Private sector initiatives to tackle the burden of COVID-19: experiences from the Nigerian frontline

Rurality, healthcare and crises: Investigating experiences, differences, and changes to medical care for people living in rural areas

Healthcare provision in rural areas is a global challenge, characterised by a dispersed patient population, difficulties in the recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals and a physical distance from hospital care. This research brings together both public and doctor perspectives to explore the experience of healthcare across rural Scotland, against the backdrop of contemporary crises, including a global pandemic and extreme weather events. We draw on two studies on rural healthcare provision to understand how healthcare services have been experienced, changed and might move on after periods of short- and longer-term change caused by such crises. We highlight the importance of communicating service changes to aid in setting healthcare expectations and advocate a mixed approach to the introduction of digital solutions to best balance access to services in rural areas with the challenges of digital connectivity and literacy.

From Responsibility to Requirement: COVID, Cars, and the Future of Corporate Social Responsibility in Canada

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant impacts to the automotive manufacturing industry. Despite substantial financial uncertainty, disruptions to supply chains, and shutdowns of manufacturing operations, automotive firms supported crisis response efforts throughout the course of the pandemic. Drawing on interviews with all the consumer automotive manufacturing companies in Canada (Ford, General Motors, Honda, Stellantis, and Toyota) as well as the two largest global automotive parts suppliers operating in Canada (Linamar and Magna), we investigated whether voluntary corporate responses to COVID-19 will shape long-term corporate social responsibility programs or simply constitute one-off crisis management actions. Ultimately, we argue that while Canada’s pandemic response efforts have benefitted from the voluntary involvement of automotive manufacturing companies, the limited coordination between stakeholders underscores the need for greater public sector oversight of the relationship between society and the private sector. To ensure preparedness for meeting new challenges, such as climate change, we call for the era of voluntary corporate social responsibility programs to yield to a period of corporate social requirements.