments. A GR-based two-stage stochastic programming with multi-period is proposed, which (1) considers both proactive mitigation decisions before disruption and reactive recovery plans after disruption; (2) collaborates three resilience strategies; (3) optimises the e-tailer's profits considering market priorities during long-term disruptions. Using a real case of Chinese e-commerce under the COVID-19 pandemic, it is illustrated (1) the applicability and performance of the proposed GR-based model for multi-period resilience optimisation improving both the CSL and the total profit; (2) the efficiency and robustness of the developed sequential particle swarm optimisation with social structures algorithm. The proposed method could optimise e-tailers' response strategies for managing long-term disruptions in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: COVID-19 caused major disruptions across the super-aged nation of Japan, yet few studies explored temporal changes among middle-aged and older cohorts from baseline to the height of community transmission. Changes in physical activity and sedentary behavior during global pandemics may alter patterns of morbidity and mortality among susceptible aging populations. Objectives: This study investigated patterns of physical activity, sitting behavior, and health among representative samples of middle-aged and older adults in Tokyo before and during the pandemic. Methods: Repeated online surveys were conducted with quota samples of 800 Tokyo residents in 2019 and 2021 using validated Japanese-language measures, including the short form-International Physical Activity Questionnaire and the Basic Ecological Health Scale-6. Statistical analyses included comparative evaluations of activity parameters by age cohort, gender, and selected covariates. Statistical tests included the Kruskal–Wallis test, Mann–Whitney U test, chi-square test for Independence and Hierarchical Regression. Results: Over 34% of respondents were inactive at each data collection point, and 72% reported negative impacts of COVID-19 on their physical activities. Older adults showed no significant changes in their activity and sitting behavior and reported better health compared with those in middle age across the pandemic. Middle-aged males reported a significant decline in total activity of 33% across the pandemic period (U = 16,958, z = −2.64, p =.008, r =.13). Middle-aged females reported the lowest levels of physical activity, and health, and showed a 29% increase in sitting behavior across the pandemic (U = 16,925, z = −2.68, p =.007, r =.13). Subjective health status was consistently associated with higher overall activity and walking before and during the pandemic. Conclusion: Differential outcomes were identified between age and gender regarding health, physical activity, walking, and sitting across the pandemic with significantly worse impacts reported among middle-aged samples. Implications: These results have implications for healthy transitions to later life and the design of postpandemic interventions to address activity opportunities in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to compare community-dwelling older adults' physical activity (PA) during the COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 to their PA levels 2 years before and investigate associations between earlier physical performance and PA levels over the follow-up. Participants' (n = 809, initial age 75–85 years) self-reported PA was assessed at baseline in 2017–2018 and May/June 2020 as total weekly minutes of walking and vigorous PA. Physical performance was assessed at baseline using the maximal handgrip strength and Short Physical Performance Battery tests. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, a median change in total weekly minutes of walking and vigorous PA among all participants was + 20.0 (interquartile range: −60.0 to 120.0, p <.001) min per week compared with 2 years earlier. Higher baseline Short Physical Performance Battery total scores were associated with higher total weekly minutes of walking and vigorous PA over the follow-up in men and women, and better handgrip strength in women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to describe the level of physical activity and its relation to fatigue and frailty during the COVID-19 pandemic in community-dwelling older adults aged 80 years and over. Three hundred and ninety-one older adults (aged 86.5 ± 3.00) completed a survey including physical activity, the Mobility Tiredness scale, and the FRAIL scale. Linear regression analysis was conducted to assess whether the variables age, sex, and physical activity (independent factors) were significantly related to fatigue and frailty. Respectively, 30.5% and 24.7% of the participants reported a decrease in walking and in energy-intensive activities; 25.4% reported increased sedentary behavior. A lower level of physical activity was associated with higher levels of fatigue and increased frailty risk (p <.05), independently from psychological symptoms. These results are important because participants with lower levels of physical activity and more sedentary behavior are more likely to feel fatigued and have higher risk to be frail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although 24-hour movement behaviors are known to be interconnected, limited knowledge exists about whether change in one behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic (eg, increased screen time) was associated with change in another (eg, reduced physical activity or sleep). This review estimates mediational associations between changes in children's physical activity, screen time, and sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We included studies published between January 1, 2020 and June 27, 2022, in the PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science databases. Summary data were extracted from included studies and analyzed with random-effects meta-regression. Results: This review included 26 studies representing 18,959 children across 18 mid-high-income countries (53% male; mean age, 11.5 [2.9] y). There was very good evidence of decreased total daily physical activity (factor change, 0.62; 90% CI, 0.47–0.81) and strong evidence of increased screen time (1.56; 90% CI, 1.38–1.77). There was very good evidence of decreased moderate to vigorous physical activity (0.75; 90% CI, 0.62–0.90) and weak evidence of increased sleep (1.02; 90% CI, 1.00–1.04). Mediational analysis revealed strong evidence that most of the reduction in total daily physical activity from before, to during, the pandemic was associated with increased screen time (0.53; 90% CI, 0.42–0.67). We observed no further mediational associations. Conclusion: Increased reliance on and use of screen-based devices during the COVID-19 pandemic can be linked with reduced child and adolescent physical activity. This finding links COVID-related restrictions to potential displacement effects within child and adolescent 24-hour movement behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]