Several lawmakers have criticized the administration for what they describe as a tardy response to the listeria outbreak, first detected this summer, and for not adopting new safety standards beforehand.

Mr. Davis has damaged himself with his admittedly tardy responses to the state's energy and budget crises.

Indeed, Japan's Government has long been criticized for its slow, consensus-based decision making, which often produces tardy and ineffective responses to calamities from terrorism to natural disasters.

The film has no major new revelations about the outrageously tardy response of the Bush administration to the crisis, as if any were needed.

The swift response contrasts sharply with the tardy response to major droughts in the region in 2005 and 2010.

Gulfstream's new race would be a tardy response to a problem whose resolution lies in the future of Florida winter racing.

Judge Kessler chastised the Energy Department for its "woefully tardy" response to the request for files, saying the information was "of extraordinary public interest."

The production of up-to-date Class Lists has been delayed due to the tardy response of teachers to requests for current details.

Mr. Kramer cannot solve the medical mystery of the virus or the psychological mystery of the world's tardy response to the peril.

The tardy response seems to have resulted partly from the bureaucratic system and the consensus-style of management for which Japan is noted.