Archive for August, 2013


Implications of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on Organizational Emergency Management Planning

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August 23, 2013

An early assignment in my Public Emergency Management class asks us to consider the differences in response outcomes in the cases of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. My research indicates that the differences with regard to emergency management in the two incidents are stark. But, as Waugh indicates, “both disasters have raised serious questions about the capabilities of the national emergency management system to handle catastrophic disasters” (Waugh, 2006 p.10). There is evidence that the disparity in the way Katrina and Rita were prepared for and responded to was by no means fortuitous. Chua points out that “the data show that the nonchalance towards the disaster’s imminence, grossly inadequate preparations, and the chaotic responses seen in Katrina stood in stark contrast to the colossal scale of precautionary measures and response operations primed for Rita” (Chua, 2007, p. 1526). The author points to a number of lessons which clearly illustrate the divergence in the way both disasters were managed:

  • The prediction of Katrina was underestimated, while the Rita threat was taken seriously and government formalized a comprehensive national response immediately.
  • Resources necessary to handle Katrina were not effectively mobilized, leaving supplies and personnel inadequately pre-positioned. The Rita threat was met by large-scale federal resources.
  • Some 100,000 residents were not evacuated on time in Katrina, but a massive evacuation order was called 2 days before Rita hit.
  • Lines of authority were not clearly drawn in Katrina, resulting in infighting among agencies. Proper demarcation of authority was established from the onset during Rita (Chua, 2007).

Disaster management benefited from the confluence of events surrounding the two hurricanes in 2005, resulting in a superior effort with regard to Rita.  However, Haddow, Bullock and Coppola indicate that the Katrina and Rita disasters emphasize the need for evacuation planning and the shortfalls that often lie in existing plans, including the inability for authorities to conduct a full-scale test that provides them with an idea of how the plan works in a real-life situation. “In the Katrina evacuation,” the Authors relate, “failure to consider how the evacuation would affect people of lower economic standing resulted in thousands refusing to or being unable to leave. In Hurricane Rita, as determined by a University of Texas study, a strong majority of the deaths (90 of the 113) associated with that storm were a result of the poorly planned evacuation itself” (Haddow, Bullock & Coppola, 2008, p.192).

What are the implications for organizational emergency management?  In my case, I had never considered the real possibility of a hurricane hazard in my operational bailiwick, but Hurricane Irene in August, 2011 changed that assessment.  Hurricane Sandy in October, 2012 reinforced the idea that the East Coast of the United States and New England can be particularly vulnerable to this threat.  A major problem for businesses is that there sometimes is only a small probability of a hurricane strike when an evacuation decision must be made. According to Lindell, Prater, and Peacock, when a hurricane is 36 hours from landfall, the National Hurricane Center can issue only a maximum strike probability of 25%, or possibly even lower if the storm has an erratic path (Lindell, Prater, & Peacock, 2007). Because of these figures there is a reluctance among emergency managers to initiate evacuations when the strike probability is this low because they are certain to incur significant costs in an evacuation. It is in the face of this indecision that Lindell, Prater, and Peacock recommend that decision analysis is an appropriate technology for coping with this type of situation and that it should be integrated into any emergency planning.  Adoption of Protective Action Implementation also is an effective path to guard against loss of life and property.

 

Chua, A. Y. (2007). A tale of two hurricanes: Comparing Katrina and Rita through a knowledge management perspective. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 58(10), 1518-1528.

Haddow, G. D., Bullock, J. A., & Coppola, D. P. (2008). Introduction to emergency management. Burlington, MA 2003: Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann

Lindell, M. K., Prater, C. S., & Peacock, W. G. (2007). Organizational communication and decision making for hurricane emergencies. Natural Hazards Review, 8(3), 50-60.

Waugh, W. L. (2006). The political costs of failure in the Katrina and Rita disasters. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 604(1), 10-25.

 

 

 

 

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Organizational Social Media Communications and Marketing Strategy

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In their book, Social Business by Design: Transformative Social Media Strategies for the Connected Company, authors Dion Hinchcliffe and Peter Kim consider the strategy surrounding social media marketing, stating that, “the objectives of customer acquisition, satisfaction, and retention remain, but relationship management requires fundamental rethinking” (Hinchcliffe, D., & Kim, P. 2012, pg 62). Marketing in the past consisted of analytics such as reach, response rate, and conversation ratio and were defined by a limited number of methods in which products move from the manufacturer to the distributer and then onto the end user.  Marketing in the internet age has made available a larger number of channels to facilitate the movement of product, including hundreds of social networks, communities, and blogs. At the heart of this social marketing strategy is what Thackeray, Neiger & Keller describe as, “the opportunity to create ongoing conversations and dialogue with an audience in the ‘exchange of ideas and opinions’. These conversations are the starting point for creating deeper connections and longer term relationships with audience members (Thackeray, Neiger & Keller, 2012, p.165).

This approach is evident in the research case, “Digital Marketing at Nike: From Communication to Dialogue”, as authors Purkayastha and Rao point out that Nike’s plan is to, “allocate a major share of its advertising spending on some form of service to its customers like workout advice, online communities, and local sports competitions” (Purkayastha & Rao, 2012 p. 9).  Indeed, I am part of Nike’s “Nike+” social community, and I am motivated by the shared experience to work toward improving my physical fitness.  Author Dave Evans, in his book, Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day, describes a situation that illustrates how the Nike+ technology plays an important part in the company’s understanding the social media marketing feedback loop. “One of the more interesting pieces of user-generated content that I’ve seen,” Evans relates, “is the ‘How To’ on converting any brand of running shoe into a “Nike Plus” compatible shoe. The content — which includes instructions, photos (Flickr), and video (YouTube) — provides the step-by-step process to cut away a section of the inner sole of the shoe and install the Apple transponder that tracks and stores details of your last run for upload when you’re back home” (Evans, D. 2012).  Examples of this are available here http://www.instructables.com/id/Nike%2B-iPod-Nano-Shoe-Mod/ and here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s5x6GiTjg8. Evans contends that most companies would have utilized legal means to stop this type of activity, demanding that the content be removed and these contributors be stopped. However, Nike has remained neutral with regard to the hacked Nike+ running shoe, neither endorsing nor condemning. Evans uses this narrative to demonstrate the value that Nike places on the social media marketing, stating that part of the challenge of today’s internet marketing environment is knowing when to get involved and when to simply stay out of the way.

 

 

Evans, D. (2012). Social media marketing: An hour a day. Sybex.

Hinchcliffe, D., & Kim, P. (2012). Social Business by Design: Transformative Social Media Strategies for the Connected Company. Jossey-Bass.

Purkayastha, D., & Rao, A. (2012). Digital marketing at nike: From communication to dialogue. IBS Center for Management Research.

Thackeray, R., Neiger, B. L., & Keller, H. (2012). Integrating social media and social marketing : A four-step process. Health Promotion Practice, 13(2), 165– 168.

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