Skip to main content

Japan Tsunami 2011 - Disaster Management Lessons


The Sendai earthquake(2011) and the resulting Tsunami in Japan is probably one of the most horrific disasters facing Japan since the atomic bombs that destroyed the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki marking the end of second world war. It is interesting to see how Japanese built their country from the impact of the atom bombs and devastation caused by the great war to being the world's third largest economy by 2010.
This disaster is equally bad. In the words of UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, "The world is shocked and saddened by the images coming from Japan this morning". It is probably one of the worst disasters faced by any single country in the last decade. Although in high probability nature's fury unleashed in the form of earthquakes and tsunamis cannot be escaped or avoided, the recovery is what needs careful examination. For a disaster of this proportion any country would need help, but, by the virtue of their culture and contribution to the field of management made possible by their DNA, the management of this disaster and recovery needs careful study by all those who wish to excel in the discipline of management.
The very first and the most important thing was to address and assure the nation that was quickly done by prime minister Naoto Kan. Taking into account the propensity of this damage and comparing it with other disasters such as the hurricanes that hit United States or the Terrorist attacks at Mumbai in India, this has been the quickest. Moreover keeping the nation calm is the foremost thing to be done in such a scenario.
The second thing was to assess the damage. The damage to two of its nuclear reactors was quickly analyzed and experts from the United States were flown in to help in correcting the problems and avoiding a potential radiation leak. Thirdly, people around Fukushima were told to evacuate (in a Tsunami) and in no time the evacuation routes have increased swiftly to avoid damage in case of a leak. This shows the DNA of Japanese people and the capacity to fight back despite earthquakes, tsunami and radiation. The rescue and rehabilitation operations will go on in Japan but as students of management it is necessary for us to understand the dynamics of successful planning and execution of this entire operation.
I wholeheartedly pray for the people of Japan and I hope things soon return back to normal.http://www.domainofhope.com/2011/03/japan-tsunami-2011-disaster-management.html

Popular posts from this blog

Giving the finger to a scripted life!

It's crazy to take jobs just because they look good on your resume. That's like saving sex for your old age. ~ Warren Buffet. You have plans for your life, career etc. You've built an entire script but what is this based on? Scott at Ted talks about how almost 80% of the people around the world don't like the job they do. In his career, he found one day that most of the job he did was automated by his competitors. Building the resume was clearly not way forward. It was during that time he he heard the quote by warren buffet, " It's crazy to take jobs just because they look good on your resume. That's like saving sex for your old age ". This was when he left his job. While there are know universities, which talk about finding your passion, Scott talks about a lens that can help in finding the job we love.

Twitter and the world of hate - Delhi Gang Rape

Common wisdom says that venting out reduces frustration. Twitter, Facebook, and blogs help us achieve the same. While what normally starts as a "venting out" experience, I suspect is turning out to be an anguish enhancer. When I look at trending topics on twitter all what I see is a world of "Hate". Small pieces of hate messages turn out to be a big collective bunch of hate. Take the case of Delhi gang rape and some ill-minded comments of politicians and spiritual gurus. What started as scattered bickering remarks against a comment made by "Asaram" has now become a full fledged ball of rage. This rage was "non-directional", had no agenda and was oriented towards sarcasm and wit. While Delhi gang rape highlights poor governance, societal problems and problems of law and order, venting out on a forum that accumulates the frustration by many such people only adds to the low well-being. It is time we use some discretion and post messages that...

Twitter vs. News - Effectiveness in building relations

Social Media has been termed as an effective way to build relationships. Brands are trying to harness this capability by building social presence on this new media. Celebrities today account for the maximum amount of followers on the web with twitter being a fine example for this. But is this new media effective in creating relationships with this vast list of followers, which celebrities often tend to have? In an interesting research by Lee and Jang , they explore the effectiveness of celebrities in building social presence on new media. They compare twitter and a news website to check the relative effectiveness of enhancing social presence. While the traditional PR machinery used by celebrities might give them news coverage, they contend that their tweets can reduce the barrier of relational development as compared to a news website. Their findings are counter-intuitive and very interesting.