Special Features by HBS Authors
Dispatches from Banda Aceh
Observations from Indonesia after three weeks of relief efforts. By Daniel Curran, director of the HBS Humanitarian Leadership Program. (February 8, 2005)
2004 Tsunami Management Challenges
Professor Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard on the unique crisis management dimensions.
- This Baker Library guide is a frequently updated collection of news articles and other information resources providing an overview of the dimensions of the 2004 tsunami disaster, the management challenges presented to crisis managers, business leaders, and other decision makers worldwide, and the emerging approaches to meeting these challenges.
Crisis Management
Economic Impacts
Geopolitical Concerns
Lessons Learned from Previous Disasters
Op-Ed
Organizational Response: Corporate
Organizational Response: Government
Organizational Response: NGO
Publications & Research
Courting Disaster? The Transformation of Federal Disaster Policy Since 1803
David A. Moss
This paper examines the current state of federal disaster policy from an historical perspective. It traces the evolution of federal disaster relief since 1803, highlights a dramatic expansion after 1960, and argues that this post-1960 expansion was entirely consistent with broader trends in U.S. risk-management policy.
(Harvard Business School Working Paper Series, No. 97-049, 1997)
Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management
Gelman Library
This is a guide to Web information resources for researchers working on topics in crisis and emergency management.
Citizen Response to Disasters: A Survey of Literature and Some Practical Implications(HBS only)
I. Helsloot1 and A. Ruitenberg
Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management
Volume 12 Issue 3 Page 98 - September 2004
doi:10.1111/j.0966-0879.2004.00440.x
It is most likely that the modern citizen responds to disasters in the same fashion as his ancestor. Contrary to widespread belief, citizens do not panic in disaster situations. In fact, research into different aspects of citizen response shows that most citizens act in a rather rational way. Indeed, citizens often prove to be the most effective kind of emergency personnel. Disaster evaluations invariably show that most lives are actually saved by the 'average' citizen. On the other hand, it seems little can be done to improve citizen preparedness. A modern western citizen is not likely to invest time or money in preparing for 'acceptable' risks.
"Leadership in Crisis Situations"
Herman B. (Dutch) Leonard
An essay in The Encyclopedia of Leadership, edited by James MacGregor Burns, George R. Goethals, and Georgia J. Sorenson.
(Berskshire Publishing Group, 2004)
Rebuilding
Relief Aid Management
Recent Additions
Tsunami Provokes Radical Change in Crisis Response
The World Health Organization says it and other groups must fundamentally change the way they respond to natural disasters following a frank review of their work after the Indian Ocean tsunami. (May 6, 2005)
Phuket Slumped in Low Season with Tsunami Hangover
The flow of tourists to one of Asia's premier tourism destinations has dried up, a potential blow to Thailand's economy which is already battling the effects of bird flu and Muslim violence in the south. (May 5, 2005)
East Asia Growth to Slow to Six Percent
East Asia's economies, excluding Japan, are expected to ease their expansion to about 6 percent in 2005. The tsunami tragedy was not expected to have a significant impact on growth in the two most seriously affected economies, Indonesia and Thailand. (April 27, 2005)