Much of the work on reading skills, for instance, makes use of the readiness concept.
The oddity of the readiness measuring system is that forces involved in actual military operations score lower under it.
A head of state faces a blizzard of factors to consider, everything from historical analogies and satellite-derived intelligence to assessments of the readiness of potential allies.
Her father retired as the deputy assistant director of the readiness response and recovery directorate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Family owners balk at taking their firms public and in the past have not had to do so because of the readiness of banks to fund their enterprises.
"He's selectively culled barnacles of the readiness issue, but many are out of context," said Mr. Adams, who now directs the security policy studies program at George Washington University.
Hyundai's precarious cash position threatens to harm North-South relations, which have begun to improve in recent years in part because of the readiness of Hyundai to invest freely in projects in the North.
Senator Robert C. Byrd, a Democrat from West Virginia, and Senator John Warner, a Republican from Virginia, came up with the idea for an outside examination of the readiness of the Iraqi security forces.
That image derived from her long confinement to a hospital after a cancer diagnosis and was a persuasive example of the readiness of many young Japanese artists to use intimate events and feelings as a basis for work.
The 45-minute claim has often been cited by war opponents as evidence of the readiness of Mr. Blair and his officials to cite any evidence, however dubious, in support of their determination to go to war.
"We've seen some red [warning signs] in terms of the readiness of the offices of DfID to prepare for the scale of funding that has suddenly come through their doors and the skills they need to oversee that funding effectively," said Mark Foster, a commissioner at Icai and author of the report.
