Man-made Catastrophes and Risk Information Concealment (eBook)

Case Studies of Major Disasters and Human Fallibility

Dmitry Chernov, Didier Sornette (Autoren)

eBook Download: PDF

2015 | 1st ed. 2016
342 Seiten
Springer International Publishing (Verlag)
978-3-319-24301-6 (ISBN)

Infos

This book discusses the risks of information concealment in the context of major natural or industrial disasters - offering detailed descriptions and analyses of some 25 historical cases (Three Mile Island nuclear accident, Bhopal disaster, Challenger Space Shuttle explosion, Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear disaster, Enron's bankruptcy, Subprime mortgage crisis, Worldwide Spanish flu and SARS outbreaks, etc.) and applying these insights to selected on-going cases where such information concealment is suspected. Some successful examples of preventive anti-concealment practice are also presented.

In the book, the term 'concealment' is used to represent the two distinct behaviors uncovered in the investigations: (i) facts and information about an organization and its functioning being hidden from those that need them - here the concealment can be due to various factors, such as complexity and miscommunication, to name but two - and (ii) the conscious and deliberate action of keeping important information secret or misrepresenting it. This second meaning makes up a surprisingly important part of the evidence presented. 

Accordingly, emphasis has been put on this second aspect and the approach is more pragmatic than academic, remaining focused on evidence-based practical and useful factors. It raises awareness and provides valuable lessons for decision- makers, risk specialists and responsible citizens alike. This work is also intended as a fact-based reference work for future academic and scholarly investigations on the roots of the problem, in particular regarding any psychological or sociological modeling of human fallibility.  

Dmitry Chernov is a researcher in the Chair of Entrepreneurial Risks at ETH Zurich. He has more than 15 years of experience as a corporate communication consultant in the former Soviet Union Republics, focusing on improving investor and government relations, as well as crisis communication within the following industries: oil and gas, chemical, electric power, metals and mining, telecommunication, transport, etc. He specializes on researching solutions for efficient risk information transmission that enables timely decision-making before and during industrial disasters.

Didier Sornette is Professor on the Chair of Entrepreneurial Risks at the ETH Zurich, Director of the Financial Crisis Observatory, Co-founder of the ETH Risk Center and member of the Swiss Finance Institute.  He has received many prizes and honors, among them the 2000 Research McDonnell award and the Risques-Les Echos prize 2002. He is a Fellow of the World Innovation Foundation (2004) and, since 2013, of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Prof. Sornette has edited and authored a number books, many of them published by Springer and is a member of the Editorial and Advisory Board of the Springer Complexity publishing program.   

Inhalt

Preface.- Setting the landscape.- Examples of risk information concealment practice.- Causes of risk information concealment.- Major on-going cases with information concealment practice.- Succesful risk information management.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 27.10.2015
• Zusatzinfo: XVII, 342 p.
• Verlagsort: Cham
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Technik
• Themenwelt: Wirtschaft ► Betriebswirtschaft / Management
• Schlagworte: Business philosophy and environmental safety • Industrial Pollution Prevention • Man-made environmental disasters • Quality Control, Reliability, Safety and Risk • Risk assessment and management • Risk communication and decision-making • Risk Information Concealment
• ISBN-10: 3-319-24301-2 / 3319243012
• ISBN-13: 978-3-319-24301-6 / 9783319243016