Course Name: Dissertation (UU-MBA-711-ZM )
Name:
Student ID Number:
Title: Literature Review
Tutor’s Name: Dr. Kinga Lowrie
Date: 2022, 24 July
1
,Chapter 2: Literature-Review
The nature of this research leads the studies to be focused on resources published in the last
two decades to seek the proper answer for the aforementioned research-question and objectives.
Hence, over 40 different articles, reports, books, and published interviews have been studied as a
source of information. Much of the literature review involving disaster-management and crisis
responses revolve around natural disasters or previous epidemiologic infectious-diseases (e.g.
Ebola, Zika, SARS, etc.). Noteworthy, as the main concern of this research, was to enlighten
how South-Africa deal with the crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic, blogs and news were also
considered to gather more information. A systematic review of literature has been structured base
on the following topics:
Disaster-Management
Crisis-Management
Community-Leadership and Community-engagement
2.1. Disaster-Management
In 2006, Coppola defined disaster-management as a combination of all processes and
measures regarding to be prepare for a successful respond to disasters due to achieve a disaster
relief. The fundamentals of disaster management were discussed by Carter (2008) in his
“Disaster Manager’s Handbook” in which he provides a detailed explanation of the disaster-
management cycle (Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery) and also categorized
disaster management into pre-disaster, during-disaster and post-disaster phases. Mathbor (2007),
pointed out the importance of Indigenous Knowledge and social role as an embedded adoption
tool for community survival. Indigenous knowledge refers to the specific culture and lifestyle of
the society in which many local communities will be equipped with readiness, on how to cope
with natural disasters surrounding them. Long before advanced technology and warning systems
provide disaster risk reduction, indigenous knowledge was passed down from previous
generations among local communities (Shaw 2004; Shaw, Uy & Baumwoll,2008; El-
Gack,2012).
2
, In 2010, Patterson, Weil, and Patel propound the importance of community-engagement
in coping with disaster to build trust between all levels of government and its constituents.
Moreover, they discussed various community engagements in which this trust might undermine
during a disaster; inefficient social institutions, weak social networks, top-down governance, and
social divisions. Additionally, they accentuate the role of stakeholders in recognizing the
recovery needs and their dynamic information exchange.
Zubir and Amirrol (2011), articulate that risk reduction is more effective at the
community level, and a top-down approach is insufficient and frequently ignore the local needs
and potential value of local resources. Hence, they presented the notion of community-based
disaster reduction. They presented this concept from previous research conducted in various
fields of disaster mitigation focusing on community (Nakagawa & Shaw,2004) and presented the
approach to incorporating disaster-management into holistic community development. The
rationale for community-based activities and their involvement is rooted in the society and their
culture (Shaw & Okazaki,2003). In this essence, disaster-management cannot be considered as
one single issue and need to be incorporated into socioeconomic local community activities. A
community-based disaster reduction will be most successful and effective by involving the direct
participation and engagement of local people exposed to the hazards, at the decision-making,
planning, and operational level. Therefore, people can express their real priorities, needs, and
problems to the local leaders.
The research on various aspects of disaster-management continued in the following years.
Cozzolino (2012), emphasized on four stages of the disaster-management from the humanitarian
aspects, while Kulig and his colleagues-(2013) argued the community resilience during the
disaster. They defined community resilience as degree of adaptability to the change circumstance
for the community. The importance of community resilience during the acute and recovery phase
of disaster considering the community’s capacity to identify needs (financial, social, labour
force, and etc.). The research on disaster resilience continues by scholars focusing on community
adoption’s ability to exposure to hazards, shocks, or stress without compromising long-term
prospects for development (Combaz,2014) or emphasizing applying principles of indigenous
knowledge regarding implementation requires process and participation of broader stakeholders
(Ramnath, 2014).
3
