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Crisis Situations (crisis + situation)
Selected AbstractsPresidential Policymaking in Crisis Situations: 9/11 and Its AftermathPOLICY STUDIES JOURNAL, Issue 3 2003William Crotty This paper compares the decision-making approaches of two presidents, John F. Kennedy and George W. Bush, in relation to unanticipated international crises. One, President Kennedy, employed a broad body of expert opinion and entertained a wide range of options in meeting the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1963. The actions taken avoided a potential worldwide nuclear war. The other, George W. Bush, consulted only a few, like-minded colleagues and appears to have decided early on that a war directed against Iraq and Saddam Hussein was a necessity. The administration's justifications for the war were difficult to prove and the administration chose an essentially bilateral (as against a multi-lateral) approach. The Iraq War was won fairly easily, although its long-range consequences remain unclear. The two styles of decision-making present polarized approaches to international crisis situation management. [source] Cognitive Mapping as an Emergency Management Training ExerciseJOURNAL OF CONTINGENCIES AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2004David E. Alexander This paper describes a scenario-based, table-top exercise which was given to a variety of postgraduate university classes in emergency preparedness and to some groups of trainee disaster managers. Participants in the exercise were asked to draw maps of a developing crisis situation and suggest a set of tactics for managing it. The results were analysed using theories of cognitive mapping. They showed that seven distinct kinds of map emerged from the sample of 67 collected. These were labelled well-defined, systematic, emblematic, ill-defined (cryptic), compressed, diagrammatic (ideographic) and mirror image. About 60 per cent of the maps depicted the majority of the elements, while the remaining 40 per cent were lacking in detail to varying degrees. The cognitive maps therefore introduced distortions into the representation of elements, and these were negatively correlated with the abilities, experience, knowledge and training of their authors, as manifested by their other work in the classroom. The extraordinary variety of perceptions of space and place during emergencies has considerable implications for how such events are managed during the crisis phase. [source] Crisis and Organisational Paralysis: The Lingering Problem of Korean Public AdministrationJOURNAL OF CONTINGENCIES AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2001Jong S. Jun This essay argues that the Korean crisis is caused by the enduring problems of administrative culture, such as central control of decision-making, corruption, passive learning, moral decay, and a lack of self-governance and autonomy of administrators. The crisis has brought organisational paralysis because public administrators are not capable of responding to and coping with the crisis situation. The authors state that solutions to these problems are difficult and require strategies beyond short-term, instrumental solutions because change involves education and raising consciousness of public servants at all levels. [source] Corporate Governance and Financial Constraints on Strategic Turnarounds*JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 3 2006Igor Filatotchev abstract The paper extends the Robbins and Pearce (1992) two-stage turnaround response model to include governance factors. In addition to retrenchment and recovery, the paper proposes the addition of a realignment stage, referring specifically to the realignment of expectations of principal and agent groups. The realignment stage imposes a threshold that must be crossed before the retrenchment and hence recovery stage can be entered. Crossing this threshold is problematic to the extent that the interests of governance-stakeholder groups diverge in a crisis situation. The severity of the crisis impacts on the bases of strategy contingent asset valuation leading to the fragmentation of stakeholder interests. In some cases the consequence may be that management are prevented from carrying out turnarounds by governance constraints. The paper uses a case study to illustrate these dynamics, and like the Robbins and Pearce study, it focuses on the textile industry. A longitudinal approach is used to show the impact of the removal of governance constraints. The empirical evidence suggests that such financial constraints become less serious to the extent that there is a functioning market for corporate control. Building on governance research and turnaround literature, the paper also outlines the general case necessary and sufficient conditions for successful turnarounds. [source] Food Security in Protracted Crises: Building More Effective Policy FrameworksDISASTERS, Issue 2005Margarita Flores This paper considers the principal elements that underpin policy frameworks for supporting food security in protracted crisis contexts. It argues that maintaining the food entitlements of crisis-affected populations must extend beyond interventions to ensure immediate human survival. A ,policy gap' exists in that capacities for formulating policy responses to tackle the different dimensions of food insecurity in complex, fluid crisis situations tend to be weak. As a result, standardised, short-term intervention designs are created that fall short of meeting the priority needs of affected populations in the short and long term and only partially exploit the range of policy options available. The paper discusses key attributes of agency frameworks that could support more effective policy processes to address longer term as well as immediate food security needs. Additionally, it points to some main challenges likely to be encountered in developing such frameworks and, with the participation of beneficiaries, translating them into effective action. [source] Risk assessment and management: A community forensic mental health practice modelINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 4 2002Teresa Kelly ABSTRACT: In Victoria, the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act (1997) reformed legal practice in relation to the detention, management and release of persons found by a court to be not guilty on the grounds of insanity or unfit to be tried. This Act provides a legal structure for such ,forensic patients' to move from secure inpatient facilities into the community. This new legislative landscape has generated challenges for all stakeholders and has provided the impetus for the development of a risk assessment and management model. The key components of the model are the risk profile, assessment and management plan. The discussion comprises theory, legislation, practice implications and limitations of the model. Practice implications concern the provision of objective tools, which identify risk and document strategic interventions to support clinical management. Some of the practice limitations include the model's applicability to risk assessment and management and its dependence on a mercurial multi-service interface in after-hours crisis situations. In addition to this, the paper articulates human limitations implicit in the therapeutic relationship that necessarily underpins the model. The paper concludes with an exploration of the importance of evaluative processes as well as the need for formal support and education for clinicians. [source] Bridging Research and Practice: The Challenge of ,Normal Operations' StudiesJOURNAL OF CONTINGENCIES AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2002Mathile Bourrier The article will present some possible explanations of the difficulty to bridge research and practice in the domain of risk management. A first block of reasons has to do with the very content of the analyses themselves. Of great importance is also the time chosen for them to be carried out. The second argument will bring to the foreground the difficulty for a lot of fruitful research to permeate into management spheres. One way to reconcile experts, scholars and decision makers may come from new attention devoted to organisational design and formal structures. This calls for the study of normal operations as opposed to relying too exclusively on accident cases and crisis situations. We believe that this perspective can help us improve our level of understanding of complex organisations, because it focuses on the duality of organisational life: the dark side and the bright side, always tightly coupled. [source] USE OF SIMULATED CLIENTS IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPY EDUCATIONJOURNAL OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY, Issue 1 2007Jennifer L. Hodgson Knowledge of how one should manage suicidal, homicidal, child maltreatment, and domestic violence situations is paramount in the training of marriage and family therapists (MFTs). Simulated patient modules were created to help clinical faculty address these crisis situations in a protected learning environment. The modules were implemented by the MFT faculty in collaboration with the Office of Clinical Skills Assessment and Education at East Carolina University's Brody School of Medicine. Qualitative data over the course of 2 years revealed six thematic domains regarding therapists' performance, therapists' emotions, the simulation experiences, and lessons learned. Educational, clinical, and research recommendations include tools to implement simulation exercises into marriage and family therapy programs as well as suggestions to assess for teaching effectiveness. [source] Technical and non-technical skills can be reliably assessed during paramedic simulation trainingACTA ANAESTHESIOLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 1 2009T. VON WYL Background: Medical teams depend on technical skills (TS) as well as non-technical skills (NTS) for successful management of critical events. Simulated scenarios are an opportunity for presentation of similar crisis situations. The aim of this study was to test whether TS and NTS are assessable with satisfactory interrater reliability (IRR) during a regular paramedic training. Methods: Thirty paramedics were rated by two independent observers using video-recording and previously validated checklists while managing two simulated emergency scenarios as a team of two. The observed items of the team's TS included type, order, and time of adequate medical care. The NTS were restricted to six team-oriented dimensions. The IRR was quantified by calculating the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The z -transformed values of the TS and NTS were correlated by Pearson's correlation. Internal consistency was controlled using Cronbach's ,. Results: The average measures ICC for the IRR was between 0.97 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.91,0.99] and 0.98 (95% CI 0.94,0.99) for the TS sum-score, and was 0.94 (95% CI 0.87,0.97) for the NTS sum-score; the Cronbach's , of this NTS sum-score was 0.86. There is a positive correlation between the normalised TS and NTS sum-scores (r=0.53; P<0.05). Conclusion: Assessment of TS and NTS is feasible and reliable during paramedic training in emergency scenarios. TS can be reliably assessed by one trained observer; for NTS, two trained raters provide a suitable condition for excellent observations. There is a significant positive correlation between TS and NTS. [source] | ||||||||||||||||