Interorganizational Collaboration in the Hurricane Katrina Response^*

Abstract

In this paper, we employ archival materials from multiple institutional sources to reconstruct the dynamic network of interorganizational collaboration that emerged in response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster of late 2005. Over the period from initial storm formation through the first week following landfall in Louisiana, we record active participation by over 1,500 organizations in response activities. We here conduct an exploratory analysis of the growth and evolution of the network of collaboration among responding organizations, an identification of organizations that emerged as central actors in the response process, and the cohesive subgroups that crystallized within the larger network. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of several issues related to the use of archival methods in research on interorganizational networks in disaster settings, and to the use of automated methods for network extraction.

Nonprofit and public sector interorganizational collaboration in disaster recovery: Lessons from the field

“…have identified the complexities and subsequent challenges in this domain. Notable disasters such as Exxon Valdez, World Trade Center Attacks, Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and Haiti earthquake have highlighted failures in interorganizational collaboration (Butts, Action, & Marcum, ; Comfort & Kapucu, ; Kapucu, ; Nolte & Boenigk, ; Raju & Becker, ; Topper & Carley, ). Recent disasters such as Hurricane Maria continue to point toward failures of collaboration between organizations (FEMA, ).…”

“…The role of interorganizational collaboration between the nonprofit and public sectors was not immune to this scrutiny. Butts et al () reconstructed the dynamic network of interorganizational collaboration in the nonprofit and public sectors that emerged in response to Hurricane Katrina. This article identified that an enabler of collaboration was the role of a prominent nonprofit organization, the American Red Cross.…”

“…This article identified that an enabler of collaboration was the role of a prominent nonprofit organization, the American Red Cross. This organization fulfilled a critical bridging role between organizations and maintained the most number of collaborations with partner organizations during the initial response (Butts et al, ). Ordinarily, an expectation in emergency management would be that a government organization would maintain the most collaborative partnerships.…”

Cognition and communication: situational awareness and tie preservation in disrupted task environments

“…Staying abreast of alters' needs in an unpredictable environment and increased volumes of information individuals must process and transmit to others ultimately limit the amount of effort one can devote to supporting nonessential communication channels. These elevated cognitive burdens enhance the likelihood that individuals will become overwhelmed and engage in local network adaptation, a common response to disrupted task environments as individuals discard traditional roles and procedures as necessary in order to address the demands of their new task environment (Dynes, 1970;Carley, 1992;Butts et al, 2012;Comfort, 2007). Additionally, such environments frequently induce sense breaking in individuals (Maitlis & Christianson, 2014), in which individuals challenge their assumptions about the way the world (or, at least, their organization) works.…”

Critical Time, Space, and Decision‐Making Agent Considerations in Human‐Centered Interdisciplinary Hurricane‐Related Research

“…Furthermore, despite the increasing prevalence of work on social media use in disasters, there have been only a few efforts (e.g., Li & Zobel, 2016) that look at social media in such a business context. Improving capabilities for capturing dynamics for situational awareness for agency or government decision-making agents (Butts, Acton, & Marcum, 2012;Petrescu-Prahova & Butts, 2008) could leverage social media data and physical sensors used by transportation and power engineers. This requires methods to validate the socially-generated data and ensure its accuracy and relevance.…”