Abstract
In this paper, we focus on strategy and address how military and strategic management models organize the response of government agencies to extreme emergencies whilst also failing to address their core organizational problems. We are interested in the relatively recent creation of centralized organizations like the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as well as the practical life of strategic organization in front-line emergency management. To address how strategic models lacking specificity take on specificity in a practical domain of organization other than the one for which they were developed, we look at changes made to emergency management in the Australian State of Victoria after the catastrophic 2009 ‘Black Saturday’ bushfires. In the public inquiry into the disaster, centralization became an important antidote for previous shortcomings in ‘command, control and coordination’, eventually leading to the creation of a State Control Centre (SCC). Yet, the specificities of organizing during extreme emergencies continue to demand decentralized decision-making.
Original language | English |
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Publication date | 2014 |
Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Event | XVIII ISA World Congress of Sociology 2014: Facing an Unequal World: Challenges for Global Sociology - Yokohama, Japan Duration: 13 Jul 2014 → 19 Jul 2014 Conference number: 18 https://isaconf.confex.com/isaconf/wc2014/cfp.cgi |
Conference
Conference | XVIII ISA World Congress of Sociology 2014 |
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Number | 18 |
Country/Territory | Japan |
City | Yokohama |
Period | 13/07/2014 → 19/07/2014 |
Internet address |