A third-generation disaster researcher challenges what he sees as a myth perpetrated since the genesis of the field in the 1950s that faced with an emergency, most people will panic and flee, become helplessly impassive, or loot. He sets out the empirical evidence in statistics and case studies. He agrees with colleagues that the mass media are a primary factor in spreading the myth, but goes beyond them to address what emergency agencies can do despite it. Graduate and undergraduate students interested in social response to disasters, the disaster research community, and people responsible for responding to disaster might find the treatment interesting. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

`Philippe Baumard has observed that strategic success seems to lie more in top managers′ ability to use tacit knowledge than in their gaining or updating explicit knowledge′ - William H Starbuck, New York University `This important new book effectively illustrates how, in conditions of ambiguity, managers `over-manage′, i.e. rely too much on explicit plans and interpretations. Here, Philippe Baumard develops an alternative analysis and with it a new approach to management′ - Frank Blackler, Lancaster University This landmark book delves below the surface of organizations in order to understand the complex processes of top managers′ decision making. Philippe Baumard argues that the conventional, rational model of decision making ignores the tacit and intuitive processes that are often crucial in successful business outcomes. He demonstrates through his four central business cases how it is in times of uncertainty, rapid change and turbulence that the fate of companies is often determined, and it is at these times that managers′ tacit knowledge and their ability to navigate ambiguous and complex situations is most critical.

Meant to aid State & local emergency managers in their efforts to develop & maintain a viable all-hazard emergency operations plan. This guide clarifies the preparedness, response, & short-term recovery planning elements that warrant inclusion in emergency operations plans. It offers the best judgment & recommendations on how to deal with the entire planning process -- from forming a planning team to writing the plan. Specific topics of discussion include: preliminary considerations, the planning process, emergency operations plan format, basic plan content, functional annex content, hazard-unique planning, & linking Federal & State operations.