Application of the “water flow decision pattern” to Asian disaster response

This research aimed to provide a new decision pattern toward the ultimate goal of improving Asian disaster management. The “water flow decision pattern,” which is likened to the natural flow of water, was proposed to facilitate smooth decision-making by decision makers. Text document analysis with emphasis on a qualitative technique was used as the major methodology. Five failure cases were analyzed: the sinking of the ferry Sewol in Korea, the drought in India, the SARS outbreak in China, the nuclear leakage in Fukushima, and the typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The key finding was that the water flow decision pattern comprehensively combines five decision factors, namely, weight, availability, timeliness, emplacement, and roundabout. Hence, Asian nations may consider its application as a theoretical frame in the future, after appropriate training and exercise are carried out.