PUBLICATIONS
GFCC onboards researchers to the Driving Innovation in Times of Crisis initiative
The GFCC has added two new researchers to our Driving Innovation in Times of Crisis (DITC) initiative. This partnership with Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) began in 2022 and entered a new phase in 2023, with a renewed focus on identifying opportunities to drive innovation during times of crisis and increase shared prosperity while limiting socio-economic losses.
Joining the DITC team are Dr. Ailun Gu, a lecturer at the Faculty of Arts and a research fellow at the School of Psychology at the University of Auckland, and Mr. John Katsos, Associate Professor of Business Law, Ethics, and Social Responsibility at the American University of Sharjah and Research Affiliate at the Centre for Leadership, Ethics, and Organizations at Queen's University Belfast. Together, they will conduct qualitative research to establish a crisis definition and review response mechanisms to crises in contemporary history.
The DITC initiative will mobilize multiple stakeholders and experts from different disciplines throughout the year to develop recommended actions for tackling crises and building resilience worldwide. To kick things off, the GFCC will host a workshop in April for members and fellows to discuss the definition of crisis as well as well relevant variables to convey it.
We're looking forward to the insights and recommendations that will come out of this important work. Stay tuned for updates on the DITC initiative throughout the year!
Check below detailed bios for the two researchers:
Ailun Gu
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Dr. Ailun Gu finished her Ph.D. in Translation Studies at the University of Auckland in 2022. Her thesis, "Understanding Work Stress in Crisis Translation: An empirical study on crisis translators' experience in the context of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic", is an interdisciplinary study on work stress experienced by crisis translators who may be professionals or ad hoc volunteers performing translation and interpreting tasks arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Crisis translation has emerged relatively recently as an interdisciplinary field of research and practice in reference to translation conducted in crises in response to multilingual crisis communication.
Currently, Ailun works as a lecturer at the Faculty of Arts and a research fellow at the School of Psychology at the University of Auckland. Her studies mainly focus on crisis translation and organizational psychology. She is also a full member of the New Zealand Society of Translators and Interpreters, working as a public service interpreter and translator.
John E. Katsos
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John E. Katsos is Associate Professor of Business Law, Ethics, and Social Responsibility at the American University of Sharjah and Research Affiliate at the Centre for Leadership, Ethics, and Organizations at Queen's University Belfast. He researches how businesses can act sustainably and promote social value through crisis. His research has been featured in the Financial Times, Washington Post, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Business Ethics, Business and Society, UN General Assembly reports, Associated Press, BRINK, and Financier.
John has published over 40 academic and practitioner articles on business responses to crises based on work with businesses in Syria, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Cyprus, Lebanon, Ukraine, and Myanmar. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Society and Business Review(Emerald), which cultivates and shares knowledge to assist businesses and organizations to enhance their commitment to society and the planet. John sits on the boards of two social enterprises dedicated and three boards within the United Nations PRME Network. John holds a Juris Doctor and MBA from George Washington University and a BA from Haverford College. He is currently pursuing his PhD at Queen's University Belfast.