Shrivastava 's professional work is rooted in a concern for human-technology-nature relationships . Having grown up in the small town of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh in the 1950s and 60s , he was enchanted by the promise of technology to improve the lives of people . He studied engineering in college and graduated first ( gold medal ) in his mechanical engineering class . He received a Post Graduate Diploma in Management at IIM Calcutta and Ph.D. from University of Pittsburgh . The Bhopal disaster ( the worst industrial accident in history ) revealed the two-headedness of technology , and he turned to examining the risks and crises associated with industrial technologies , leading to systematic studies of crisis management . The field of crisis management has emerged since then as a vital field of study . It is concerned with identifying systemic causes and consequences of crises . It has led to development of crisis management and crisis prevention practices in the areas of industrial disasters , computer disasters , risk management , worker safety , metals mining and oil industries
Bhopal disaster
Bhopal disaster
Paul Shrivastava