Blanchard, as cited by (Demiroz and Kapucu, 2012), notes that in managing catastrophic disasters or extreme events a leader should possess three critical competencies, leadership and team building, political, bureaucratic and social context, networking and coordination (p.96). During a crisis, a leader should be able to rally all agencies involved in the emergency with a shared vision and mission of success (Lester and Krejci, 2007).
There are common traits that leaders should possess in order to effectively handle a crisis. However, differences in competencies are seen in how leaders are able to; make decisions and coordinate the implementation of the emergency response, the ability to motivate the citizens that they will get through the situation, and the ability to communicate effectively with all the stakeholders (Demiroz and Kapucu, 2012, p.97).
A leader managing a catastrophe will need to a higher degree of coordination as they coordinate various agencies, work harder to restore and maintaining communication with all the stakeholders, and develop an extensive plan of getting through the situation.
Catastrophic management differs from emergency management in that the latter involves the local emergency officials responding to a small routine emergency that is usually anticipated and is able to competently handle the emergency (Kapucu and Wart, 2011, p.8). On the other hand, catastrophic management refers to the management of unpredictable large-scale crisis that requires the involvement of all the levels of governments. Catastrophe implies that the organization is damaged and that it is not able to respond to the coherently because the organization communication disruption in catastrophic management is more pronounced than in emergency management (Kapucu and Wart, 2011, p.9).
Kapuccu and Özerdem (2013) highlight some of the competencies that leaders must possess in order to manage catastrophic disasters to include inter-agency coordination, effective planning and coordination, use of up-to-date technology, and contingency planning (p.159). In addition, the leaders must have the ability to restore communication, decisive, and be able to elicit goodwill among emergency agencies (Kapuccu and Özerdem, 2013, p.159).
Managing routine emergencies involves identifying, avoiding and dealing with risks (Kapucu and Wart, 2011, p.8). A routine emergency manager routinely handles emergencies through planning, training, and availing resources for the emergency. Because emergencies are routine, the response is perfected through conducting drills that routinize the response (Kapucu and Wart, 2011, p.8). Contingency plans are also designed to the routine emergency management to provide an alternative in case of a catastrophe. On the other hand, catastrophe management is characterized by surprise (Kapucu and Wart, 2011, p.8). Due to the size of the disaster, the emergency teams seldom have the necessary resources to handle a catastrophe. However, proper contingency planning and interagency coordination can minimize the effects of the catastrophe (Kapucu and Wart, 2011, p.8)
Intergovernmental and inter-organizational organizations form integrated and interdependent collaborations that allow both the public and private to come up with a solution to the catastrophe. There are three types of coordination, hierarchy, markets, and networks (Kapucu et al., 2010, p.228). The hierarchy coordinates decision making from top to bottom, the networks that are formed by voluntary organizations with common values to galvanize community solidarity towards a common objective while the markets allow various individuals to use their own resources to achieve their different objectives (Kapucu and Van wart, 2011, p.12).
Works cited
Kapucu, Naim, and Alpaslan Özerdem. Managing Emergencies And Crises. Burlington, Mass.:
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Kapucu, Naim, Arslan, Tolga, and Demiroz, Fatih. 2010. Collaborative Emergency
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Kapucu, Naim, and Van Wart. "The Role Of Leadership In Managing Emergencies And
Disasters". Docplayer.net. N.p., 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2016.
Kapucu, Naim, and Montgomery Wart. "Crisis Management Competencies: The Case Of
Emergency Managers In The U.S.". Academia.edu. N.p., 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2016.
Lester, William, Krejci, Daniel. 2007. Business “Not” as Usual: The National Incident
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