scholarly journals Obstacles to timely emergency messaging for acute incidents

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 425-453
Author(s):  
Jeremy Bernfeld, MPS, CEM
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Risk Communication ◽  
Emergency Services ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Public ◽  
Protective Actions ◽  
Adverse Impacts ◽  
Emergency Managers

Emergency alerts, warnings, and notifications (AWN) help protect the public by communicating information about impending hazards to encourage protective actions. Three key subsystems compose AWN systems: (1) detection; (2) management; and (3) response. While much research regarding the detection and response subsystems exists, few studies focus on the management subsystem. This subsystem involves emergency managers (EM) receiving and analyzing information about a hazard, deciding whether the hazard poses enough risk to warrant an emergency message, and where appropriate, transmitting that message across available AWN systems. To help improve understanding of this decision-making process, the researcher conducted interviews with EMs responsible for AWN decision-making and issuance, and leveraged participant responses to inform this work. This study details the threat interpretation, organization, technology, and infrastructure limitations that can directly delay or prevent AWN issuance. This work also outlines the adverse impacts on the public, EMs, and emergency services that can follow an AWN, as EMs must weigh these consequences when deciding to issue an emergency message. By outlining these obstacles, this study aims to help inform EMs of the challenges they may face during the critical moments of an incident, so they may better prepare to issue timely emergency messages to protect their communities. The findings gleaned from this research can also help technologists and social scientists better understand the influences their fields have on the EM, so that they may improve upon existing AWN systems and risk communication strategies.

Creation and Communication of Hurricane Risk Information

2012 ◽  
Vol 93 (8) ◽  
pp. 1133-1145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie L. Demuth ◽  
Rebecca E. Morss ◽  
Betty Hearn Morrow ◽  
Jeffrey K. Lazo
Keyword(s):  
Risk Communication ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Weather Forecast ◽  
Risk Information ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Public ◽  
Local Television ◽  
Emergency Managers ◽  
Hurricane Risk ◽  
Uncertainty Information

Reducing loss of life and harm when a hurricane threatens depends on people receiving hurricane risk information that they can interpret and use in protective decisions. To understand and improve hurricane risk communication, this article examines how National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters at the National Hurricane Center and local weather forecast offices, local emergency managers, and local television and radio media create and convey hurricane risk information. Data from in-depth interviews and observational sessions with members of these groups from Greater Miami were analyzed to examine their roles, goals, and interactions, and to identify strengths and challenges in how they communicate with each other and with the public. Together, these groups succeed in partnering with each other to make information about approaching hurricane threats widely available. Yet NWS forecasters sometimes find that the information they provide is not used as they intended; media personnel want streamlined information from NWS and emergency managers that emphasizes the timing of hazards and the recommended response and protective actions; and emergency managers need forecast uncertainty information that can help them plan for different scenarios. Thus, we recommend that warning system partners 1) build understanding of each other's needs and constraints; 2) ensure formalized, yet flexible mechanisms exist for exchanging critical information; 3) improve hurricane risk communication by integrating social science knowledge to design and test messages with intended audiences; and 4) evaluate, test, and improve the NWS hurricane-related product suite in collaboration with social scientists.

scholarly journals Decision Making in Committees: Transparency, Reputation, and Voting Rules

2007 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilat Levy
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Career Concerns ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Voting Rules ◽  
The Public ◽  
Voting Rule ◽  
The Right

In this paper I analyze the effect of transparency on decision making in committees. I focus on committees whose members are motivated by career concerns. The main result is that when the decision-making process is secretive (when individual votes are not revealed to the public), committee members comply with preexisting biases. For example, if the voting rule demands a supermajority to accept a reform, individuals vote more often against reforms. Transparent committees are therefore more likely to accept reforms. I also find that coupled with the right voting rule, a secretive procedure may induce better decisions than a transparent one. (JEL D71, D72)

scholarly journals A consumer perspective of advertising by attorneys

1991 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Boshoff
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Legal Services ◽  
Marketing Communication ◽  
Advertising Agencies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Consumer Perspective ◽  
First Time

Attorneys in South Africa may soon be permitted to advertise their services for the first time. This recommendation put forward by the Association of Law Societies, though still to be ratified by the four provincial law societies, has come amid increasing competition between attorneys and non- professionals. The marketing fraternity is, however, uncertain as to how members of the public are likely to react to legal services advertising. This study attempts to provide some tentative guidelines for decision-making on advertising by attorneys. Interested parties like attorneys, marketing consultants, and advertising agencies could use the researched information to structure marketing communication strategies which will not transgress the ethical code of the attorneys' profession, but which will satisfy the information needs of consumers. The study reports the findings of a survey conducted among 1 000 members of the public. Indications are that consumers not only think that advertising should be permitted, but also that it will benefit both themselves and the legal profession. Opsomming Prokureurs mag moontlik binnekort toegelaat word om hul dienste te adverteer. Die aanbeveling van die Vereniging van Prokureursordes, wat nog deur die vier provinsiale wetsgenootskappe bekragtig moet word, is geneem as gevolg van toenemende mededinging tussen prokureurs en nie-professionele praktisyns. Bemarkingsdeskundiges is egter onseker oor wat die publiek se reaksie sal wees. Die studie poog om enkele tentatiewe riglyne voor te stel vir bemarkingskommunikasiestrategieë wat nie die regsprofessie se etiese kode sal oortree nie, maar tog voldoende inligting aan verbruikers sal beskikbaar stel. Die bevindinge van 'n opname onder 1 000 lede van die publiek dui daarop dat reklame nie alleen verwelkom sal word nie, maar dat dit moontlik tot voordeel van sowel die publiek as die regsprofessie sal strek.

scholarly journals Wind Power Deployment: The Role of Public Participation in the Decision-Making Process in Ontario, Canada

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anahita A. Jami ◽  
Philip R. Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
Knowledge Broker ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Energy Investment ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Opposition

A wider use of renewable energy is emerging as a viable solution to meet the increasing demand for global energy while contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. However, current literature on renewable energy, particularly on wind power, highlights the social barriers and public opposition to renewable energy investment. One solution to overcome the public opposition, which is recommended by scholars, is to deploy a collaborative approach. Relatively little research has specifically focused on the role of effective communication and the use of a knowledge-broker in collaborative decision-making. This study attempts to fill this gap through the proposition of a participatory framework that highlights the role of the knowledge-broker in a wind project decision-making process. In this paper, five illustrative wind projects in Ontario are used to highlight the current situation with public participation and to address how the proposed framework could have improved the process. Based on the recommended collaborative framework, perception must shift from the dominant view of the public as “a risk to be managed” towards “a resource that can be tapped”. The developers need to improve sharing what they know and foster co-learning around questions and concerns.

scholarly journals Decision Biases and Heuristics Among Emergency Managers: Just Like the Public They Manage For?

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 292-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick S. Roberts ◽  
Kris Wernstedt
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Structured Decision Making ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Managers ◽  
Emergency Managers ◽  
Decision Biases ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Outcome Bias ◽  
Attribution Bias

We present evidence that emergency managers exhibit some of the same decision biases, sensitivity to framing, and heuristics found in studies of the general public, even when making decisions in their area of expertise. Our national survey of county-level emergency managers finds that managers appear more risk averse when the outcomes of actions are framed as gains than when equivalent outcomes are framed as losses, a finding that is consistent with prospect theory. We also find evidence that the perceived actions of emergency managers in neighboring jurisdictions affect the choices a manager makes. In addition, our managers show evidence of attribution bias, outcome bias, and difficulties processing numerical information, particularly probabilities compared to frequencies. Each of these departures from perfect rationality points to potential shortfalls in public managers’ decision making. We suggest opportunities to improve decision making through reframing problems, providing training in structured decision-making processes, and employing different choice architectures to nudge behavior in a beneficial direction.

Public Involvement in the Design of Public Projects

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 73-79
Author(s):  
Emad S. Mushtaha ◽  
Omar Hassan Omar ◽  
Dua S. Barakat ◽  
Hessa Al-Jarwan ◽  
Dima Abdulrahman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Public Involvement ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Quantitative Methodology ◽  
Public Project ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Projects ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Building Program

The involvement of the public in the decision-making process is essential, especially in the early stages of a design process. This study aims to achieve the development of an architectural program for a memorial public project, using the outcomes of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) based on public opinion. It employs a novel approach that sharply focuses on public involvement in the design process, using a quantitative methodology for the development of a suitable building program and selecting a memorial form that meets the public's needs in a practical way. The study drew on data from various memorial projects to identify possible spaces and their selection criteria. A written questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 105 members of the public, to narrow down the number of spaces according to public response. Then, a hearing (spoken) questionnaire was conducted on a sample of 20 to produce the program for development by generating the most strongly preferred form of memorial. The results contradicted the existing norm for a memorial as a sculpture; it was revealed that most of the public preferred memorial landscapes to buildings and great structures. The study concluded that AHP could be used to further involve the relevant stakeholders in the decision-making process of the design of a public project.

13. The nature of judicial review

2020 ◽  
pp. 277-308
Author(s):  
Neil Parpworth
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Judicial Review ◽  
Public Law ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Private Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
Procedural Reform ◽  
Actual Decision ◽  
Public Bodies

Judicial review is a procedure whereby the courts determine the lawfulness of the exercise of executive power. It is concerned with the legality of the decision-making process as opposed to the merits of the actual decision. Thus it is supervisory rather than appellate. Emphasis is also placed on the fact that the jurisdiction exists to control the exercise of power by public bodies. This chapter discusses the supervisory jurisdiction of the courts, procedural reform, the rule in O’Reilly v Mackman, the public law/private law distinction, collateral challenge, and exclusion of judicial review. The procedure for making a claim for judicial review under the Civil Procedural Rules (CPR) 54 is outlined.

scholarly journals Exploration of Silence's Motives Towards the Work Decisions: The Case of Jordanian Public and Private Schools

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 266
Author(s):  
Osama Khaled Alkhlaifat
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Private Schools ◽  
Human Resources Management ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Public ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Last Stage

The aim of this study has been to investigate and provide a deeper understanding of the motives of silence towards the participation in the work-related decisions, in both the public and private schools in the Jordanian capital (Amman). ‘100’ teachers were interviewed using the semi-structured interviews through the available communication means. The pre-set questions were directed to the sample of the study to identify both the situations related to the decisions and motives leading to silence and non-participation from the respondents' point of view. The motives were classified according to the factors to which they belong, as well as the situations were classified according to each stage of the decision-making process, where some specialists in the field of human resources management had been asked to help in accomplishing the classification. The results showed that the largest percentage of respondents faced at least one situation in which they chose to remain silent. Most of the situations mentioned were related to the first and last stage of decision-making process (identifying the problem and following up the decision). The results also showed that most of the motives were related to the organizational practices by the officials, where the total iteration is twice as the personal motives.

Do Public Enterprises Need a Corporate Strategy?

1987 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
K R S Murthy
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Corporate Strategy ◽  
Team Work ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Strategic Decision Making ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Public Enterprises ◽  
Strategic Competence ◽  
The Public ◽  
Low Level

A large gap has arisen between the stated objectives of the public enterprises in India and their achievements, largely owing to inherent conflicts in their strategic decision making process. In this article, K R S Murthy stresses that any public enterprise's strategic competence depends on the interplay among three actors (managers, bureaucrats, and politicians) with diverse motivations, careers, and systems. Team work with common values and commitment among the three actors alone can improve the low level of strategic competence. Since the prerequisites for strategic formulations are riot met in public enterprises, it is a debatable point whether they should have a corporate strategy at all.

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