Crisis management in hindsight: Cognition, communication, coordination, and control

Comfort, Louise K.

doi:10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00827.x

Cited by 940Disaster Management and ResiliencePublic Relations and Crisis CommunicationSafety and Risk Management

Crisis management in hindsight: Cognition, communication, coordination, and control

Comfort, Louise K.·2007·Public Administration Review

DOI 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00827.x

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Abstract

This article argues that cognition is central to performance in emergency management. Cognition is defined as the capacity to recognize the degree of emerging risk to which a community is exposed and to act on that information. Using the case of Hurricane Katrina to illustrate the collapse of the standard model of emergency management without a clear focus on the role of cognition, the author reframes the concept of intergovernmental crisis management as a complex, adaptive system. That is, the system needs to adjust and adapt its performance to fit the demands of an ever‐changing physical, engineered, and social environment. The terms of cognition, communication, coordination, and control are redefined in ways that fit the reality of practice in extreme events. A reframed intergovernmental crisis management system may be conceived as a dynamic interorganizational system that is characterized by four primary decision points: (1) detection of risk, (2) recognition and interpretation of risk for the immediate context, (3) communication of risk to multiple organizations in a wider region, and (4) self‐organization and mobilization of a collective, community response system to reduce risk and respond to danger.

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Cognition is the ability to recognise an emerging risk and understand its nature, size and potential impact across different aspects of society and everyday life, policy arenas and their interaction based on processing detected information, representing the first line of defence in protecting human security.
“Cognition is the ability to recognise an emerging risk and understand its nature, size and potential impact across different aspects of society and everyday life, policy arenas and their interaction based on processing detected information (Comfort, 2007) representing the first line of defence in protecting human security.”
From Risk Governance, State Capacity, and Critical Human Security: Evolution of Risk Governance in Response to Systemic Risk in the UK and South Korea (2025) · cites this paper as Comfort, 2007
Three key components of state capacity for crisis governance are cognition, coordination, and capacity to implement.
“Kwon et al, (2023), drawing on Comfort (2007) and Farazmand (2007) have highlighted three key components of state capacity for crisis governance -cognition, co-ordination, and capacity to implement (see Figure 1).”
From Risk Governance, State Capacity, and Critical Human Security: Evolution of Risk Governance in Response to Systemic Risk in the UK and South Korea (2025) · cites this paper as Comfort (2007)

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Authors: Comfort, L. K.
Affiliations: University of Pittsburgh (US)
Corresponding author: Comfort, Louise K.
ORCID: Comfort, Louise K.
Venue: Public Administration Review
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2007-12
Volume: 67
Issue: s1
Pages: 189-197
ISSN: 0033-3352 (ISSN-L)
1540-6210
DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00827.x
OpenAlex: W2089773578
Cited by: 940
References: 18
Citations by year: 2026: 116 · 2025: 82 · 2024: 66 · 2023: 95 · 2022: 75 · 2021: 71 · 2020: 69 · 2019: 47 · 2018: 37 · 2017: 41 · 2016: 52 · 2015: 38 · 2014: 38 · 2013: 37 · 2012: 28
FWCI: 35.92
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor, 6 d)
Locations: Public Administration Review (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Disaster Management and Resilience
Social Sciences › Communication › Public Relations and Crisis Communication
Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Safety and Risk Management
Keywords: crisis management, emergency management, cognition, Hurricane Katrina, complex adaptive systems, interorganizational systems, risk identification, risk communication, coordination, control, self-organization, community response, extreme events

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Crisis management in hindsight: Cognition, communication, coordination, and control

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