| Natural-disaster planning and restoration leadership competencies are addressed in this qualitative case study. The increase in U.S. natural disaster expenditures from 1975 to 2005 created a burden on the U.S. economy, which in turn reduced small-business opportunities such as business development, sustainability, and growth. The problem was exacerbated by a limited amount of literature on natural-disaster leadership competencies thus, an attempt was made to fill the gap partially. The three-phase research plan consisted of a data collection phase, analysis phase, and data presentation phase to focus on the disaster-planning and restoration-leadership competencies surrounding the April 28, 2002, tornado event in La Plata, Maryland. Four personal interviews and three focus groups included volunteer leaders from small businesses and the La Plata government. Small-business, government, and non-profit leaders had executed successful natural-disaster planning and restoration efforts based on social networks. Lessons learned were noted and acted upon by La Plata government and small-business leaders to reduce natural-disaster vulnerabilities in the event of a future tornado. Long-term natural-disaster restoration efforts required a mixture of charismatic, transactional, transformational, and servant leadership styles during the 2002 La Plata natural-disaster event recovery and restoration phases. Future research could be conducted on different tornado events to compare and contrast the findings with the findings contained within this qualitative case study. |
