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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Learning Before And During The Covid-19 Outbreak: A Comparative Analysis Of Crisis Learning In South Korea And The Us, Seulki Lee, Jungwon Yeo, Chongmin Na Dec 2020

Learning Before And During The Covid-19 Outbreak: A Comparative Analysis Of Crisis Learning In South Korea And The Us, Seulki Lee, Jungwon Yeo, Chongmin Na

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Learning is imperative in government responses to crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines the South Korean and United States governments’ responses to COVID-19 from a comparative perspective. The analysis focuses on crisis learning conducted before and during the COVID-19 outbreak, using the conceptual categories of intercrisis/intracrisis learning and single-/double-loop learning. The findings suggest that double-loop, intercrisis learning allows for more effective crisis management by (re)developing a common operating framework. The efficacy of learning is enhanced when double-loop learning is followed by single-loop learning that embeds new structures and operational procedures. The findings also suggest that intercrisis learning facilitates …


Dealing With Covid-19 And Emerging Stronger From It, David Chan Nov 2020

Dealing With Covid-19 And Emerging Stronger From It, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Whether it is reacting to news on COVID-19 cases, following safe management rules, adapting to changes at work, assessing leadership and public responses to the coronavirus crisis, or navigating post-pandemic realities, it is all part of understanding how humans think, feel, and behave, says SMU Professor David Chan.


Learning From The Past: Distributed Cognition And Crisis Management Capabilities For Tackling Covid-19, Seulki Lee, Jungwon Yeo, Chongmin Na Aug 2020

Learning From The Past: Distributed Cognition And Crisis Management Capabilities For Tackling Covid-19, Seulki Lee, Jungwon Yeo, Chongmin Na

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has presented an unprecedented public health crisis across the globe. Governments have developed different approaches to tackle the complex and intractable challenge, showing variations in their effectiveness and results. South Korea has achieved exceptional performance thus far: It has flattened the curve of new infections and brought the outbreak under control without imposing forceful measures such as lockdowns and travel ban. This commentary addresses the South Korean government’s response to COVID-19 and highlights distributed cognition and crisis management capabilities as critical factors. The authors discuss how the South Korean government has cultivated distributed …


Foster Positivity Amid Covid-19 Challenges, David Chan Aug 2020

Foster Positivity Amid Covid-19 Challenges, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Many behaviours have encouraged positivity during the pandemic. More can be done to create communities that nurture positive attitudes and experiences


How Do Intercrisis Learning Outcomes Affect Intracrisis Learning? “Learning In The Making” In The Case Of South Korea’S Covid-19 Response, Chongmin Na, Seulki Lee, Jungwon Yeo Aug 2020

How Do Intercrisis Learning Outcomes Affect Intracrisis Learning? “Learning In The Making” In The Case Of South Korea’S Covid-19 Response, Chongmin Na, Seulki Lee, Jungwon Yeo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This study explores the processes of intercrisis and intracrisis learning and the link between them, drawing on South Korea’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic as an example. The crisis management literature suggests that intracrisis learning is less likely to occur than intercrisis learning due to inherent barriers that hinder learning and adaptation in the heat of crisis. Based on the conceptual framework of problem-oriented governance and crisis learning, we unpack how prominent outcomes of intercrisis learning facilitate intracrisis learning during the acute phase of an emerging crisis. We postulate that learning after 2015 MERS crisis developed the core capabilities for …


How To Make Critical Decisions Amid Covid-19 Pressures, David Chan Jul 2020

How To Make Critical Decisions Amid Covid-19 Pressures, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Time pressure and ambivalence are common when people make decisions in a crisis. Understanding the psychological dynamics helps us slow down to make better decisions.


For Cosmopolitan, Public, And Reflexive Sociology, Hiro Saito May 2020

For Cosmopolitan, Public, And Reflexive Sociology, Hiro Saito

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Is sociological theory up to the challenge of understanding and explaining the phenomenon? I think that the kind of sociological theory capable of meeting this challenge has to be cosmopolitan, public, and reflexive. To understand the social and political impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to embrace what Ulrich Bech called "methodological cosmopolitan" to investigate a multitude of networks, mechanisms, and processes through which the pandemic reverberates across national borders. At the same time, this cosmopolitan sociology has to be publicly oriented, addressing head-on the urgent matters of concern among citizens, rather than driven by discipline-specific debates that are …


‘Living In A State Of Filth And Indifference To … Their Health’: Weather, Public Health And Urban Governance In Colonial George Town, Penang, Fiona Williamson, Katrina Proust May 2020

‘Living In A State Of Filth And Indifference To … Their Health’: Weather, Public Health And Urban Governance In Colonial George Town, Penang, Fiona Williamson, Katrina Proust

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article explores the development of public health infrastructure in George Town, Penang, before the 1930s. It argues that the extreme weather of the tropical climate led to a unique set of health challenges for George Town’s administrators, as the town grew from a small British base to a multi-cultural and thriving port. Weather and public health were (and still are) integrally connected,although the framing of this relationship has undergone significant shifts in thinking and appearance over time. One lens into this association is the situation and expression of these elements within municipal structures.During the nineteenth century, government departments were …


Helping The Singapore Arts Sector Survive The Covid-19 Crisis, Su Fern Hoe Apr 2020

Helping The Singapore Arts Sector Survive The Covid-19 Crisis, Su Fern Hoe

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

From online art classes to livestreaming performances and collective singing to cheer frontline healthcare workers, people across the globe are turning to the arts for much-needed connection and comfort amid the Covid-19 crisis.


A Toolkit To Deal With Negative Reactions In The Covid-19 Crisis, David Chan Apr 2020

A Toolkit To Deal With Negative Reactions In The Covid-19 Crisis, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Understanding our own and others’ biases helps us respond better to difficult situations. Adopt what I call the 3Rs approach - refrain, reflect and resolve, to deal with negative events and manage our negative gut emotions and reactions.


Drill Into What Makes People Socially Responsible, David Chan Mar 2020

Drill Into What Makes People Socially Responsible, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In an invited commentary, SMU Behavioural Sciences Institute Director Professor David Chan explained why being socially responsible is critical in Singapore’s efforts to contain the Covid-19 outbreak and mitigate its effects. He discussed the psychology underlying people’s behaviour change and suggested that we pay attention to issues of values, image, norms, convenience and enforcement.


The 5cs Of Beating The Coronavirus Outbreak, David Chan Feb 2020

The 5cs Of Beating The Coronavirus Outbreak, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Practise being calm, cautious, considerate, caring and collectivistic. And use these tools to build up arsenal of psychological defence against the virus threat.


Positivity Can Strengthen Immunity, Sean Teck Hao Lee, Andree Hartanto Feb 2020

Positivity Can Strengthen Immunity, Sean Teck Hao Lee, Andree Hartanto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In the laboratories of Carnegie Mellon University some years ago, 95 men and 98 women volunteered to have live cold and flu viruses sprayed directly into their noses.