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While important insights have been provided into the role of HR managers in performing change in the workplace, still little is known about how HR managers themselves are shaped by change, in particular in relation to those changes triggered by radical or disruptive shock events and crisis situations, and in the public sector context. In this study, we aim to address this, using an exploratory qualitative interview study to explore how the serious and profound COVID-19 pandemic triggered boundary work among HR managers in public sector municipalities. Our findings illustrate that COVID-19 triggered HR managers to engage in boundary work in two main ways: either by defending their boundaries (through the two practices of counteracting dumping and counteracting shirking) or by expanding them (through the two practices of facilitating self-fulfillment and facilitating status-enhancement). We discuss how this variation is related to whether the HR managers experienced and made sense of the pandemic mainly as a threat—of being forced into unwanted responsibility—or if they experienced and made sense of it mainly as an opportunity to take advantage of the situation. In showing this, the study makes a number of important contributions to both theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unpredictable shock events have disruptive and long-lasting impacts on the aviation industry. However, the scale and type of impact of different shock events on airport operations and planning have been unevenly surveyed. A better understanding can help airports to improve their risk mitigation and develop more resilient operations and management. Through a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed research, we summarise shock events into four categories based on the cause of the shock: economic recessions, infectious disease pandemics, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters. The major impacts are identified as a reduction in air travel demand, interruptions in operations, modified operating procedures, and changes in facilities and infrastructure. We further bring these together into a conceptual typology of event-impact interactions. This longitudinal overview may assist airport managers in better understanding the impacts of shock events and taking further steps in developing more resilient airport infrastructure and associated business models.

Summary: Sudden losses or shocks to food production can impact food security as well as local industries and livelihoods. To build more resilient food systems, understanding the trends and drivers of shocks is crucial. We analyzed shocks in 195 fisheries and aquaculture production time series in Australia, using established methods. We detected 39 shocks over three decades, but only one shock was associated with aquaculture. Historic overfishing was the dominant driver of shocks, yet management change was implicated in over half of all shocks, largely in response to stock declines. Shock numbers peaked in the late 1990s to early 2000s and then declined—a trend that aligns with a period of major fisheries reform. Our study suggests that proactive and responsive fisheries management, alongside a diverse aquaculture sector, could act as a local stabilizing force for seafood production and potentially reduce the ever-growing threat of climate change. Science for society: Maintaining food systems that are resilient to shock events is a priority for many nations. Understanding the trends and drivers of food shocks or sudden losses in production can help nations understand vulnerabilities in the system and build resilience. However, research on food shocks is largely focused on cereal crops, and there is a need to examine different food systems. We examined trends and drivers to shocks in Australian seafood production. Our study found that wild-capture fisheries were more vulnerable to shocks compared with the younger, but rapidly expanding, aquaculture sector. However, our results also show that shocks declined over time and were absent in recent years, a trend that was likely influenced by major fisheries reform 20 years ago and a responsive fisheries management regime. Our findings highlight the benefits that can be achieved by acting on and learning from past shock events to build food system resilience at a local level.

The banking system of any state is a component of its economic system. Therefore the stability of the entire national economy depends on its smooth and effective functioning. Given the globalization of economic relations today, the stability of the banking systems of other countries with open market economies, which have close financial ties, depends on the stability of the US banking sector. The purpose of the article is to reveal the features of stress testing of banks in the USA and to assess the dynamics of the stability of the banking system of this country over the past 20 years. Stress testing of banks in the USA is carried out to identify and measure the banking sector's vulnerability to shock macroeconomic events in the national and global economy. This study is based on the analysis of the dynamics of four indicators: the capital sensitivity coefficient, the sensitivity index to the forced quick sale of assets, the liquidity coefficient for stress scenarios, and the sensitivity index to the loss of liquidity and solvency. It was revealed that the US banking system was most unstable during the 2008-2009 crisis when banks suffered significant losses due to risky credit policies. Post-crisis regulation of capital and liquidity, thanks to the balanced policy of the Federal Reserve System, led to many subsequent years of stability. Banks also had to apply anti-crisis regulatory measures in the “covid” 2020 year, and these measures brought positive results. The shock events did not affect the stability of the US banking system but were reflected in the amount of cash. The loosening of anti-crisis measures in 2021 caused some growth in the indicators calculated during stress testing. However, it did not lead to the destabilization of the banking system.

Far-right politics has gained significant support across Europe in recent decades. Previous literature has investigated the conditions that lead to immigrants being perceived as "threats", leading to increased support for anti-immigrant parties. However, how certain "shock events" – times of dramatic change – mobilize far-right support around anti-immigrant sentiment has been understudied. Drawing on social movement literature, I examine how support for anti-immigrant politics was driven by demographic change during the "refugee crisis" in Sweden. I use a unique dataset on Swedish municipalities (N = 290) between 2014 and 2018 to examine the relationship between immigration and far-right outcomes. I show that increases in Syrian immigrants during the "refugee crisis" led to significant gains in support for anti-immigrant politics at the municipal level. I suggest that the "refugee crisis" constituted a politicized ethno-racial shock that lead to increases in far-right support, as political actors seized on increased immigration to mobilize around threat perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academics studied the theory of a company’s communication when it is involved into a crisis but they were less concerned about the impact of the communication on a listed company’s share price, especially when it resulted from a shock event. There is a lack of information about the role played by news media. The aim of this paper is to investigate if in cases of shock events (i) a company’s response strategy has a different effect on shareholders, observing the effect on share prices, and (ii) how the news media can affect the value change. Using the event study methodology, the Cumulative Abnormal Return of companies’ share prices involved in shock events was calculated. Statistics show a best effect of an accommodative response than a defensive strategy in cases of scandals and product recalls. There is no valuable impact of company communication in cases of incidents. With news media variable, the results show a worsening effect with bad news and a mitigating effect with good news. It was proved that the impact of a response strategy is surpassed by news media. When there is absolute certainty of guilt for a given situation, it is more convenient for management to apologize, and when there is no certainty, there was no substantial difference, because in the mind of an investor the focus shifts to the event itself. The news media has been shown to have a huge impact on investor perception, even more so than a company’s best response strategy.

Dual-earner couples are increasingly prevalent and encounter demands arising from each partner's commitment to various work and life domains. Unfortunately, there has been little theoretical progress in explaining how dual-earner couples navigate work-life shock events, which we define as disruptive, novel, and critical events that require investment of a couple's resources. Drawing from identity and sensemaking theories, we develop a theory of work-life shock events to explain how dual-earner couples perceive and respond to these events. We theorize that partners initially make sense of the event as individuals and then engage in couple-level sensemaking. We argue that each individual's shock intensity perceptions are shaped by the shock event's characteristics and the identity factors of role salience hierarchy and future self. A subsequent couple-level process of sensemaking ensues, influenced by the salience of the originating domain and partner role, as well as relational identity factors. Couple-level shock intensity perceptions result in the couple's decision regarding resource investment in the shock event's originating domain. We discuss implications for future research and for organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of management responsibility in corporate shock events on shareholders' wealth and the types and frequency of repair actions taken to mitigate reputational losses. Information theory and market psychology suggest that shock events resulting from management faults signal ineffective firm management that reduces market participants' trust in a firm's operations. We utilize a sample of corporate shock events with attributed-firm responsibility ranging from weak to strong and test the above-stated objectives. Our results show that attributed-firm responsibility in shock events has a significant negative effect on shareholders' value. The results also highlight positive relationships between firms' levels of responsibility for events and both the number of types and repair actions that firms pursue. In addition, firms announcing reputation-repair actions were able to rebound a significant portion (41%) of their reputational losses. These findings extend academic research into the cause and consequences of shock events and the repair actions pursued by firms. For practitioners, the results signal the significant negative consequences of shock events and suggest that management should strengthen controls to avoid shock events; but if one was to occur, management should pursue reputation-repair actions to rebuild market participants' trust and rebound shareholders' losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The banking system of any state is a component of its economic system. Therefore the stability of the entire national economy depends on its smooth and effective functioning. Given the globalization of economic relations today, the stability of the banking systems of other countries with open market economies, which have close financial ties, depends on the stability of the US banking sector. The purpose of the article is to reveal the features of stress testing of banks in the USA and to assess the dynamics of the stability of the banking system of this country over the past 20 years. Stress testing of banks in the USA is carried out to identify and measure the banking sector's vulnerability to shock macroeconomic events in the national and global economy. This study is based on the analysis of the dynamics of four indicators: the capital sensitivity coefficient, the sensitivity index to the forced quick sale of assets, the liquidity coefficient for stress scenarios, and the sensitivity index to the loss of liquidity and solvency. It was revealed that the US banking system was most unstable during the 2008-2009 crisis when banks suffered significant losses due to risky credit policies. Post-crisis regulation of capital and liquidity, thanks to the balanced policy of the Federal Reserve System, led to many subsequent years of stability. Banks also had to apply anti-crisis regulatory measures in the "covid" 2020 year, and these measures brought positive results. The shock events did not affect the stability of the US banking system but were reflected in the amount of cash. The loosening of anti-crisis measures in 2021 caused some growth in the indicators calculated during stress testing. However, it did not lead to the destabilization of the banking system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study has been to develop a data-driven analytical methodology for prediction of isolated track geometry defects, based on the measurement data obtained from a field study. Within the study, a defect-based model has been proposed to identify the degradation pattern of isolated longitudinal level defects. The proposed model considered the occurrence of shock events in the degradation path. Furthermore, the effectiveness of tamping intervention in rectifying the longitudinal level defects was analysed. The results show that the linear model is an appropriate choice for modelling the degradation pattern of longitudinal level defects. In addition, a section-based model has been developed using binary logistic regression to predict the probability of occurrence of isolated defects associated with track sections. The model considered the standard deviation and kurtosis of longitudinal level as explanatory variables. It has been found that the kurtosis of the longitudinal level is a statistically significant predictor of the occurrence of isolated longitudinal level defects in a given track section. The validation results show that the proposed binary logistic regression model can be used to predict the occurrence of isolated defects in a track section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a theoretical framework for the analysis of stability and change in national flood risk policies. Based on thorough scrutiny of existing theories on stability and change in the literature, we want to offer guidance for empirical studies on flood risk governance. On one hand, we elaborate theories of path dependency and institutional stability. On the other hand, we focus on the role of policy entrepreneurs and actor coalitions bringing in new ideas on how policies should be adjusted. We translate both angles to the realm of flood risks. Furthermore, we consider the role of trends and shock events. By integrating these perspectives into one comprehensive theoretical framework, we aim to offer guidance to empirical researchers searching for forces of stability and change in flood risk governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Recently, digoxin use has been found to associate with higher mortality. Yet, potential mechanisms by which digoxin use increases mortality remain unclear. Increased arrhythmogenicity from digoxin use is one possibility. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the relation between digoxin and shock events in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs).Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of all patients with ICDs and at least 1 device interrogation at our institution between January 1, 2012, and January 1, 2015. We aimed to cover 1 year of interrogation period. Patients with heart failure, atrial fibrillation, or both were included in the analysis. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on digoxin use, defined as use of digoxin for any period of time during ICD interrogation period. Incidence of ICD shock events and electrical storms and hospitalizations were compared between the 2 groups.Results: The study included 202 patients. Of those, 55 patients were on digoxin and 147 were not on digoxin. Patients on digoxin were more likely to receive ICD shocks (odds ratio [OR] = 2.5, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 1.01-6.18, P = .04) and have increased risk of electrical storms ( P = .02). Moreover, total hospitalizations were higher in digoxin users ( P = .02). Multivariate logistic regression analysis also showed that digoxin use was an independent predictor of shock events (OR = 4.07, 95% CI = 1.43-11.58, P = .009).Conclusion: Digoxin is associated with increased shock events and electrical storms in patients with ICDs; however, large randomized controlled studies are needed to confirm our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Little attention has been directed towards investigating how senior managers and boards approach strategic decision-making when dealing with shock events as compared to strategic decision-making in a stable environment. This paper presents evidence to suggest that strategic decision-making following a shock event involves a more intuitive, less analytical and less consultative approach, while decision-making in a stable environment is characterised by a more cooperative, formal and analytical process. Decision-making following a shock event tends to be simplified and fast, whereas decision-making in a stable environment tends to be comprehensive and slow. Furthermore, the strategic role of the board transforms following a shock event from a limited involvement in strategy setting to a strong involvement in the setting of strategy. This research has important management implications signifying that crisis management must increasingly focus on building an organisation''s ability to reach swift decisions in crisis situations and avoid analysis paralysis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]