Access Under Duress

This paper examines the rapid turn to remote public meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on a mix of archival materials, participant observation, and interviews within and around two mid- to large cities in the Rust Belt and Midwest regions of the United States, we consider how public officials introduced digital meeting platforms and surveys in place of traditional forms of in-person public consultation. We also examine emergent strategies of residents as they worked to have their voices heard and concerns met during a time of compounding crises (e.g., pandemic, economic recession, racial violence). Drawing from this case study, we articulate the concept of disruptive testimony, forms of public witnessing that trouble established hierarchies of power, surface conflict, and open opportunities for social change. We argue consideration for collective counter-power is increasingly important to GROUP scholarship as it attends to civic engagement beyond participation in formal, sanctioned government processes.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Periodontal Practice: The Immunological, Clinical, and Economic Points of View

The recent global health problem, COVID-19, has had far-reaching impacts on lifestyles. Although many effective WHO-approved vaccines have been produced that have reduced the spread and severity of the disease, it appears to persist in humans for a long time and possibly forever as everyday it turns out to have new mutations. COVID-19 involves the lungs and other organs primarily through cytokine storms, which have been implicated in many other inflammatory disorders, including periodontal diseases. COVID-19 is in a close association with dental and periodontal practice from two respects: first, repeated mandatory lockdowns have reduced patient referrals to dentists and limited the dental and periodontal procedures to emergency treatments, whereas it is important to recognize the oral manifestations of COVID-19 as well as the influence of oral and periodontal disease on the severity of COVID-19. Second, dentistry is one of the high-risk professions in terms of close contact with unmasked individuals, necessitating redefining the principles of infection control. The pressures of the economic recession on patients as well as dentists add to the difficulty of resuming elective dental services. Therefore, this study is divided into two parts corresponding to what mentioned above: the first part examines the clinical and immunological associations between COVID-19 and periodontal and oral diseases, and the second part delineates the measures needed to control the disease transmission in dental clinics as well as the economic impact of the pandemic era on dental services.

Do COVID-19 Lock-Downs Affect Business Cycle? Analysis Using Energy Consumption Cycle Clock for Selected European Countries

On 11 March 2020, the WHO declared the COVID-19 epidemic to be a global pandemic. This was a consequence of the rapid increase in the number of people with positive test results, the increase in deaths due to COVID-19, and the lack of pharmaceutical drugs. Governments introduced national lockdowns, which have impacted both energy consumption and economies. The purpose of this paper is to answer the following question: do COVID-19 lockdowns affect the business cycle? We used the cycle clock approach to assess the magnitude of decrease in electricity consumption in the three waves of the epidemic, namely, April 2020, November 2021, and April 2021. Additionally, we checked the relation between energy consumption and GDP by means of spectral analysis. Results for selected 28 European countries confirm an impact of the introduced non-pharmaceutical interventions on both energy consumption and business cycle. The reduction of restrictions in subsequent pandemic waves increased electricity consumption, which suggests movement out of the economic recession.

Winter always comes: social enterprise in times of crisis

Purpose This study aims to outline the importance of distinguishing between different types of societal crises and the role that plays in how social enterprises may respond to crises at hand. Design/methodology/approach Previous literature is used to distinguish between various types of societal crises discussed in the study. Social enterprise responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, economic recession and the racial uprising in the USA that all erupted at the start of the 2020 decade are explored to illustrate the need for different responses to each. Findings The origin and manifestation of crises differ in that they may have public health, natural, economic or even intentionally man-made origins. In addition, in times of crisis, social enterprises must be prepared to innovate, adapt or at least manage the effects of one or more crises on their organizations. These innovations may be social, technology or economic innovations. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to knowledge about the role and value of social enterprise as a tool for addressing societal issues. The three types of crises explored in this paper will likely reoccur and evolve to manifest in new ways. As such, it is imperative that research on the efficacy of social enterprises during times of crisis are conducted to inform practice, policy and future research. Practical implications This study aims to inform and encourage institutions, particularly social enterprises, to recognize that “winter always comes.” Crises always happen in life and how organizations respond to such crises will differ based on the type of crisis at hand. This study particularly contributes to knowledge by emphasizing the need for social enterprises to think about both economic uncertainty and the role they play in addressing crises in the long-term, not just when they occur. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to explore the role and value of social enterprises as a tool for combatting major social crises such as racism, pandemics and recessions.

Business executives’ perceptions of responsible leadership and corporate social responsibility for stakeholders’ health and wellbeing

Over the past decade, and especially after the scandals that occurred during the last economic recession, there has been a call for business leaders to pay attention not only to maximization of profit but also to corporate social responsibility (CSR). It is argued that responsible leadership can be an appropriate response to the diverse needs and challenges of a complex stakeholder society. The purpose of this explorative study was to investigate top business executives’ understanding of responsible leadership and their perceptions of CSR for stakeholders’ health and wellbeing. Key informant interviews were conducted with ten business executives representing a variety of sectors in East Central Sweden. Content analysis was conducted to detect patterns and categories in the data. business executives understood the role of a responsible leader to involve contribution, inclusiveness, and the creation of community and structure. They viewed CSR and stakeholders’ health and wellbeing largely from an organizational point of view, including their own.

Clapping From the Arena

Climate change is a serious global issue and concern that is attributed to change. A change of climate that is directly or indirectly related to human activity, that which alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods. There is therefore no doubt that the earth is warming, and the climate changing. Despotism and the rule of despots as agents of democracy has created a rift in the issue of climate change on its citizenry in the southern zone of Plateau State in the area of health, water shortages, cutting meals due to the economic recession in Nigeria. Research has shown that climate change can create a conflict, and it does have a direct effect on scarce resources required to sustain life. Water is at the heart of human existence. Global warming has a major impact on global water cycle, hence on rainfall, soil moisture, rivers, and sea levels. If climate change is not tackled urgently, the calamity will be enormous.

Recovering Higher Education During and After the Pandemic

This chapter discusses the economic, academic, and socioemotional effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on low-income students and the institutes of higher education that serve them. Income-based inequities among students have been amplified significantly by the economic recession and the shift to remote learning. This chapter examines the federal and state-level plans that aim to address these inequities by providing/redistributing aid to universities. Additionally, updated pedagogies that are attuned to the needs of remote/hybrid learning are proposed, since keeping student motivation (and graduation rates) high will be a priority for universities as they recover from this pandemic. Universities must therefore provide their students with the sufficient monetary, academic, and emotional support needed to ensure both their students' and their own success.

BUSINESS RISK IN TIMES OF ECONOMIC RECESSION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

The issue of business risk in times of recession or growth is very topical in these times. The Czech Republic and its neighboring countries are currently struggling with the economic problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The aim of the paper is to analyze the number of insolvency petitions in the Czech Republic from the years 2010–2020 and to compare them with each other. The data source are data from publicly available resources from the Creditreform group and also from the CRIF database of the Cribis platform. First were created tables for the Agriculture and Forestry, Manufacturing, Construction and Transport sectors. Data for the relevant years were added to them from the aforementioned resources. Then was created a line chart for each industry. Using time series analysis and comparison, we analyze and compare the development of insolvencies. At the same time, we use causal analysis to find out why there were high numbers of insolvencies in the given years. We are also looking at which sectors were hit hardest during the insolvency crisis, when they were hit hardest, how they did in times of economic growth and how they should adapt to the next possible crisis. During the Great Recession, the construction sector was hit the hardest, and then the transport sector also suffered greatly. The largest numbers of insolvencies can be observed in 2012. At a time of economic growth, which began in 2014, the numbers of insolvencies fell in all sectors analyzed, but mostly in agriculture and forestry and transport. Businesses in the sectors analyzed can adapt to the next crisis by creating larger cash reserves or changing, for example, crop production or transport by temporarily reducing fares to attract new customers. We see the benefit of this work in the analysis of the number of insolvencies in the given sectors, which has not been recorded in almost any academic papers. We also see a benefit in determining the conditions for how companies can prevent another crisis.

COVID-19 in Pakistan: How to Spark the Economic Recovery-Analysis from Previous Natural Disasters

COVID-19 is reshaping the future of the globe by having an unprecedented impact on people's social, political, and economic lives. This pandemic is being characterized by health crisis as well as economic crisis. Pertaining to the negative demand & supply shocks and the decrease in revenues, profits, and investment due to COVID-19, many business and economic institutions are paying heed to subdue the post-pandemic economic recession. The COVID-19 pandemic crisis also hit the economy of Pakistan rigorously. Due to persistent lockdown and de-escalated economic activities, the country faced a sharp decline in tax revenues, investment, and business growth. Pakistan has faced several economic downturns due to natural disasters: particularly the flood in 2010 and the earthquake in 2005, as they caused the loss of numerous lives, infrastructure, businesses, and irrigation land. The present study reviews the response and effectiveness of government and different institutions in previous natural disasters. This analysis provides policy recommendations to deal with the current crisis. The study concludes that Pakistan failed to get the full output of its recovery plans due to lack of preparedness & coordination, lack of understanding, insufficient knowledge & planning, the ineffective role of central management, and other institutional or management issues. It further recommends that Pakistan should act more effectively against natural disasters and restore its previous economic pace by eliminating the gaps in its economic and disaster management policies.

A Gender Mirrored Framework into Suicidal Ideation and Associated Risk Factors

The study assessed a gender mirrored framework into suicidal ideation and associated risk factors among undergraduates amid the prevalence of suicide ideation. A cross-sectional design was adopted for this study. The sample size was 993 respondents selected from undergraduates in public and private universities. The Statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 23 was utilized in analyzing the data from this study. Four null hypotheses on gender, suicide ideation, and four psychosocial risk factors (depression, childhood adversity, economic recession, and media reporting) were raised and tested at a 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed a highly significant correlation between gender and suicide ideation. Childhood adversity is associated with gender (r = -.149, p >0.01). The relationship between gender, suicidation, and economic recession was also significant. The study recommended that gender-specific suicide prevention and intervention programme should be provided by institutions of higher learning and the creation of awareness on the effect of childhood experience on the latter psychological health of a person.