Geodesign Approaches to City Resilience Planning: A Systematic Review

The increased frequency of extreme events facing society is placing mounting pressure on cities and regions that need more robust resilience planning against growing uncertainty. Data augmented participatory methods, such as geodesign, offer much promise in supporting strategic planning to make our cities and regions more resilient. In that context, this study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of geodesign practices in resilience planning, through a systematic review of the selected 487 studies available from various bibliographic databases. The results indicate that a total of 75 studies were connected to resilience thinking, with a focus on climate change, floods, and sea level rise risks. A significant cluster of those resilience-related studies worked, especially, on improving sustainability. A detailed analysis of 59 relevant geodesign case studies revealed a strong underlying emphasis on disaster risk reduction and management activities. This study also noticed two prominent approaches among the analysed case studies to future city scenario planning: computational (41 studies), and collaborative (18 studies). It is recommended that an explicit integration of these two approaches into the geodesign approach can assist future city resilience planning endeavours. Thus, future research should further investigate the utility of integrating data-driven modelling and simulation within a collaborative scenario planning process, the usability of digital tools such as planning support systems within a collaborative geodesign framework, and the value of the plan’s performance evaluation during resilience decision-making. Another area for future work is increased community engagement in city resilience practices. The geodesign approach can provide a comprehensive framework for bringing communities, decision-makers, experts, and technologists together to help plan for more resilient city futures. Finally, while geodesign’s explicit role in empirical resilience implementations has been found to be low in this systematic review study, there are significant opportunities to support evidence-based and collaborative city resilience planning and decision-making activities.

Are smart contracts too smart for Supply Chain 4.0? A blockchain framework to mitigate challenges

PurposeSmart contracts are self-executing computer programmes that have the potential to be used in several applications instead of traditional written contracts. With the recent rise of smart systems (e.g. Internet of things) and digital platforms (e.g. blockchain), smart contracts are gaining high interest in both business and academia. In this work, a framework for smart contracts was proposed with using reputation as the system currency, and conducts currency mining through fulfilling the physical commitments that are agreed upon.Design/methodology/approachA game theory model is developed to represent the proposed system, and then a system dynamics simulator is used to check the response of the blockchain with different sizes.FindingsThe numerical results showed that the proposed system could identify the takeover attacks and protect the blockchain from being controlled by an outsider. Another important finding is that careful setting of the maximum currency amount can improve the scalability of the blockchain and prevent the currency inflation.Research limitations/implicationsThis work is proposed as a conceptual framework for supply chain 4.0. Future work will be dedicated to implement and experiment the proposed framework for other characteristics that may be encountered in the context of supply chain 4.0, such as different suppliers' tiers, different customer typologies and smart logistics applications, which may reveal other challenges and provide additional interesting insights.Practical implicationsBy using the proposed framework, smart contracts and blockchains can be implemented to handle many issues in the context of operations and supply chain 4.0, especially in times of turbulence such as the COVID-19 global pandemic crisis.Originality/valueThis work emphasizes that smart contracts are not too smart to be applied in the context of supply chain 4.0. The proposed framework of smart contracts is expected to serve supply chain 4.0 by automating the knowledge work and enabling scenario planning through the game theory model. It will also improve online transparency and order processing in real-time through secured multitier connectivity. This can be applied in global supply chain functions backed with digitization, notably during the time of the pandemic, in which e-commerce and online shopping have changed the rules of the game.

Mitigating the Spread of COVID-19: What are firms doing and what they need to do?

The novel COVID-19 (coronavirus) has created havoc and massive disruption to firms’ business operations. While much literature has recently emerged on how this pandemic outbreak has affected the firms. Limited empirical studies to date exist on what actions firms are employing to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and further ensure business continuity. Our study attempts to fill this gap in management literature. This study employs a multiple case study methodology. Overall, 36 semi-structured interviews with eight different based in China were undertaken. Results reveal that Chinese firms are employing six distinct actions to control the spread of COVID-19 while ensuring that the business continues to run to its maximum capacity. In particular, firms are educating employees on the symptoms of COVID-19, implementing strict screening protocols, applying agile IT systems, revising their cash flow policies and conducting global scenario planning to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. This study concludes by discussing its implications for theory, alongside limitations and future research directions.

Strategy Development for Survival & Growth of MRO Company during & Post Covid-19 Pandemic (Case Study: GMF Aeroasia)

Indonesian Aviation Market 2020 was predicted to grow around 7.0% compared to 2019. It gave Indonesian MRO industry an optimism at first, at least in the beginning of the year, before WHO declared COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has a dire impact on the aviation & MRO industry. As of July 2021, flights still haven’t reached 50% compared to pre-COVID era. Many MRO companies, including GMF AeroAsia, must face an unprecedented situation that caused the market to shrink significantly, and enter the financial distress zone. Several initiatives have been taken by the company. However, with the protracted pandemic conditions and the uncertainty of Indonesian Aviation Market recovery, further strategies are needed to survive and growth. This study aims to analyze the company and develop a strategy based on 2 stages, namely the retrenchment phase and the recovery phase. The retrenchment phase will focus on the survival strategy, while the recovery phase will focus on the growth strategy using scenario planning because the future is still uncertain. From the analysis and interviews, several initiatives and strategies for survival and growth were developed. Several initiatives for survival include headcount cuts, operational efficiency, product elimination, liquidation & divestment, equity for debt swaps, and renegotiate with lenders. While the growth strategy was developed based on 4 scenarios, namely Flying Through Thunderstorm, Flying with Engine Failure, Flying with Broken Wings, and Flying Zig-Zag.

Carbon Footprint Assessment in Nature-Based Conservation Management Estates Using South African National Parks as a Case Study

Nature-based conservation management (NBCMs) estates are seen as natural solutions to climate change and hence immune to harmful greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, NBCMs, in their daily operations to protect and conserve biodiversity, may result in GHG emissions. These may come as a significant carbon burden. This is the first study based on a literature review to look at the carbon footprint of an entire conservation estate operation and management. South African National Parks (SANParks) aimed to contribute to national targets by reducing their fossil-fuel-generated energy consumption by 2% per year until achieving carbon neutrality. The objectives of this paper were (1) to quantify the SANParks C emissions profile at the organization and individual park level and develop recommendations to sustainably reduce carbon emissions and (2) to suggest alternative scenarios that SANParks could follow to achieve zero energy emissions. The study presented an audit analysis of the emission sources linked to SANParks’ daily activities over a five-year period (2015–2019) using the GHGs protocol corporate accounting and reporting standard methodology. Over the reference period, SANParks emitted an average of 73,732 t of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) per year. Most emissions came from electricity usage, 40,681 tCO2e (55%), followed by fuel usage for stationary combustion at 26,088 tCO2e (35%), and both account for 90% of SANParks’ total emissions. Results have shown the variation amongst individual parks in GHG emission and intensity ratio among the different parks. Total SANParks emission showed a significant relationship with Scope 2, followed by number of employees, building size, Scope 3, and Scope 1, in order. This work recommends how SANParks estate may reduce their carbon emissions at a national and individual level. SANParks achieved 1% year-on-year energy emissions reduction through its renewable base; however, an ambitious target of 8% would be appropriate for a 1.5 °C future based on the energy scenario planning.

Designing alternative scenarios for the provincial region development based on the scenario planning methodology

Subject. This article considers the issues of application of scenario planning techniques in the process of constructing alternative scenarios for the development of spatial socio-economic systems in the context of changes, complexity, and uncertainty. Objectives. The article aims to form a scenario planning algorithm for spatial socio-economic systems and its implementation in relation to the Mari El Republic. Methods. For the study, we used the systems approach and foresight techniques. Results. The article presents four alternative scenarios for the development of the provincial region: intensive, technological, moderately technological and pessimistic. The article presents four alternative scenarios for the development of the provincial region, namely, the intensive, technological, moderate technological, and worst-case ones. Conclusions and Relevance. The technological scenario for the provincial region’s development seems to be the most likely. It assumes moderately favorable prospects for attracting investment, which can stimulate the development of regional key industries. The proposed alternative scenarios can serve as a basis for the policy making by regional and municipal authorities.

Using Principal–Steward Contracting and Scenario Planning to Manage Megaprojects

Performance on megaprojects is dismal. Megaprojects are complex, but people use constructs inappropriate in complex situations for their management, particularly contractual arrangements based on principal–agent governance and conventional project management, which is good at solving puzzles, but not at enlightening mysteries. I review current thinking. Principal–steward contracting is a liberal governance structure required in complex situations. Conventional project management emphasizes control at the expense of innovation. In cases of high uncertainty, innovation is required as unexpected events occur. Scenario planning is offered as a way of approaching the management of complex megaprojects, to construct narratives, and to identify alternative outcomes.