Cultivating a longitudinal learning process through recurring crisis management training exercises in twelve Swedish municipalities

This study illustrates how crisis management capability is developed in series of recurring exercises, rather than in one single exercise. Over one hundred table‐top and role‐playing exercises were performed and evaluated in a longitudinal cross‐case action research study in 12 Swedish municipalities. By consciously adapting training formats, municipalities were lead through three learning phases: obtaining role understanding (phase 1: knowing what to do), developing information management skills (phase 2: knowing how to do it), and mastering self‐reflection in regular time‐outs (phase 3: knowing when and why to do something). This final learning outcome, being able to concurrently execute, evaluate, and reorganize an ongoing crisis management performance, may be the most valuable capability of a crisis management organization when crisis strikes.     

Mediated and Moderated Effects of Business and Project Planning on Innovation Projects in Hospitals

Based on multi‐respondent data of 130 innovation projects in hospitals, our study analyses the role of planning intensity for project success. Besides showing that also in complex service systems innovation projects are supported through planning, we contribute to innovation management research, first, by clearly differentiating between the effects of business and project planning; second, by integrating intra‐team co‐ordination as a possible mediator of the planning success relationship; and, third, by taking into account the degree of innovativeness as a relevant contingency. We apply a multi‐level regression analysis, include several control variables, and limit common source biases by a multi‐respondent empirical design. The results demonstrate that both planning types show complementary effects. Project planning increases intra‐team co‐ordination, which mediates the planning effect on project success. Business planning has a direct effect on project success. However, the moderating effects of project innovativeness are oppositional. While business planning becomes more important for higher degrees of innovativeness, the efficacy of project planning is limited to incremental innovations. We conclude with a discussion of implications for hospital and innovation management as well as future research.     

Drought Preparedness and Response in the Context of Sub‐Saharan Africa

Although drought is a normal, recurring feature of climate, little progress has been made in drought management in most parts of the world. A United Nations study of selected Sub‐Saharan African countries revealed that most states have little experience in proactive planning for drought. Only Botswana and South Africa have made serious efforts to develop drought preparedness and response. The lack of contingency planning for drought events in the region results from limited financial resources, inadequate understanding of drought impacts, and poor co‐ordination among government agencies. A ten‐step planning process, originally developed in 1991 for U.S. states, is suggested as an organizational tool for Sub‐Saharan countries to use in the development of drought plans. The process, which emphasizes risk management rather than crisis management, is based on three primary components: (1) monitoring and early warning, (2) vulnerability and impact assessment, (3) mitigation and response. The steps in the process are generic; they can be adapted and applied to the various settings of Sub‐Saharan Africa.     

Towards a System‐Oriented Framework for Analysing and Evaluating Emergency Response

Information can be provided by studying and evaluating past emergencies and the response in connection to them. This information would then be useful in efforts directed at preventing, mitigating and/or preparing for future emergencies. However, the analysis and evaluation of emergency response operations is not an easy task, especially when the operation involves several cooperating actors (e.g. the fire and rescue services, the police, the emergency medical services, etc.). Here, we identify and discuss four aspects of this challenge: (1) issues related to the values governing the evaluation, (2) issues related to the complexity of the systems involved, (3) issues related to the validity of the information on which the analysis and evaluation is based and (4) issues related to the limiting conditions under which the emergency response system operated. An outline of a framework for such an analysis and evaluation, influenced by systems theory, accident investigation theories and programme evaluation theories dealing with the above aspects, is introduced, discussed and exemplified using empirical results from a case study. We conclude that the proposed framework may provide a better understanding of how an emergency response system functioned during a specific operation, and help to identify the potential events and/or circumstances that could significantly affect the performance of the emergency response system, either negatively or positively. The insights gained from using the framework may allow the actors involved in the response operation to gain a better understanding of how the emergency response system functioned as a whole, as well as how the actors performed as individual components of the system. Furthermore, the information can also be useful for actors preparing for future emergencies.     

Role Clarity,Swift Trust and Multi‐Agency Coordination

The purpose of this paper was to further the understanding of swift trust in temporary organizations by examining the role swift trust plays in emergency management coordination and how role clarity acts as an enabler within temporary organizational configurations. A qualitative interview study was conducted with 32 liaison officers working in three strategic‐level emergency operations centres in Australia. Role clarity was identified as an important factor in the successful formation of emergency management temporary organizations by emergency services and critical infrastructure liaison officers working in multi‐agency arrangements. By providing role clarity, liaison officers may enable collaborative working practices among organizations involved in emergency management and thus facilitate multi‐agency coordination. The function of role clarity in the context of swift trust is largely overlooked in emergency management. Therefore, this study has contributed to the knowledge of swift trust by empirically verifying the impact of role clarity by liaison officers working in the research setting.     

Reciprocity vs. Free‐Riding in Innovation Contest Communities

Innovation contest communities are virtual tools for corporations to integrate external knowledge and creativity into the innovation process. Built on both the principle of competition and the advantages of a collaborative community, innovation contest communities constitute special interaction phenomena. The present study explores how different co‐operation behaviours, namely reciprocal giving, initial altruistic giving and free‐riding, influence the quality of participants' ideas on an open virtual contest platform with more than 2,000 members and more than 4,000 submissions. Our findings show that reciprocity and free‐riding are substantial behavioural elements of innovation contest communities leading to different outcomes regarding quality of submitted ideas. With this study, we contribute to a better theoretical understanding of distinctive types of co‐operation and free‐riding among individuals in the context of open innovation, extending theories of the evolution of co‐operation.     

A Critical Evaluation of Crisis Support Arrangements in a UK Local Authority

This article explores crisis support work in a UK local authority and identifies significant issues for management and practice. It is based upon three elements: a detailed search of relevant literature; analysis of official guidance; and fieldwork with crisis support workers, their managers and other professionals in partner agencies. The latter was based upon 44 interviews and the observation of key meetings over a 3‐year period and includes a review of Crisis Support Team deployment at three major incidents between 2004 and 2007. Crisis support practice had much to commend it in terms of preparation, continuity, flexibility and proactive engagement with other agencies. Deployment to a wide range of ‘minor’ incidents was valuable in maintaining skills, motivation and inter‐agency familiarity between major incidents. On the other hand, significant and sometimes serious issues emerged in terms of capacity, inter‐agency communication and co‐ordination and fragmentation of overall incident response.     

Factors Influencing the Selection of Decision Support Systems for Emergency Management: An Empirical Analysis of Current Use and User Preferences

Computer‐aided decision support systems can be valuable tools in crisis response and preparedness training for emergency management professionals. However, to realize their full value, these tools must be designed with the needs of a broad range of potential users in mind. This paper describes preliminary research to determine how decision support systems are used by emergency managers and other officials as well as specific user needs for decision support in the planning, response and recovery from natural hazards and other extreme events. It seeks to identify which attributes of these systems are most desired by emergency management practitioners, the benefits and drawbacks as perceived by both users and non‐users of the systems and areas where improvements are desired.     

What's the Problem? Local Officials' Conceptions of Weaknesses in their Municipalities' Crisis Management Capabilities

It is becoming increasingly common for local‐government officials (civil servants and political appointees) to take part in vulnerability analyses to assess their municipality's capacity to withstand various crises. The question of how such groups conceive of problems concerning their municipality's crisis management capabilities (CMC) is largely unexplored. The aim of this study is to analyse the conceptions that groups of civil servants and political appointees engaged in vulnerability analyses have of weaknesses in their organizations' CMC. The attempt is to identify themes in how problems are described, as well as to compare how often the problems may be associated with different elements that constitute an organization and the different crisis management processes an organization needs to be involved in to manage crises. Ten vulnerability analyses, conducted in seven municipalities, and in one case at a county level, are analysed. The results are discussed in terms of what they indicate concerning the understanding these officials had of the organizations' CMC.     

A Cognitive Model of Improvisation in Emergency Management

An enduring characteristic of emergencies is the need for near-simultaneous development and deployment of new management procedures. This need can arise with the onset of highly novel problems and the need to act quickly-factors that reduce opportunities for extensive planning in managing the emergency. As a result, decision makers in emergencies must be prepared to improvise. By understanding the cognitive processes in improvisation, organizations can better learn how to plan for, manage, and learn from improvised action. To help create this understanding, this paper reviews and synthesizes prior results on improvisation in the art of jazz, exploring how these results may be applied to improvisation in emergency management. A theory of improvisation in emergency management is then developed and expressed as a cognitive model. The modelpsilas implementation in computer-executable code is then reviewed, along with an illustration of how the model improvises in an emergency situation. Finally, implications of this model and opportunities for future research are presented.     

基于18F4520的风光互补路灯控制系统的研究

可再生能源的综合利用对社会经济的可持续发展和环境保护有着十分重要的作用,太阳能和风能作为两种应用广泛的可再生资源,在资源条件和技术应用上都具互补性。本文介绍了以PIC18F4520单片机为控制核心的风光互补路灯系统的硬件结构、工作原理与软件设计方法,实现了对风光互补路灯系统的智能化管理和控制,系统运行可靠,成本低,易于实现,便于维护升级。     

KOALA: a co‐allocating grid scheduler

In multicluster systems, and more generally in grids, jobs may require co‐allocation, that is, the simultaneous or coordinated access of single applications to resources of possibly multiple types in multiple locations managed by different resource managers. Co‐allocation presents new challenges to resource management in grids, such as locating sufficient resources in geographically distributed sites, allocating and managing resources in multiple, possibly heterogeneous sites for single applications, and coordinating the execution of single jobs at multiple sites. Moreover, as single jobs now may have to rely on multiple resource managers, co‐allocation introduces reliability problems. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a co‐allocating grid scheduler named KOALA that meets these co‐allocation challenges. In addition, we report on the results of an analysis of the performance in our multicluster testbed of the co‐allocation policies built into KOALA . We also include the results of a performance and reliability test of KOALA while our testbed was unstable. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

新疆兵团第五师公路网管理与应急处置平台建设思考

本文通过对新疆兵团公路交通建设发展的介绍,阐述了兵团公路交通将逐步由建设期向运营管理期过度.在新的历史条件下,如何做好兵团师级公路网管理与应急处置平台建设前期筹划设计和建设实施工作,在建设架构和思路方面谈一点肤浅认识.     

Team Management Organization in Co‐branding Projects

Creating strategic alliances by engaging in co‐branding has become increasingly widespread in many industries. This form of cooperation allows businesses to share resources and knowledge and to set common goals – but also forces the two companies to work together. This article looks at co‐branding from the perspective of strategic management and focuses on the problems that can arise in team management and organization. The purpose of the article is to present recent research advances that may encourage rethinking co‐branding strategies at the level of projectization which described the level of commitment in the co‐branding project. Characteristics of successful team‐building for co‐branding ventures are also discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The clock is ticking: Temporal dynamics of campus emergency notifications

As first responders to incidents, public safety officials must quickly converge on meaning of what occurred, the threat to the university and what information is pertinent to the campus community. Utilizing in‐depth interviews with current campus public safety officials in the Washington, D.C. metro area, this study explored how emergency communicators interpret the concept of timely in campus emergency notification decision‐making and what factors impact their ability to enact this interpretation. Findings from this suggested that the temporal ambiguity of the law creates differing expectations of timely, with prealert processes impacting how quickly notifications can be sent. Further findings indicate that universities with the more sophisticated emergency management roles also had the more robust emergency notification functions.     

基于非支配排序差异演化的应急资源多目标分配算法

应急资源分配（Emergency resource allocation,ERA）是灾害应急管理中的核心环节,主要研究如何高效合理地把各储备点的应急救援物资分配给各发放点.然而,在大规模突发灾害发生后,每个发放点极可能会同时向多个储备点请求多种救援物资,从而带来潜在的应急资源冲突.为此,本文首先构建了考虑应急资源冲突消解的多储备点、多发放点、多种救援物资的应急资源多目标优化模型,并提出了一种基于非支配排序差异演化和编码修正机制的应急资源多目标分配算法.对比实验结果表明,该算法在大规模样本下能够从全局角度同时给出多个发放点的应急资源分配方案,有效实现多个储备点同时为多个发放点协同配备应急资源,而且不会产生任何应急资源冲突,为解决应急资源受限情况下的大规模应急资源分配问题提供了一个有益的尝试.     

基于GIS的粮食应急调度系统研究设计

在粮食应急调度车辆路径规划问题上,由于受灾需求点分散、路况通行不畅、时间紧急等因素,传统的配送模式已不能适应应急的需要。该文在对粮食应急调度研究的基础上,结合GIS空间分析技术,将GIS技术引入到粮食应急管理中,对系统的总体结构、功能模块进行了概要分析与设计,对系统的核心模型库进行了重点设计。实现了基于GIS的粮食应急调度系统,为粮食应急调度提供智能化空间决策分析支持,快速做出参考方案,真正实现对粮食应急调度可视化指挥。     

Wide bandwidth microstrip antenna with defected patch surface for low cross polarization applications

A simple and single element wide slot dipole loaded shorted rectangular microstrip antenna has been proposed and investigated experimentally for broad impedance bandwidth and improved cross polarized (XP) radiation compared to maximum co‐polarized (CP) gain without changing the co‐polarized (CP) radiation pattern. Around 23‐35 dB isolation between CP and XP radiation along with 25% impedance bandwidth is achieved with the proposed structure. The measured gain of the antenna is around 6.2 dBi over the entire band. The present antenna is very simple and easy to manufacture. Unlike the other structures, the present one is free from back radiation in terms of XP fields. The design of the antenna structure is theoretically justified and rigorously analyzed. The present investigation provides an insightful, clear visualization‐based understanding of the concurrent improvement in both the impedance bandwidth and XP performance with the present structure.     

Integrating social media features into a cell phone alert system for emergency situations

In times of emergency, people include social networking sites (SNS) in their search for information and support. An online survey with an embedded experiment with two conditions focused on understanding whether and how SNS functions have a positive influence on perceived self‐efficacy, risk perception, and reported information sufficiency when integrated into a current emergency alert system like NL‐Alert. Participants were randomly assigned to a control condition showing the classical format of NL‐Alert or the expanded condition with added SNS functions (a newsfeed and marking oneself as safe). Results show that self‐efficacy and risk perception did not differ between conditions. Significantly higher degrees of information sufficiency were reported in the expanded condition. Consequences for emergency risk communication are discussed.     

Probabilistic allocation and scheduling of multiple resources for emergency operations; a Victorian bushfire case study

The optimization of scheduling and sequencing of multiple resources during disaster management is a challenge due to substantial uncertainty. This paper presents an emergency operation model that aims to facilitate the scheduling and sequencing resources using multiple stochastic scenarios. The proposed model integrates GIS and Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) approaches. The ultimate goal of this paper is to provide a solution framework to identify the most persistent best compromised plan with a specified confidence level. The scheduling of multiple resources under uncertainty (MRSU) model is applied to a case study using data from the Black Saturday bushfires in 7 February 2009 in Victoria, Australia. Several probabilistic scenarios are analyzed to determine the most frequent emergency operation plan. Several probabilistic scenarios are analyzed to determine the most persistent best compromised emergency operation plan. The results indicate that the model can generate plans to schedule multiple resources, thus providing effective service in most emergency scenarios.