This essay examines basic functions of crisis decision‐making—cognition, communication, coordination, and control—in response to COVID‐19. This crisis decision‐making framework is applied to cases from South Korea, Italy, and the United States as public officials grapple with how to recognize, respond, and recover from this deadly, invisible threat. The authors acknowledge the harsh trade‐off between the compelling need to limit transmission of the virus to protect public health and the consequent economic losses of halting social interaction. They draw implications from this crisis for better decision‐making and investment in a global information infrastructure system to manage large‐scale, multidisciplinary threats to the health, economy, and sustainability of the world's community of nations. The essay concludes that collective cognition, amplified by timely, valid communication and supported by sound planning, trained personnel, appropriate technology, and bold leadership, enables coordinated action needed to bring a large‐scale global crisis under control. Evidence for Practice Invest in information technology to manage systematic data collection, analysis, and modeling. Provide timely, informed updates on community status to constituents. Maintain a knowledge base of resources, vulnerabilities, and plans.

This study explores the role of knowledge access and peer influence as mechanisms by which networks may shape teacher self-efficacy. The basic premise is twofold: (a) that peer interaction provides opportunities to access teaching relevant knowledge and thus may reduce uncertainty and (b) that selfefficacy beliefs may be shaped by the efficacy beliefs of the peers one is directly connected to in the advice network. The results suggest that both mechanisms may shape teacher self-efficacy and that the quality of ties, rather than the quantity, may have a stronger influence on self-efficacy. These findings offer new insight into the potential ways in which social networks and collegial interaction influence teacher beliefs.

University of Illinois at Chicago. His research focuses on network formation and the effect of social structure on individual and collective behavior, decision making, and performance. He has worked with nearly 100 schools across the United States on issues of collaboration, knowledge exchange, and reform. He also studies organizational collaboration in the context of local service provision and emergency management.Abstract: Interpersonal networks are increasingly important for organizational learning and performance. However, little is known about how these networks emerge. In this article, exponential random graph models are employed to explore the underlying processes of advice network formation in 15 organizations. Th e author examines the infl uence of (1) structural eff ects (reciprocity, transitivity, multiplexity), (2) actor attribute eff ects (job function, tenure, education, self-effi cacy), and (3) peer competition. Results suggest that employees rely more on reciprocity, closure, and similarity in job function than on peer expertise or status when seeking advice. In addition, employees who perceive greater levels of competition with peers are signifi cantly less likely to both seek and provide advice. As public organizations look to private sector strategies that promote internal competition to improve effi ciency and accountability, public managers need to be aware of the negative implications those strategies can have on interpersonal networks and organizational learning.

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In her research, she explores how educators' social networks change during educational reform. Drawing on complexity theory and literature on dynamic systems, she aims to understand how this network change supports and constrains school improvement in terms of teachers' instructional practice and student achievement. University of Illinois at Chicago. His research focuses on network formation and the effect of social structure on individual and collective behavior, decision making, and performance. He has worked with nearly 100 schools across the United States on issues of collaboration, knowledge exchange, and reform. He also studies collaboration in the context of local service provision, emergency management, and science policy.Abstract : Utilizing a cognitive perspective, this article examines the social processes through which teachers come to understand the Common Core State Standards. The authors begin by identifying three beliefs that have important implications for policy implementation: self-efficacy, resource adequacy, and value for clients. They measure those beliefs and the Common Core discussion networks that emerge among teachers at three points in time. Through the use of SIENA models, the authors explore how networks and beliefs coevolve within schools. Unlike prior research on social networks, which consistently finds strong homophilous tendencies, this research finds no evidence that teachers seek out coworkers who hold similar beliefs. Rather, teachers relied on preexisting formal and informal relationships to guide interactions. Those interactions were characterized by social influence, whereby a teacher ' s own beliefs adapted toward the beliefs held by the members of their social network. The findings offer a novel perspective on the complex dynamic that occurs within organizations as new policies are unveiled and employees interact with one another to understand the changes those policies entail. Practitioner Points• Individual policy beliefs, which shape implementation decisions and behaviors, are socially constructed and legitimized. • When faced with large-scale policy change, bureaucrats engage one another in a collective sensemaking process characterized by peer dialogue and discussion. • While discussion networks emerge when new policy is introduced, they are influenced by preexisting informal and formal relationships within the organization. • Bureaucrats both seek and are sought for discussions based on their own efficacy in understanding the policy, their perception of resource adequacy for implementation, and the value they see in the reform. • Over time, individual policy beliefs assimilate toward the beliefs held by peers. This suggests that central members of an organization ' s informal network carry significant weight in shaping collective beliefs.