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Crisis Management in Hindsight: Cognition, Communication, Coordination, and Control
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 (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
In the citing paper
“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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“More so, the concept has received minimal attention in the sphere of local government; previous studies averred that CM can be traced to risk, crisis, and disaster management (Comfort, 2007).”
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“In recent decades, theorists of public policy and emergency management have increasingly recognized that the dynamic and complex environment of rapidly evolving emergency events requires a di ff erent approach from traditional hierarchical administration [20].”
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“Lateral, flat and decentralized networks tend to be better able to adapt operations quickly, as needed (Boin and ’t Hart 2003; Comfort 2007; Kapucu, Arslan, and Collins 2010).”
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“Outside the Coast Guard success story, the many other citizen-based emergent self-organizing actions during Katrina lacked a policy framework to engage and facilitate them during the response (Comfort 2007, 191).”
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“…a natural starting-point in the process; before an organization can plan to minimize the risks that it or its stakeholders could experience, those risks must be known (Comfort 2007; Dilenschneider and Hyde 1985; Hayes and Patton 2001; Heath 1998a; Kash and Darling 1998; Ritchie 2004; Stacks 2004).”
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“Other response components remain inactive without cognition [52].”
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“Thus, despite the important role played by prepared and rehearsed response plans, there is an awareness that the unanticipated demands and problems that emerge during the response require an innovative response, that is, a response that was not planned for (Comfort, 2007; Lagadec, 2009).”
Bolstering resilience in a polycrisis scenario: A cross-country analysis on the role of IT
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“Prior studies have recognized the vital role of communication in understanding and managing extreme events (Comfort, 2007; Kapucu, 2006).”
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“(b) Agencies have confusion on their part of role, and do not know other agency’s role and processes(Comfort, 2007; Enrico, et. al.,1977).”
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“…research, urban politics, and public administration have published various articles on the topic (Paton, Millar, and Johnson, 2001; Carpenter, 2003; Comfort, 2007; Scheffer and Nes, 2007; Scheffer, 2004; Cox and Perry, 2011; Foster, 2012; Chandra et al., 2011; Rivera and Settembrino, 2012; Andrew…”
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“Given the increasing complexities of disasters in modern society, no single entity can fully comprehend the evolving situation, and each organization may only have a partial picture of disasters (Comfort, 2007).”
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“…predicting a crisis are hidden in a continuous stream of other irrelevant information (Pearson and Mitroff 1993; Boin and Hart 2003); decision makers lack “cognition,” that is the capacity to recognize the degree of emerging risk and to act on that information (Comfort 2007; Comfort et al. 2020).”
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“As Comfort (2007) argues the critical component of emergency response is the human capacity denominated cognition i.e. the ability to recognize the degree of emerging risk and to act on that information.”
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“…overwhelmed and engage in local network adaptation, a common response to disrupted task environments as individuals discard traditional roles and procedures as necessary in order to address the demands of their new task environment (Dynes, 1970; Carley, 1992; Butts et al., 2012; Comfort, 2007).”
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Leroux, J., & Mindykowski, P. (2017) · Cited by 3
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“Research has demonstrated that partnerships and collaboration lead to more successful outcomes, with advantages like organizational learning, cost savings, or access to more resources for organizations [62–65].”
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“This study represents an effort to characterize and define the collective intelligence that emerges among key operational units activated in response to an urgent event that enables them to make viable transitions among different scales of space and time (Comfort, 2007; Comfort & Rhodes, 2022).”
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“In addition, the potential use of the proposed methodology is discussed in the light of research on Hurricane Katrina by Comfort (2007) and Comfort et al. (2010).”
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“The cognition and sharing of emerging and evolving emergency scenarios are crucial for effective emergency responses [63].”
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“In crises, multi level network governance needs cross-sectoral and different levels of government engagement and collective decision-making for coordinated action (Comfort, 2007; Kapucu, 2006; Provan & Kenis, 2008; Witkowski et al., 2023).”
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“Trust remains one of the strongest predictors of compliance during emergencies; citizens are more likely to follow evacuation orders when messages are delivered by credible sources [17].”
Agüero, R. D. L. R. (2026) · Public Administration Review · doi:10.1111/puar.70062 · Cited by 2
“Examples include climate adaptation, emergency preparedness, stormwater management, specialized environmental programs, and public health initiatives (Bishu et al. 2023; Comfort 2007; Petak 1985; Siegel 1985; Schäferhoff 2014; Teodoro and Switzer 2016; Wang et al. 2012; Zhang et al. 2018).”
Frost, M., Houssiere, V., Dore, L., Kerba, S., Liu, S., Guth, J. A., & Omondi, A. L. A. (2026) · Health Communication · doi:10.1080/10410236.2025.2582778 · Cited by 2
“Comfort (2007), for example, used the case of Hurricane Katrina to describe a comprehensive approach to emergency management.”
InfluentialRomanova, V. (2025) · Post-Soviet Affairs · doi:10.1080/1060586x.2025.2547336 · Cited by 2
“However, the country’s resilience is undermined by poor intergovernmental coordination, understood as “aligning resources, tasks and time to achieve a shared goal” (Comfort 2007 cited in Shair-Rosenfield 2024, 2).”
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Roderick, T., Tremblay, M. C., Kohli, R., Castellanos, A., & Pengetnze, Y. (2026) · Information Systems Research · doi:10.1287/isre.2024.1683 · Cited by 2
Capano, G., & D′Angelo, A. (2026) · Disasters · doi:10.1111/disa.70059 · Cited by 2
“Research on disaster governance shows that when it comes to rapid-onset emergencies, political ideology often proves less consequential than organisational capacity, prior crisis experiences, and leaders' epistemic practices (Comfort, 2007; Slavíková, Ra ˇ ska, and Kopá ˇ cek, 2019).”
InfluentialKuo, M.-F., & Wang, C.-Y. (2017) · Chinese Public Administration Review · doi:10.22140/cpar.v8i2.133 · Cited by 2
“Information sharing provides actors in the network with an opportunity to share the database and establish common decisions based on sufficient information (Comfort, 2007; Dawes, 1996).”
BackgroundBiersteker, E., Ferguson, J., Groenewegen, P., & Boersma, K. (2021) · Journal of International Humanitarian Action · doi:10.1186/s41018-021-00103-w · Cited by 2
Xin, Z., Tan, Y., & Rukanova, B. D. (2021) · World Customs Journal · doi:10.55596/001c.116453 · Cited by 2
“Meanwhile, difficulties in information crossing boundaries are also observed, such as different data formats and system incompatibilities (Comfort, 2007), as well as the cost and complexity of implementation (Fawcett et al., 2007).”
BackgroundMalik, M. H. A., Omar, E. N., & Daud, A. (2022) · International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences · doi:10.6007/ijarbss/v12-i7/14317 · Cited by 2
Government Roles in the COVID-19 Pandemic Response
Liou, K. T., & Liou, A. K. (2022) · Public Administration Quarterly · doi:10.37808/paq.46.4.3 · Cited by 2
“…the need to collaborate across sectors, disciplines, jurisdictions, and levels of authority to effectively respond to large scale natural or manmade crises (e.g., Bynander & Nohrstedt, 2020; Comfort, 2007; Kapucu et al., 2010; McGuire et al., 2010; Nohrstedt et al., 2018; Waugh & Streib, 2006).”
BackgroundA Decade of Netcentric Crisis Management: Challenges and Future Development
Wolbers, J., Treurniet, W., & Boersma, K. (2023) · Public administration and information technology · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-20939-0_5 · Cited by 2
Reclaiming the Authority to Plan: Recentralization of COVID-19 Response in Ghana
Agomor, K. S., Langnel, Z., & Abubakari, M. (2023) · International Journal of Public Administration · doi:10.1080/01900692.2023.2209827 · Cited by 2
“By conceptualization, while centralized approach emphasizes coherent emergency-management strategy (Waugh & Streib, 2006), decentralized system discusses the interactions between levels of governments and its consequential impact on policy interventions (Comfort, 2007).”
Zebrowski, C. R., Sage, D. J., & Jörden, N. (2024) · Critical Studies on Security · doi:10.1080/21624887.2024.2417483 · Cited by 2
“…improve – that is better inform and accelerate – decision-making by providing responders with higher quality information, a greater amount of it, and, crucially, to present this information in a manner that allows it to be rapidly, yet comprehensively processed (Comfort 2007; Comfort et al. 2004).”
Metadata
- 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
- 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
- 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 › Safety Research › 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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