Introduction
Gilbert Siegel is a professor, director, and associate dean, in the University of Southern Carolina. Most of the academic works by Siegel have been in the field of public management, with a particular major emphasis on the sector of human resource management. Gilbert Siegel is the author of the research material on Human Resource Development for Emergency Management. Other successfully written publications by the same author include, “Public Employee Compensation, Mass Interviewing and the Marshalling of Ideas to Improve Performance, and Public Personnel Administration: Concepts and Practices.
The main focus of the Siegel’s publication on Human Resource Development for Disaster Management is to break down the basics of ensuring human resource management is professionally achieved by its handling mannerism. Further, the article aims at sensitizing the readers on the importance of basic skills in the management of emergency situations at the work place and other places. The article is widely educational. The amount of knowledge one gets from reading it is immense. The relevance of the subject matter in Siegel’s book in the modern era is widely applicable and also very important.
Discussion
The author starts by introducing his subject matter to the reader. This process is successfully achieved, as the relevance and importance of the subject being discussed is clearly brought out by the author. There are a couple of key issues and points that have been laid out systematically in the article. One of them is the obvious introduction and consequently, the process of ensuring relevance and importance is achieved by the reader. After the definition of human resources, and the connection, and importance of the emergency services has been laid out, the next main point in the article is the definition and characteristics of communities in disasters. The factor of community disorganization during certain emergency situations is brought out. There is inference to various disaster situations and their respective characteristics, for example, earthquakes, and also bombings. The former is discussed with the reference to the works of Brovillette and Quarantelli. The two authors argue that different bureaucracies always react uniquely in times of disasters depending on various activities. The literature review on the topic regarding the behavior of communities during times of disasters leads to the conclusive generalization of the whole subject. There are five generalizations that are derived from the immediate topical study.
Another important point discussed in the article is the intergovernmental, inter-sectoral, and inter-organizational nature of emergency services. Emergency services in this subtopic are given a legal stand and viewed from various avenues of the provisions of law, constitution, politics, and government. The responsibility of dealing with various emergency services and responses in the United States is attached to the responsible states. The state authority has the mandate and choice of also delegating the important duties to other lower levels of government in their respective jurisdictions.
Another important point of discussion in the article regards the role and requirements of the Emergency Management Specialist. This topic has been outlined wholly on its need and the methodology that is appropriate. Further, the inclusion of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in this subtopic has been relevantly achieved. The author has correctly and efficiently utilized certain terms in the article. Mass convergence and mass assault, and their subsequent meanings and hence variations have been effectively achieved. The two terms have not only been labeled clearly, but also their respective differences have been outlined professionally. Another term utilized by the author is the IGB which means inter governmental Bodies. The author has introduced this term in the sector of inter governmental management and clearly utilized it in the best way in the whole subtopic.
The author’s style regarding the whole article can clearly be laid out. Siegel uses the approach of introducing the problem in whole and clearly and effectively discussing it in summary on the introduction part. Later, Siegel adopts the style of introducing topics and subjects as in sub disciplines of the whole topic on human resource management and tackles them accordingly in separation, though the end result is aimed at harmonizing the whole research paper. A conclusion that the whole article was not only relevant, but also that the author realized his target aim can be satisfactorily stated.
Consequently the good methodology coupled with the insightful theories, and deep and informed discussions have enabled Siegel to get valuable findings. In the beginning, some important literature has been broken down. The literature reviewed was on the behavior of communities and individuals in emergency requiring situations such as disasters. The findings allowed limited assumptions about the disaster episodes. These include, The importance of training on disaster and emergency handling skills for virtually everyone, the importance of planning and organization in anticipation of emergency occurrences, the need of establishing organizations to respond to emergencies, the requirement of setting up and running an operations and/or command control centre for information and resources releases and lastly, the need to set up important boundary spanning roles. The management analogy inside the government from experience with individual service initiatives was viewed as a useful tactic of attracting the planning and management problems dominant in collective actions among different groups
The main strength derived in the article is in the presentation of ideas. Siegel effectively introduces various concepts and consequently discusses them differently, with the end result being that one achieves the desired understanding on the issues discussed. Further, Siegel seems to be very informed on the issue he is discussing. This is proven by the fact that he boldly inserts data and statistics, which are correct, in the article. This makes it to be a real and genuine scholarly article. However, one of the main weaknesses of the article is that there is very little referencing. With the topic in question being of real importance, the author should have brought inside the ideas, methodologies, and stands of other writers on the same subject.
The credibility of the information present in this article is not questionable. The statistical data presented is impeccable and correct. Further, the stating of the author on the United States government policies regarding human resource disaster management programs is true. The author has also been able to clearly carry out a prior and independent research on the topic. Most of the information derived in this article is not only researched, but also effectively presented with the additional personal knowledge of a professor. Clearly, the article cannot be criticized in any way. It is an impeccable well researched, and professionally written scholarly journal. Further, the significance of this article in relation to the whole discipline is immense. The article not only concurs with the current research and findings on the subject matter, but also importantly adds on to the scope of knowledge on the other researches.
Conclusion
The most important insight derived in this article is in the introduction. Here, the author clearly defines human resource management and most importantly identifies and creates the urgency that is required in dealing with the subject matter therein. Understanding the importance of human resource management is very vital. Therefore, the author has brought out this importance effectively and therefore, the need to not only read the consequent text, but also to thoroughly incorporate, integrate, and most importantly comprehend the whole article is created.
Information that has been presented in the Siegel article is profoundly invaluable. Personally, I would recommend that the article be read by numerous individuals and players in various concerned industries. Particularly, the government would not only find the information therein useful but also very productive in their subsequent applications. Further, other concerned organizations would find it very useful in reading this article. This would enhance and consequently increase their knowledge base in the given subject. Further, the effectiveness and efficiency realized by the incorporation of the basic knowledge that has been presented in the document would go a long in being positively influenced. As a result, better modes and programs in relation to human resource management in emergency situations would be availed, a positive feature for the citizens of United States. Lastly, I would infer that Siegel is a superb and effective writer, whose works should majorly be consulted not only in the professional stage, but also in the academic field.
WORKS CITED
Siegel, Gilbert. “Human Resource Development for Emergency Management.” Public Administration Review, 45.
Special Issue: Emergency Management: A Challenge for Public Administration (1985): 101-117. Print
