Expanding Your Comfort Zone: A Window into Risk in Family Philanthropy

Philanthropy is often described as society's "risk capital." Our generosity can support causes and ideas that business and government agencies cannot or will not. We can use our resources to inspire new ideas, challenge existing thinking, or continue supporting an organization when others won't.However, the idea of risk in philanthropy quickly muddies as we direct our generosity through a family foundation, donor-advised fund, or other collective effort. Our ideas about and tolerance for risk diverge, shaped by individual, family branch, professional, and other experiences.And, our own brains trip up our thinking about risk and even discourage us from discussing it.In this Passages Issues Brief, you'll learn how generous families can assess philanthropic risk, tame and mitigate risk, and even expand their comfort zone to embrace uncertainty. The issue also should be helpful to other types of grantmaking committees and their staff members

Emergency Management Training and Exercises for Transportation Agency Operations, MTI Report 09-17

Training and exercises are an important part of emergency management. Plans are developed based on threat assessment, but they are not useful unless staff members are trained on how to use the plan, and then practice that training. Exercises are also essential for ensuring that the plan is effective, and outcomes from exercises are used to improve the plan. Exercises have been an important part of gauging the preparedness of response organizations since Civil Defense days when full-scale exercises often included the community. Today there are various types of exercises that can be used to evaluate the preparedness of public agencies and communities: seminars, drills, tabletop exercises, functional exercises, facilitated exercises and full-scale exercises. Police and fire agencies have long used drills and full-scale exercises to evaluate the ability of staff to use equipment, protocols and plans. Transit and transportation agencies have seldom been included in these plans, and have little guidance for their participation in the exercises. A research plan was designed to determine whether urban transit systems are holding exercises, and whether they have the training and guidance documents that they need to be successful. The main research question was whether there was a need for a practical handbook to guide the development of transit system exercises

Measuring the possibility of smart production application for sustainable production performance

This paper aims to explore the extent to which the Iraqi industrial environment is keeping pace with technological progress. It also attempts to show the role of smart production in environmental sustainability. Using the case study methodology, this paper examines the possibility of applying smart production techniques at an Iraqi factory, Ezz Factory / General Company for electric and Electronics Industries. In addition, this work checks the technical, economic, social, and environmental effects by measuring the gap between the standard conditions as determined by the checklist developed for this purpose and the actual real application of all the smart production dimensions in the factory. Previous works used interviews with many managers and technicians through their field visits to gather information and to check many documents. The assessments showed a gap of 50%. Based on the result, the researchers reached several conclusions, the most important of which is that the factory is interested in developing and extending the environmentally friendly production of solar panels. Another important conclusion is the acceptable level of sustainable production performances without a smart production line

Leadership Traits, Tools, and Practices: Decision Making in a Crisis

Crises often present complex, uncertain, and unstable situations where routine decision making is not enough. Crises are typically unpredictable yet leaders must prepare to make decisions using a variety of traits, tools and practices. While all leadership is dependent on many factors and subject to many variables, in a crisis, those variables are magnified. Effective decision making during a crisis is a key trait of crisis leaders and is developed over time and with practice. Using the classic Delphi Technique, the researcher obtained qualitative data from experts in crisis management concerning (a) the difference between non-crisis and crisis decision making, (b) the traits and tools of a crisis leader, and (c) evidence of effective crisis leadership practices. This research method was selected because of its flexibility, its use of experts, and the varied locations of those experts. Literature reviewed for this study considered traditional leadership as well as crisis leadership. Crisis leaders use traditional decision making strategies, tools and practices as well as those adapted to a crisis environment. This study seeks to capture some of that data and disseminate it to the community of practice as well as the research community. The goal of any research is to improve the field of practice, add to the body of knowledge, and increase awareness of an idea, concept, or theory. Recognizing the complexity of crisis environments, the researcher suggests recommendations that may assist the crisis management community to improve decision making and to share traits, tools, and practices of effective crisis leaders

Handbook of Emergency Management For State-Level Transportation Agencies, MTI Report 09-10

The Department of Homeland Security has mandated specific systems and techniques for the management of emergencies in the United States, including the Incident Command System, the National Incident Management System, Emergency Operations Plans, Emergency Operations Centers, Continuity of Government Plans and Continuity of Operations Plans. These plans and systems may be applied to the state-level transportation agency�s disaster response systems to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. Specific guidance and management techniques are provided to aid emergency planning staff to create DHS-compliant systems

Recognition of and Response to Obstetric Emergencies: Developing A Virtual Competency-Based Orientation Program

In order to improve outcomes in the perinatal setting, the development of a Virtual Competency-Based Orientation Program (CBO) toolkit is vital. Two toolkits, namely the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) and the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC), have been identified as effective in enhancing perinatal outcomes. AIM is a national initiative focused on improving maternal health outcomes, promoting safer birth practices, and saving lives through the implementation of best practices. CMQCC is a multi-stakeholder organization in California committed to eliminating preventable morbidity, mortality, and racial disparities in maternity care. Both AIM and CMQCC CBO toolkits incorporate research, quality improvement strategies, bundled care approaches, and collaborative outreach. The utilization of a bundled set of care strategies has been associated with positive outcomes in the maternal newborn setting. These open resource toolkits are designed to facilitate change readiness by engaging stakeholders in understanding the reasons for the proposed changes, gaining leadership support, assembling interprofessional implementation teams, and providing evidence-based information that demonstrates the need for orientation programs while identifying the necessary resources. The CBO outlined in this project serves as a guide for organizations of various backgrounds to effectively prepare, implement, and utilize for the promotion of best practices. The project follows the framework provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Key considerations, including staff training, workflow adjustments, and ongoing evaluation, are crucial to warrant successful implementation and sustainable improvements in practices especially involving maternal hemorrhage and sepsis. Among existing toolkits, the CMQCC and AIM safety bundles have been noted to be exemplary in improving outcomes in the perinatal setting

Crisis management : aligning scripts and actors : strengthening crisis response capabilities by minimising process deviation

The present business resilience paradigm has expanded to embrace the processes and routines employed by a business to remain viable, sustain growth and recover (if required) in what for many people has become a complex global operating environment. Sutcliffe (2003, p. 2) defines resilience as “the maintenance of positive adjustment under challenging conditions” and the combination of proactive routines such as enterprise risk management and reactive routines such as crisis management create the overarching umbrella of business resilience. Whether they are proactive or reactive, ostensive routines form the framework and script from which organisations operate and strive for such ‘positive adjustment’. The business challenge, particularly in crisis management, is to ensure the effective interpretation and performance of ostensive routines during events that have the potential to play out on the world stage. This research examines an observed phenomenon in business, which is the deviation between ostensive and performative routines during crisis management responses. Human nature is such that there will often be a difference between the script and the performance. In crisis management, issues are created when the gap between the performance and ostensive routine grows too large, or, following an acting metaphor, where actors forget what they have practiced in rehearsals and create their own script. Such deviation has been observed repeatedly and most critically in the first 24 to 48 hours of a response when it is arguably the most important period in which to follow the script and apply the correct routines. The aetiology of deviations between a crisis management script and its production is the focus of this research. This addresses a gap in the crisis management literature which, while spread across multiple streams including leadership and teams, is at times incoherent. Utilising a case study approach focusing on the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, this research analyses the potential causes of process deviation. In evaluating two specific dynamics the research collected empirical data to address the question of how ostensive and performative routines interact in a crisis management situation and what factors contribute to deviations from ostensive routines. By answering this question, a theory is developed to explain the deviation

Requirements for Modeling and Simulation for Space Medicine Operations: Preliminary Considerations

The NASA Space Medicine program is now developing plans for more extensive use of high-fidelity medical Simulation systems. The use of simulation is seen as means to more effectively use the limited time available for astronaut medical training. Training systems should be adaptable for use in a variety of training environments, including classrooms or laboratories, space vehicle mockups, analog environments, and in microgravity. Modeling and simulation can also provide the space medicine development program a mechanism for evaluation of other medical technologies under operationally realistic conditions. Systems and procedures need preflight verification with ground-based testing. Traditionally, component testing has been accomplished, but practical means for "human in the loop" verification of patient care systems have been lacking. Medical modeling and simulation technology offer potential means to accomplish such validation work. Initial considerations in the development of functional requirements and design standards for simulation systems for space medicine are discussed