The problems solving styles of emergency operations center staffs of local and state government agencies

The purpose of this study was to investigate the demographics, leadership styles, and preferred problem solving style of the emergency management career field. The catalyst for the research was recognition that there are few scholarly investigations or theories of the cognitive processes that occur within emergency operations center staffs (EOCs), and to establish the demographic baseline. Demographics of Louisiana participants were compared with similar demographics of participants from the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM). The results revealed that the emergency management occupation is older and male dominated. The group is well educated; many IAEM members having advanced degrees. The majority has had at least some formal emergency management training and almost all have participated in declared disasters. Because the workforce is getting older, has well developed knowledge, and extensive experience it is imperative to take advantage of this resource for research purposes while it is still available. The investigation of leadership style, as measured by the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, revealed that the members of Louisiana emergency operations centers that responded were perceived to be transformational leaders and exhibited minimum laissez-faire (avoidant) leadership traits, based on Bass and Riggio’s Full Range of Leadership theory. This study brought together M. J. Kirton’s concept of Adaptive – Innovative problem solving style with elements of crisis decision making theory in an attempt to advance understanding of the complex dynamics that occur during a disaster. Kirton has shown that individuals have preferred problem solving styles, and that if leaders are aware of these styles, they can take advantage of that knowledge to build more effective teams. But the preferred problem solving styles of the staff of emergency operations centers had not been established before. The findings in this study indicated that members of Louisiana EOCs, as a group, were more innovative than typical mid-level civil servants. The overall implications are that Louisiana EOC members for the most part, are experienced, older, excellent leaders, and innovative problem solvers. Much research remains to be done to extend this initial understanding of the occupation and how they make decisions during a crisis

Occupational Cultures as a Challenge to Technological Innovation

This paper explains conflict over technological process innovation in cultural terms, drawing primarily on a case study of electric power distribution and strategies to automate its operation

Assessing crowd safety risks: a research into the application of the risk assessment principles to improve crowd safety management and planning in major public venues

This thesis considers the subject of crowd safety and investigates how the application of risk assessment can provide support for decision making in crowd safety management and planning. The focus is on major public venues and events where large crowds arc a normal part of the operation. Conventional methods of assessment tend to be ad hoc, reactive and rely on individual experiences. The risk assessment approach, which is comprehensive, systematic and pro-active, can help to overcome these shortfalls. Risk assessments have already been successfully applied in many workplaces, ranging from high hazard industrial plants to the office environment. However, this thesis argues that for it to be of benefit, the risk assessment must be appropriate to the nature of the operation and the nature and the extent of the hazards involved. The existing risk assessments are inappropriate to crowd safety in this respect and a more suitable methodology is required. As there is little published research knowledge on the subject, two case studies and a survey of public venue assessors were conducted to collect the necessary information and data. A task analysis was also performed to examine the tasks involved in assessing crowd safety risks and identify the factors that enable the assessors to successfully complete their I tasks. It has found that crowd safety hazards are very different to those encountered in other contexts where existing risk assessments are applied. In addition to the kind of hazards one would normally encounter in a work situation, the presence of large crowds also presents a set of hazards that are unique to major public venues. Findings of the venue survey suggest that existing risk assessments are inadequate, particularly in dealing with this type of crowd and behaviour related hazards, and venue assessors are experiencing difficulties in identifying such hazards and assessing their risks. By and large, the experiments and questionnaire survey have served to verify, at least in part, the arguments that risk assessment is better than the conventional assessment method and that there are more benefits to be gained when the risk assessment is more appropriate to the nature and the extent of the crowd safety hazards that could arise in major public venues. Nevertheless, it is important to recognise that the research work presented in this thesis is merely the first step towards a crowd safety risk assessment methodology. There are outstanding issues yet to be resolved, not least the issue of the apparent lack of consistency over time in risk evaluation. This thesis has identified the research and development work that is required to resolve these issues and to further the benefits that risk assessment could bring to crowd safety

Optimizing the Prioritization of Natural Disaster Recovery Projects

Prioritizing reconstruction projects to recover a base from a natural disaster is a complicated and arduous process that involves all levels of leadership. The project prioritization phase of base recovery has a direct affect on the allocation of funding, the utilization of human resources, the obligation of projects, and the overall speed and efficiency of the recovery process. The focus of this research is the development of an objective and repeatable process for optimizing the project prioritization phase of the recovery effort. This work will focus on promoting objectivity in the project prioritizing process, improving the communication of the overall base recovery requirement, increasing efficiency in utilizing human and monetary resources, and the creation of a usable and repeatable decision-making tool based on Value-Focused Thinking and integer programming methods

Including people with disabilities in disaster preparedness: a Delphi study

Recent disasters demonstrate that the needs of people with disabilities are not being met when disaster strikes. At the root of the problem is a widespread failure to include people with disabilities in preparing for emergencies before they occur. This study used a 2-round Delphi methodology with a panel of experts, consisting of people with disabilities and key players in emergency planning and response. The study instrument consisted of questionnaires containing items presented in Likert, yes-no, and open-ended formats. The goal of the study was to reach consensus on a way for people with disabilities and emergency planners to address the planning, training, and sustaining phases of emergency-preparedness programs. Panelists reached consensus on the following recommendations: (a) people with disabilities and emergency planners should collaborate in every phase of emergency preparedness; (b) people with disabilities, their advocates, government agencies, and nonprofits should work together throughout the emergency-preparedness process; (c) a number of specific components should be included in an emergency-preparedness training program. Using responses provided by a panel of experts, this study revealed areas of agreement and disagreement for issues pertaining to emergency response and people with disabilities

An investigation into pilot and system response to critical in-flight events. Volume 2: Appendix

Materials relating to the study of pilot and system response to critical in-flight events (CIFE) are given. An annotated bibliography and a trip summary outline are presented, as are knowledge surveys with accompanying answer keys. Performance profiles of pilots and performance data from the simulations of CIFE's are given. The paper and pencil testing materials are reproduced. Conditions for the use of the additive model are discussed. A master summary of data for the destination diversion scenario is given. An interview with an aircraft mechanic demonstrates the feasibility of system problem diagnosis from a verbal description of symptoms and shows the information seeking and problem solving logic used by an expert to narrow the list of probable causes of aircraft failure

State of the Art Resilient Design Symposium

What is resilient design? How does it work? What are emergent ways to apply resilient thinking? These questions formed the basis for the College of Architecture and Environmental Design’s symposium Resilient Design: State of the Art and Emerging Issues for the Built Environment. Twelve distinguished professionals made clear that the built and natural environments are inextricably intertwined, and we urgently need a more nuanced and interdisciplinary approach to resilient design. The presenters reminded us that the problems we face are complex and that we have the agency to act through design. They insisted that we need to act now and be critically aware of the dynamic interaction between systems, because it will be systems thinkers who advance the state-of-the-art in resilient design practice. Outcomes include: A working definition of resilient design, how to emulate life’s blueprints to inform design decisions, how to make the economic case for resiliency, how to balance risk, and a plan for action with 14 state-of-the-art resilient practice elements. The multidisciplinary “informed urbanist”, emerged as the model for the future of leadership in the planning, design, and management of a resilient built environment

Learner satisfaction and learning performance in online courses on bioterrorism and weapons of mass destruction

This study examined the relationships between measures of (a) learner satisfaction with online courses on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and bioterrorism intended to address the educational needs of responder Communities of Practice (CoP) and (b) degrees of accomplishment by the learner with those online courses. Provided that course design characteristics were similar between courses and that content was different, it was important to examine learner satisfaction with course common aspects in relation to learning outcomes and identify the predictors of effectiveness and relations between the learner satisfaction with the course characteristics and the learner achievement for potential design improvements in the future. Specifically, the investigator set out to explore multiple measures of learner satisfaction (Content, Accuracy, Navigation, Look, Flow, Assessment, and Value) in relation to multiple measures of learner achievement (Pre-Post Gain, Follow-up Personal Benefit, Follow-up Organizational Benefit, Follow-up Subject-Matter Retention, and Follow-up Simulation Scenarios).;The results from the 67 participants\u27 data analyses indicated that (1) navigation appeared to be a statistically significant predictor of learning achievement scores and (2) estimate of personal benefit was associated with value judgments placed on the course. Those participants who initially estimated that the courses were valuable later indicated that those courses had personal benefit to them. The learner\u27s initial satisfaction with navigation was related to the determination of personal benefit from the course. The study contributes to further understanding web-based, process-product, and satisfaction-learning interactions by emphasizing the importance of navigation quality in web-based courseware as it relates to learning achievement and personal benefit for adult learners. The findings heighten the designers\u27 awareness of the courseware aspects associated with learning effectiveness of exponentially growing web-based education on WMD and bioterrorism for responder communities

An investigation into pilot and system response to critical in-flight events, volume 2

Critical in-flight event is studied using mission simulation and written tests of pilot responses. Materials and procedures used in knowledge tests, written tests, and mission simulations are include