MLD – 381: Mitigating and Managing a Crisis
JULIETTE KAYYEM
Time and Location: Spring Term 2016 Mondays
8:45-11:30 A.M.
Room 401, 1 Brattle Street
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Format: Readings, lectures, group discussions and guest speakers
Faculty Assistant: Tara Tyrrell
Belfer 410, 617-496-2454
Course Assistants:
Caitlin Ryan
202-247-6185
Nancy Kukulan
510-520-2552
Office Hours:
Office: Littauer 327
617-384-7325
Mondays 2-4PM (by sign-up ONLY on sheets on office door)
Description:
A crisis is, by definition, an unusual event. But, they are not rare. They can take many forms: a natural disaster, an act of terrorism, a public health incident, even the Penn State scandal. How leaders and leadership respond to these unfolding crises will set the stage for how, ultimately, the public responds. To understand crisis response takes more than skills in communication or incident command; it takes an understanding of the complex political, regulatory, and legal regime that govern the incident and the skills to manage these different and sometimes conflicting concerns. The law, politics, and policy – as much as management -- all empower and hinder our capability to respond.
Expectations and Objectives:
This course will enhance participants’ ability to: (1) think beyond operational or defensive needs, and think about issues around crises from a policy and strategic perspective; (2) communicate analyses of issues in class, on paper, and for a wider audience; and 3) appreciate the complexities of each disaster so that lessons learned (and maybe even some tolerance for mistakes made) will be understood.
We will, through a series of case studies and guest lecturers: identify and review legal and policy frameworks applicable to crisis response; review policy challenges and options in issues related to crisis management; and determine best methods for strategic planning and the design of policy initiatives in crisis management.
Students interested in government and private sector work will find this course helpful. Attendance is required (unless excused in advance for special reasons). Students must complete reading and writing assignments on time and be ready to respond to cold calls.
Assignments:
The breakdown for student evaluation will be as follows:
Oral Examination or option for 8 hour take-home: 40%
Simulation and Related Papers: 40%
Class participation: 20%
Readings:
All of the course readings are available on the Course Web Page. Readings will range between 80-130 pages a week. Since this course strives to be as timely and relevant as possible, and there are crises unfolding around us all the time, we will sometimes post additional readings (e.g. recently published newspaper and magazine articles) not listed in this syllabus. Please check the course page regularly.
Academic Integrity Policy:
Discussion and the exchange of ideas are essential to academic work. For assignments in this course, you are encouraged to consult with your classmates on the choice of paper topics and to share sources. You may find it useful to discuss your chosen topic with your peers, particularly if you are working on the same topic as a classmate. However, you should ensure that any written work you submit for evaluation is the result of your own research and writing and that it reflects your own approach to the topic. You must also adhere to standard citation practices in this discipline and properly cite any books, articles, websites, lectures, etc. that have helped you with your work. If you received any help with your writing (feedback on drafts, etc), you must also acknowledge this assistance.
January 25 Class 1: Every Crisis Has a History, and a Lawyer
1) US Constitution
2) FEMA, “A Guide to the Disaster Declaration Process” (Links to an external site.)
3) William Banks, “The Legal Landscape for Emergency Management in the United States” (Links to an external site.)
4) Gary Lawson, “Ordinary Powers in Extraordinary Times: Common Sense in Times of Crisis”
5) Heymann, Philip and Juliette N. Kayyem, Protecting Liberty in an Age of Terror, (Cambridge: MIT Press © 2005), pp. 1-10.
6) Leonard, Herman B. and Arnold M. Howitt, Managing Crises: Responses to Large- Scale Emergencies, "Prepared for the Worst? The Dilemmas of Disaster Management", (Washington: Congressional Quarterly Press © 2009). pp. 1-12.
7) Bill George, “ Leadership in a Crisis”
8) The White House Executive Order – National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, (a)May 2010:
9) Ron Nixon “Homeland Security Looked Past Antigovernment Movement, Ex-Analyst Says (Links to an external site.)” The New York Times, January 8, 2016.
10) James Downie, “The Charleston shooter is a terrorist. The federal government should charge him as one (Links to an external site.).” The Washington Post, June 26, 2015.
February 1 Class 2: Risk Calculation and the Black Swan
1) “Communicating About the Risks of Terrorism (or Anything Else (Links to an external site.))” Baruch Fischhoff, Carnegie Mellon University
2) “Confessions of a risk manager (Links to an external site.)”, The Economist, August 7, 2008.
3) Lenny Bernstein, “Heart attack ‘risk calculators’ miss mark, researchers say (Links to an external site.)” The Washington Post, February 16, 2015.
4) Michael Moran, “Terror Response: A Tale of 3 Cities (Links to an external site.)”, NBC News, July 7, 2005.
5) Scott McCartney, “Subtle Signs That May Mark You an Airport Security Risk: The Pros and Cons of TSA's Behavior-Detection Program (Links to an external site.)”, The Wall Street Journal, January 22, 2014. (If you cannot access, here's the a PDF of the article: Subtle Signs That May Mark You an Airport Security Risk - WSJ.pdf)
6) Tom Fontaine, “Security policies limit 'insider threat' at airports, TSA says (Links to an external site.)” TribLive, November 25, 2015.
7) Aaron Boyd, “IG: Energy Department missing mark on risk managemen (Links to an external site.)t”, Federal Times, November 12, 2015.
8) Herman B. “Dutch” Leonard and Arnold M. Howitt. 2010. Acting in Time Against Disaster: A Comprehensive Risk Management Framework.
In Howard Kunreuther and Michael Useem (Eds.), Learning from Catastrophes: Strategies for Reaction and Response. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Publishing.
9) Juliette Kayyem “Security Mom” Podcast with Michael Chertoff (Links to an external site.):
10) Korematsu v. US (Links to an external site.)
11) Peter Baker “Balancing Terror and Reality in State of the Union Address (Links to an external site.)”, The New York Times, January 11, 2016.
February 8 Class 3: Emergency Planning in the Public Sector, The Boston Marathon
Guest Ed Davis, Former Police Commissioner, Boston Police
1) Podcast: Episode 12 “Lockdown” feat. Ed Davis (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
2) Herman “Dutch” Leonard, Christine M. Cole, Arnold Howitt, and Philip B. Heymann, “Why was Boston Strong?: Lessons from The Boston Marathon Bombing”, Harvard Kennedy School Program on Crisis Leadership, April 2014
3) Leonard Marcus, Eric McNulty, Barry C. Dorn, & Eric Goralnick, “Crisis Meta- Leadership Lessons from the Boston Marathon Bombings Response: The Ingenuity of Swarm Intelligence”, National Preparedness Leadership Institute April 7, 2014
4) Boston Marathon Timeline (Links to an external site.)
5) After Action Report for the Response to the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings (Links to an external site.)
February 22 Class 4: Meta-Leadership
Guest Dr. Leonard Marcus, Director, National Preparedness Leadership Initiative
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/leonard-marcus/
1) Dr. Leonard J. Marcus, “Meta-Leadership Overview Working Paper Final”.
2) “Rudy Giuliani: The Man and His Moment", KSG Case No PDF1681.0
3) Leonard Marcus, “Swarm Intelligence One Pager”, National Preparedness Leadership Institute, 2015.
4) Leonard J. Marcus, Eric McNulty, Barry C. Dorn, & Eric Goralnick, “Boston Marathon Bombing Leadership Report”, National Preparedness Leadership Initiative, 2014.
5) Dr. Leonard J. Marcus, "The Ingenuity of Swarm Intelligence", National Geographic, 2014.
February 29 Class 5: High (and Low) Performance in Emergencies
GUEST SPEAKER DANIEL SERFATY, APTIMA HUMAN CENTERED ENGINEERING
http://www.aptima.com/about/aptima-team/daniel-serfaty (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Required:
1) "Lessons in Leadership from the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster." Knowledge@Wharton. The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 03 October, 2013. Web. 13 January, 2015 http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/lessons-leadership-fukushima-nuclear-disaster/ (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
2) Entin, Elliot; Serfaty, Daniel (1999) Adaptive Team Coordination. (Links to an external site.)Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 06/1999; 41:312-325 Adaptive Team Coordination.pdf
3) Klein, Gary A..Streetlights and Shadows : Searching for the Keys to Adaptive Decision Making. Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press, 2009. (Chapters 1 & 6) Streetlights_and_Shadows_Searching_for_the_Keys_to_Adaptive_Decision_Making Chpt 1.pdf Streetlights_and_Shadows_Searching_for_the_Keys_to_Adaptive_Decision_Making Chpt 6.pdf
4) "'Sully' Sullenberger Remembers the Miracle on the Hudson" Link (Links to an external site.) http://www.newsweek.com/miracle-hudson-343489 (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Recommended:
1) "US Airways Flight 1549 – Thinking through Crisis." by Amy Fraher, pp.130-163 Fraher-US Airways Flight 1549 – Thinking through Crisis.pdf
2) Kahneman, Daniel (2011). Thinking Fast and Slow. New York, NY: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux. (Available through Harvard library system)
3) Article on Daniel Kahneman in The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/18/daniel-kahneman-books-interview (Links to an external site.)
4) Buchanan, Mark, "Secret Signals"
March 7th Class 6: Politics of Crisis
REQUIRED READINGS
BP Oil Spill
1) David Giles, “Deepwater Horizon Spill Case ,” Part A Giles David for Arnold M. Howitt and Herman B. . The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill The Politics of Crisis Respon.pdf Part B Giles David for Arnold M. Howitt and Herman B. . The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill The Politics of Crisis Respon (1).pdf
2) Juliette Kayyem, “ The Game Changer” Link (Links to an external site.) http://www.boston.com/news/politics/articles/2011/04/24/the_game_changer/ (Links to an external site.)
3) BP Commission Report: Staff working papers: The Story of the Louisiana Berms Link (Links to an external site.) http://cybercemetery.unt.edu/archive/oilspill/20121211011636/http://www.oilspillcommission.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Updated%20Berms%20Working%20Paper.pdf (Links to an external site.)
4) Erin McClam & Harry Weber, "BP's failures made worse by PR mistakes", NBC News June 11, 2010 http://www.nbcnews.com/id/37647218/ns/business-world_business/t/bps-failures-made-worse-pr-mistakes/ (Links to an external site.)
Flint Water Crisis
5) Anna Maria Barry-Jester, "What Went Wrong in Flint (Links to an external site.)", FiveThirtyEight, January 26, 2016
6) Julia Lurie, "Meet the Mom Who Helped Expose Flint's Toxic Water Nightmare (Links to an external site.)" Mother Jones, January 21, 2016
OPTIONAL
1) David Barstow, David Rodhe, and Stephanie Saul, “Deepwater Horizon’ Final Hours” Link (Links to an external site.) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/us/26spill.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 (Links to an external site.)
2) BP Commission Report (entire report linked, but please read Part II) Link (Links to an external site.) https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-OILCOMMISSION/pdf/GPO-OILCOMMISSION.pdf (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
3) BP Initiates Response to Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill” BP Company, April 22, 2010 Link (Links to an external site.) http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/press/press-releases/bp-initiates-response-to-gulf-of-mexico-oil-spill.html (Links to an external site.)
4) BP Offer Sympathy To The Families Of Those Lost in the US Oil Rig Fire” , April 23, 2010 Link (Links to an external site.) http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/press/press-releases/bp-offers-sympathy-to-the-families-of-those-lost-in-the-us-oil-rig-fire.html (Links to an external site.)
5) Christopher Beam, “ Oil slick: How BP is handling its R. Disaster” , Slate May 5th 2010 Link (Links to an external site.) http://primary.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2010/05/oil_slick.html (Links to an external site.)
March 21 Class 7: Corporate Malfeasance and Benevolence: Public Consequences, Good and Bad
Case Study: Sony Hack
Sony Hack Timeline, http://www.businessinsider.com/sony-cyber-hack-timeline-2014-12 (Links to an external site.)
Jack Linshi, "Obama: Sony Response to Hack Sets Bad Precedent" Time December 21, 2014 http://time.com/3643242/sony-hack-obama/ (Links to an external site.)
Sony employees on the hack, one year later. November 22, 2015, http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/users/2015/11/sony_employees_on_the_hack_one_year_later.html (Links to an external site.)
Optional:
Nolan Feeney, "Sony asks media to stop covering hacked emails" Time December 16, 2014 , http://time.com/3633385/sony-hack-emails-media/ (Links to an external site.)
"Sony says it "will have no choice but to hold [media outlets] responsible for any damage or loss”." Transcript of Interview between Michael Lynton (Sony) and Fareed Zakaria, CNN.com December 19, 2014,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xod7SWXykTs (Links to an external site.)
Case Study: Wal-Mart Response to Katrina
Arnold Howitt and Herman Leonard, "Wal-Mart's Response to Hurricane Katrina" in Managing Crises, pp. 379-405. Wal-Mart Response to Katrina.pdf
Philip Mattera, “Disaster as relief: How Wal-Mart used Hurricane Katrina to repair its image”, Corporate Research Project, September-October 2005, http://www.corp-research.org/e-letter/disaster-relief (Links to an external site.)
“Before. During. After. – A Forum on Disaster Relief and Resiliency”, Wal-Mart.com, August 11, 2015 http://corporate.walmart.com/_news_/events/before-during-after-a-forum-on-disaster-relief-and-resiliency (Links to an external site.) (No need to watch entire film; go to min. 33:00 min short overview of Wal-Mart response to Katrina and min. 44:00 CEO comments)
Optional:
Michael Barbaro and Justin Gillis, “Wal-Mart at Forefront of Hurricane Relief”, The Washington Post, September 6, 2005
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/05/AR2005090501598.html (Links to an external site.)
Case Study: National Football League and Deflategate
Ben Volin, “ NFL’ silence on Deflategate is deafening”, The Boston Globe January 23, 2015, https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/01/23/nfl-silence-deflategate-deafening/DEVMvlD9YfWyel9IXrrozL/story.html (Links to an external site.)
Michael David Smith, "NFL Issues Statement on Deflategate Investigation", NBCsports.com January 23, 2015, http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/23/nfl-issues-statement-on-deflategate-investigation/ (Links to an external site.)
Greg A. Bedard, "Refuse to Defuse", Sports Illustrated January 30, 2015, http://mmqb.si.com/2015/01/30/roger-goodell-press-conference-deflategate (Links to an external site.)
Michael Hurley, “Say Bye to Irsay ,” CBS News, February 5, 2015, http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/02/05/hurley-failed-deflategate-accusations-means-its-time-for-irsay-pagano-to-be-banned-from-nfl/ (Links to an external site.)
Robert Kraft, “ Statement from Patriots owner and CEO Robert Kraft on Tom Brady Ruling” , The Boston Globe September 3 2015,https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/09/03/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-statement-tom-brady-ruling/AXsmbBmGPnk7h5uks8DbEO/story.html (Links to an external site.)
“Deflategate Update: Where the Case Stands on Appeal”, December 18, 2015, http://thesportsesquires.com/deflategate-update-where-the-case-stands-on-appeal/ (Links to an external site.)
“Patriots update their Deflategate website with 2 stories that rip the NFL”, CBS Sports, February 26, 2016, http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25496816/patriots-update-their-deflategate-website-with-2-stories-that-rip-the-nfl (Links to an external site.)
Case Study: Uber
Allan Smith, “Crisis management expert: Uber had the best possible response to the Kalamazoo shooting”, Business Insider, http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-obligation-vetting-process-jason-dalton-2016-2 (Links to an external site.)
Eric Dezenhall, “Ubering through Crisis”, Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-dezenhall/ubering-through-crisis_b_9308344.html (Links to an external site.)
Case Study: NBC/Brian Williams
Emily Steel, “ Frantic Efforts at NBC” New York Times Feb 11, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/business/media/frantic-efforts-at-nbc-to-curb-rising-damage-caused-by-brian-williams.html?_r=0 (Links to an external site.)
Jeff Bercovici, “ How NBC Should Have Handled the Crisis”, Inc. Online, Feb 11, 2015, http://www.inc.com/jeff-bercovici/nbc-brian-williams-crisis-management.html (Links to an external site.)
Bryan Burrough, “Inside the Civil War for the Soul of NBC News”, Vanity Fair, May 2015, http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/04/nbc-news-brian-williams-scandal-comcast (Links to an external site.)
Paul Farhi, “At long last, Brian Williams is back – humbled and demoted to MSNBC”, The Washington Post, Sept. 21, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/at-long-last-brian-williams-is-back--humbled-and-demoted-to-low-rated-msnbc/2015/09/21/ea423408-6077-11e5-b38e-06883aacba64_story.html (Links to an external site.)
Optional:
Erik Wemple, “ Rachel Maddow Heroically Covers Brian Williams Scandal,” Washington Post, Feb 11, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2015/02/11/msnbcs-rachel-maddow-heroically-covers-nbc-news-brian-williams-scandal/ (Links to an external site.)
Emily Steel, John Koblin, and Ravi Somaiya, “Brian Williams to stay at NBC, but not as anchor” New York Times, June 17, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/18/business/nbc-plans-to-let-brian-williams-stay-but-not-as-news-anchor.html (Links to an external site.)