Kunreuther, Howard, and Michael Useem. Learning from catastrophes: strategies for reaction and response. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Wharton School Publishing, 2009. HD61 .L43 2010
In this wide-ranging volume of essays, Kunreuther and Useem have drawn together a number of important thinkers and practitioners in a variety of fields, all for the purpose of understanding what we already know about leadership in disaster and how we can apply that to mitigate future risk. “Thus, the focus of Learning from Catastrophes is on improving our ability to identify and manage events that are perceived to be highly unlikely, but which, if they do occur, can have catastrophic impact at both the national and global levels.” (p. xiii) The result is a holistic approach to emergency and risk management, with examples and application drawn from a wide range of experiences and events.
The genesis of this project began with a World Economic Forum Council on the Mitigation of Natural Disasters meeting in Dubai in the autumn of 2008. Kunreuther and Useem were the chairmen of this council, and their aim in this book is clear: to “…provide a useful set of principles for guiding decision making and leadership so essential for averting and overcoming those future risks that are sure to threaten yet again our global prosperity.” (p. xiv)
Aimed at leaders across the business, non-profit and public sector communities, this 268-page work encompasses topics as varied as risk analysis, investment for risk mitigation in poor countries, public planning for pandemic and cognitive constraints to preparedness. The overarching theme is that of leadership in the midst of a disaster, and the first and last chapters highlight this theme in detail. Contributors include professors (MIT, Wharton and the JFK School of Government at Harvard, among other institutions, are represented), professional researchers (World Meteorological Organization, Parmenides Center for the Study of Thinking) and business leaders (Freeplay Energy, Goldman Sachs). Authors from China, France, Canada and the United States mean that an international perspective is represented throughout.
For more information, see this review from Wharton Business School; you can also download a free chapter through their site. The publisher also has more information about the book, including the editor’s biographies and the table of contents, available here.