responses to my classmates answers

• Reply to your classmates’ posts. Your response to your classmate’s discussion should be around 10-200 words (each) and add substantially to the discussion (i.e. reflecting on their response, asking questions, etc.). It is inappropriate to simply agree without materially adding to the conversation.

answer 1

D

Bhaduri succinctly outlines the nature of our academic pursuit: random lousy stuff happens, leaving us little room for critical thinking or time to act (2019). The situation contains the possibility of proper management, but the responding group must overcome internal and external challenges to the organization (Bhaduri, 2019). I see obvious parallels between the disaster cycle and the five stages of a crisis put forth by Pearson and Mitroff (1993).

Knowing what signs you are looking for in signal detection permits you to mitigate what you discover (Pearson & Mitroff, 1993). Maintaining a state of preparedness in anticipation of crisis is just that, preparedness (Pearson & Mitroff, 1993). Response to a disaster aims to reduce the impact of the problem, containing the damage (Pearson & Mitroff, 1993). Recovery efforts work to bring the business, group, or community back to a sense of normalcy (Pearson & Mitroff, 1993). I view the scholarly endeavors of the disaster management community as a channel to learn from our mistakes and improve our plans for the next event (Pearson & Mitroff, 1993).

I have some difficulty reliably defining the culture of emergency management. Part of this is our relatively newer profession in the emergency response community—some of us remembering hearses as ambulances (maybe even worked on one?). The emergency department is host to multiple work cultures, each with a detailed backstory. Having worked extensively as a Charge Nurse, I see our emergency roles filled by persons who are highly reliable and work well under duress, similar to flight deck controllers and nuclear power plant operators (Blake, 2013). My view towards good leadership is knowing when to leave the group work independently, when to step in for course corrections, and recognizing when you are being asked to help.

A strength of our disaster management class is the kaleidoscope of background experiences. Our shared learning experience helps us to build the linguistic paradigms and mental models that Schein and Schein see as indicators of culture (2016). I would imagine most of our applications refer to “doing the greatest good for the greatest amount,” our shared philosophy (Schein & Schein, 2016).

Bhaduri, R. M. (2019). Leveraging culture and leadership in crisis management. European Journal of Training and Development, 43(⅚), 543-549.

Blake, N. (2013). How to Be an Effective Charge Nurse. ADVANCE for Nurses,http://nursing.advanceweb.com/Continuing-Education/CE-Articles/How-to-Be-an-Effective-Charge-Nurse.aspx(Links to an external site.)

Pearson, C.M., and Mitroff, I.I. (1993). From crisis-prone to crisis prepared: a framework for crisis management. Academy of Management Perspectives, 7(1), 48-59.

Schein, E. H., & Schein, P. A. (2016). Organizational culture and leadership. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, Incorporated. ProQuest Ebook Central https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.proxy1.lib.tju.edu

aNswer 2

ELIZA

For this week’s discussion board we look into the aspect of culture in organizations and basic motivations and how they apply to teamwork in Disaster and Emergency Management. When I think of organizational culture I think of the work environment, values of the organization and individuals, group norms. With that being said, when it comes to Disaster and Emergency management, it’s very important to have a strong team. This can be a very stressful time, and adding stress will only make things worse in a time of an emergency. The public relies on us and in order for us to provide effective and efficient services, we must internally strengthen our organization. By being coordinated and unified we are able to function to the best quality. If learning is shared, all the group forces of identity formation and cohesion come into play in stabilizing that learning because it comes to define for the group who we are and what our purpose or “reason to be”. (Schein, 2016) I believe that the keys to success in an organization is to have a culture that has:

• Open and honest communication between not only the employees, but also with those leading as well.
  • Create a work environment that provides mutual respect and equal opportunity for all personnel assigned to the incident. (FEMA, 2017) Encourages having a comfortable relationship with management to better understand an individual and what works best for them. Discuss issues openly, sometimes someone might pick up on something that was missed. Transparency is mandatory as it can improve group effectiveness as well as open communication across the status levels.
• Expectations that are set/goals for the organization
  • Knowing what is expected of you or what needs to be done at the end of the day gives employees a clear picture. This helps to define roles, responsibilities, and who will be held accountable. Having an unclear chain of command can lead to a lack of/poor communication. Use effective supervisory and leadership principles of duty, integrity, and respect, providing a vision to the members to accomplish the mission and creating an environment of cooperation, collaboration, and perseverance. (FEMA, 2017)
• A reward system/recognition
  • Empowers team members as well retains members. Boosts work morale as well as commitment and loyalty or organization. This helps leaders ensure that the organization’s values and assumptions will be learned. It’s important that the organization recognizes individuals for their contributions. Another part of recognition is recognizing the impacts and results of operational decisions and evaluating what could be done better or what worked.

References

Federal Emergency Management Agency. (November 2017). Retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1511798700…

Schein, E. H., Schein, P. 2016, Organizational Culture and Leadership, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated,
ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/philau/detail.action?docID=4766585 (Links to an external site.)