Boin, A., P.‘t Hart., A. McConell and T. Preston. (2010). Leadership style, crisis response and blame management: The case of hurricane Katrina. The Journal of Public Administration, 88(3), 706-725
In this paper I have summarized the article and offer comments on where additional research would assist in further understanding of the issue. The authors of this article used retrospective review which uses existing data and researches. Leadership style and crisis management have always been the main topics in the wake of a disaster and are always a debate topic between the public and the politicians in power. The reason this article seemed more interesting is that I personally followed up on all the media coverage on the issue of
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But at times of crisis the way leaders respond and how quick and efficient they decide when people’s life and safety is at risk is a measure of how successful they are. In the case of Hurricane Katrina media coverage on desperate people trapped in superdome, in anticipation of rescue, were the measure of leaders failure in the public eye. Political leaders have also much more attention from the media therefore it is vital to engage in mindful blame management strategies. Dealing with the aftermath of the crisis is also important assessment of the government. For instance, as it is mentioned in the article President Bush did not visit New Orleans, he rather flew over the affected area, and this act clearly did not help his image and made him look insensitive and careless.
Article Limitations This article focuses mainly on only one particular situation and that can not be generalized to various critical situations political leaders may face during their leadership period. It also indicates that every leadership style would leave the leader vulnerable to some sort of blame attribution post crisis; what it does not identify is whether or not there is a link between leadership characteristics and the leader’s blame management strategies. It would be beneficial to see some research in that area, hence future research could look at different leadership style in diverse emergency situations and the leaders’ management
This case summarizes events preceding the Hurricane Katrina, which was one of the worst natural catastrophes in the modern history of the USA. It raises questions about the lack of reasonable prevention and preparation actions due to flimsy structure and management of the responsible organizations and persons, invalidity and inconsistence of their actions and incapability of making the decisions in a timely manner. As a result of the unstructured and incoherent activities, we could observe several ineffective and costly attempts to mitigate floods and hurricanes. In the beginning the local officials, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and “White Houses past and present always seem penny-wise and pound-foolish” because of the chain of the wrong
Recently and historically hurricanes have caused catastrophic amounts of damage to individuals, property, and society as a whole. Given this immense amount of destruction caused by hurricanes, a president’s response to these storms is not only extraordinarily significant but necessary for society to recover from the damage. Not only does the president need to provide aid and support to the victims affected directly by these hurricanes, but also unite America in these times of crisis. A president’s ability to deal with these dire situations is crucial to their success and a representation of their leadership skills. Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Sandy were both similar storms that resulted in contrasting results. Two deadly storms with two very different responses: one from Obama and the other from Trump. President Obama’s response to Hurricane Sandy was swift and respectful, while Trump’s to Maria was sluggish and demeaning to the people of Puerto Rico, demonstrating the contrast between Obama’s heart and intellect and Trump’s idiocy and heartlessness.
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. The results were catastrophic. Katrina and storm-related flooding took more than 1,800 lives and caused an estimated $81 billion in damages. In the storm’s aftermath, there was widespread debate over government response to the disaster. I believe that the bulk of the responsibility lay with the state and local governments. They should have been better prepared ahead of time and had more comprehensive plans in place to minimize danger to citizens. The national government has traditionally only sent its military into a state at the request of that state’s governor. The governors of Louisiana and Mississippi did not immediately request that action (Fraga, L.
the inability for local, state, and federal actors to coordinate effectively. The first step for
Since its inception, FEMA has dealt with quite many disasters. In all these disasters, at least, people’s lives and property have been saved. Public opinion on the performance of FEMA is quite divergent. However, there is a feeling that FEMA has several weaknesses that if corrected will help the agency achieve its objectives and even exceed public expectations about its performance. In particular, FEMA’s responses to 9/11 attacks and
Hurricane Katrina was one of the most and extraordinary disasters which rocked the part of New Orleans in the United States of America. The disaster left dozens of people dead, rendering thousands of them homeless. The public were shocked after the extreme hurricane because millions of dollars were recorded all as losses given that there was not enough money that for repairing all the damages. Hurricane Katrina had a great negative impact on the public health causing psychological trauma that resulted in a sizeable burden of different diseases. The data collected showed that several people were attacked with a cute stress disorder (ASD) among sheltered evacuees (Zimmermann, 2012). The paper will analyze the sources and impact of power and influence in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina including the impact of power and influence on public administration and public policy. In every government states, there must be set of measures that are taken to achieve the set objectives and public policies are renowned to be the government-driven course of actions. Every stakeholder get satisfied if only there are policies which are made that can integrate their input. The citizens are therefore important when involved in the policy making process and administration to shun conflicts. Failure to do so, the outcome often results to huge conflicts and misunderstandings because they may feel left out from the issues that affect them.
Over the years of Hurricane Katrina, FEMA faced many criticisms. Not only FEMA, but “every level of government was roundly criticized”( Howellq ). Back in 9/11, They acted fast and accordingly to the disaster. During hurricane Katrina, they were slow and had false promises that the locals of New Orleans believed ( Maestri, “The Storm”, PBS ). Many people asked FEMA for resources and help, but that turned down because they did not “ask the right way” ( Hale “The Storm”, PBS). During an interview with one of FEMA’s secretaries, “Michael Brown”, had claimed that FEMA could not help Louisiana because they didn’t tell them what they
In conclusion, political leaders across the world are often noted for their accomplishments during times of crisis in the minds of the people and within the books written about such events. Although political leaders must have certain skills and abilities in order to fulfill the tasks given to them once they enter office, those skills are simply tools to be used against the challenges faced. How political leaders face the challenges and how the challenge is initially solved, such as how they benefit the people at large by their actions, is what they are remembered the most
The seriousness of Katrina's loss made it clear that local and state resources were overcome, leaving only federal services as capable responders (DW, 2009). There were problems with evacuation and housing. The quantity of individuals in need of shelter was overpowering. Due to the flooding, thousands of Louisiana citizens were made homeless (DW, 2009). There were concerns of mismanagement. There are ongoing fears over the mismanagement and lack of leadership in the assistance hard work in response to the storm and its outcome, and the hindered response to the flooding of New Orleans, and the following state of disorder (DW, 2009). The government was blamed for the death and disorder due to their slow response. There were a communication breakdown
Even though it is the responsibility of the federal and state governments to aid citizens during times of disaster, the people devastated by Hurricane Katrina were not effectively facilitated as according to their rights as citizens of the United States. The government’s failures to deliver assistance to citizens stem from inadequate protection systems in place before the storm even struck. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security were the two largest incumbents in the wake of the storm. The failure of these agencies rests on the shoulders of those chosen to head the agency. These directors, appointed by then president George W. Bush, were not capable of leading large government agencies through a
In a time of crisis, the government response to the situation at hand was poor and inefficient. There were numerous flaws and errors in the relief plan proposed to the government which in turn led to delayed relief to victims in need. The immediate response phase after Katrina lasted roughly 12 days. During this time, “victims were evacuated, rescued, sheltered, and received medical care from first responders, charities and other non-governmental organizations, and private citizens”(McNeill, 2011). The fact that the U.S. government organizations were not the first responders to the disaster is shameful for our country.
The topic of leadership evokes curiosity about our leaders and their approaches in decision making, leadership styles and the effectiveness of their leadership. At time leaders are critiqued for their actions or views on different business affairs. In today’s working environment leaders set the tone, vision, and goals of any organization. Leadership has a huge impact on the culture of an organization and how people communicate within the organization (Northouse, 2009). The actions of leaders should inspire and positively impact their followers. The approach of leaders in handling adversities highlights many features of their character.
Leaders tend to hide information from citizens, state, and federal organization always state that it is for their own good or that they withhold information because they did not wish to create panic and wanted to lessen the impact it could have on the citizens. Thereby, even before hurricane Katrina, New Orleans governor was aware of the problem(s) with the levee. According to Irons (2005, p. 4) Governor Blanco, who recently released her actions in preparing for and responding to Hurricane Katrina, states that no one ever predicted or
During a crisis, one of the roles of a leader is to create and sustain the organization 's credibility and trust among crisis stakeholders for example like management, employees, customers, suppliers, partners, communities, investors, media, and government. Depending on the crisis situation, a leader 's goal is to assist the organization in returning to productivity. Overall, it is important to protect and sustain the organization 's reputation, brand and value in the marketplace As a HR department, they have a ways to prevent and overcome the impact of crisis management. So one of the HR strategic roles is to focus on leadership qualities such as strategic thinking, communication, empowerment, trust and integrity, considering a succession planning for crisis management and others. For example like human resource functions that will be applied to the crisis management planning. According to the SHRM 2005 (Strategic human resource management) disaster survey report, 65% of HR professionals believe that their organizations are well or very well prepared to face the crisis or disaster. On the perceptions of employees, only 50% of them think that their organizations are well or very well prepared. 85% of HR professionals indicate their organizations have some form of a formal disaster preparedness plan, and 15% do not. Organization must create a plan to make sure
As we all know, leadership is very important. However, its effects are not always visible. In crises, high quality leadership tends to be both visible and decisive for a positive outcome. Leadership requirements and expectations change over time, responsibilities and roles must be review at regular intervals. In all nations and countries today, good leadership is important on day-to-day bases. Leadership involves working together with employees, their organizations and other parties to achieve results. Most leadership functions and roles vary according to level, framework conditions, and type of responsibility, competence requirements, and degree of autonomy. After doing research we have come to realize that different cultures have