Decision-Making Issues during Hurricane Katrina
Leadership is a major responsibility that requires one to be alert and careful in terms of decision-making issues that regard employees and an organization.
Proper and effective leadership will require strategic planning and a management control system, which gathers information and uses it to evaluate the performance of different organizational resources. For example, physical, financial and considering the organizational strategies as a whole. The management control system also influences the behavior of the organizational resources to practice the organizational strategies by formal or informal means. It is a tool used to assist in driving an organization towards competitive advantage and strategic objectives. Through this, managers implement desired strategies and monitor the employees’ performance to get the best efforts from the workers. It aids an organization in developing a performance measurement that is crucial in reviewing the performance.
This is done in the context of strategic, specific objectives. Also managing all business operations of the entire organization willobtain the objectives set (Emanuel, 2005) Leadership also requires one to develop a review of a role-based approach for addressing occupational structures by transforming the interaction and action patterns. Organization theory is a detailed structure of the ways an organization should use to deal with challenges. Theoretical structures should consult all dynamics that can raise sales levels in organizations. In addition to this, theories should investigate and conceptualize organizational technologies.
This is because the theory attributes have immediate impacts on the elements that affect the growth of the organization. On the other hand, theories also create an orderly analysis on specific matters that are related to work roles such as marketing strategies, performance and product management. According to Emanuel (2005), an organization such as a holiday resort, which is facing challenges, is unable to meet objectives set, a theoretical structure is necessary to bring about changes that will contribute to the stability of the organization. These changes in the end may influence the roles of workers in terms of networking. Consequently, networking and role distribution are key factors to effective technological structures and developing new strategies to deal with future challenges (Longshore, 2008).
Top-level decision makers were effective through measuring performance of the organization nd developing strategic plans. Through these plans, they were able to evaluate information before and during the crisis. The top-level decision makers missed to identify the risks that occurred during strategic planning and measuring performance of the organization and employees. While measuring performance, the top-level decision makers encountered some risks damaged the future and profitability of the organization, but then again there were reliable sources of potentially hefty profits. A strategic risk is the one the organization faces, which affects the organization’s ability to achieve the goals. Individuals and the management made decisions that helped to reduce and manage the risks by various means such as setting other objectives and a key financial baseline to meet.
They also decided to manage risks by setting strategic assessment, monitoring and decision making against plans. This improved their focus by integrating the risk management into the routine evaluation strategy, debated on it and challenged the risk. Because of this, the consequences of the crisis were not as severe as it would have been without evaluation of information and performance before the crisis (Longshore, 2008). Ethical Dilemmas Faced by Decision-MakersWith the effects of the crisis on the organization and clients, decision makers faced a dilemma of reorganizing their plans and strategies. This was because they had first to think of setting up a financial plan, which would help them to raise funds.
A financial plan would help them to create new projects that would be part of the marketing strategies as well as adjusting their security system in order to avoid extreme consequences in cases of future crisis. For example, the alarm has to be set off to direct people on the way forward. If the resort has prepared plan in case of disaster, this is the time to swing into action. The staff and visitors have to be helped or directed to the safe places that had been set apart for such times. When the management and decision makers prepare themselves through tightening security ways, there are higher chances that despite the crisis, many will survive.
Objectives of performance measurement should be prioritized, based on fundamental factors such as validity, cost-effectiveness, specificity and the importance of ongoing management should be also reviewed to ensure usefulness and relevance at appropriate intervals (Williams, 2001). Pre-Existing Issues that Exacerbattion of the Crisis While poor planning and lack of proper strategic planning contributed to total destruction of the organization, other pre-existing issues such as geographical and environmental factors also exacerbated the crisis. For example, for a resort that was constructed in a plain place stands higher chances of total destruction because the place will be over flooded. Another factor was lack of tight security systems that would have alerted the management about the effects of the crisis. Other means of security that implied readiness before and during crisis include having disaster kits that come in handy during crisis.
Disaster kits consist of beddings, radio transmitters, flashlights, first-aid kit and toiletries. All these will be useful in ensuring the survival of everyone caught up in this storm. The radio comes in handy because one needs to get news of what is going on outside, when the hurricane is expected to end and what impact it has on the areas around (Williams, 2001). Lessons LearntWith the occurrence of crisis and damages encountered, organizations learnt lessons and experiences for future crisis occurrences. These lessons and experiences include developing prepared plans for disaster, tightening their security systems, creating new strategic plans that will ensure proper and effective management of organizations.
However, performance management has many demands, with professional managers and top-level decision makers, many employees can be trained to take roles and responsibilities of crisis management successfully for effective results before, during and after crisis. In this way, operational staff, top-level decision makers and senior management demonstrate commitment to measuring performance. There is continuity in giving resources, commitment, accountability and efforts in the success of the projects. Allocation of resources in terms of quality and durability of elements are sufficient to ensure that the objectives and purpose are achieved as well as customer security is ensured (Williams, 2001). In conclusion, hurricanes do not just come at once, but they give signs a few days before they manifest. Therefore, the disaster prepared plans should be put in place to deal with these eventualities when they come, because as they say, prevention is always better than cure.
Still, when they occur, there is always a good chance of survival if one stays calm and remembers the actions in case of the hurricane
