Understanding informal volunteer behavior for fast and resilient disaster recovery: an application of entrepreneurial effectuation theory

Abstract

PurposeExamine and understand how an informal volunteer’s goals and actions develop from the moment they first learn about a disaster.Design/methodology/approachWe examine informal volunteerism (the activities of people who work outside of formal emergency and disaster management arrangements) through the theoretical lens of entrepreneurial effectuation to explain informal volunteer behavior and cognition and gain insight on how they develop their disaster relief ventures.FindingsWe find that informal volunteers follow an effectual logic, relying on available means to take advantage of opportunities as they are recognized or created. Application of effectuation vs causation processes depended on whether the informal volunteers were categorized as traditional, emergent or extended volunteers.Practical implicationsInformal volunteers’ disregard for the Affordable Loss Principle task governments and disaster relief organizations with the important challenge of managing and assuring the safety and well-being of informal volunteers. Their entrepreneurial behavior also invites the establishment of formal processes to counsel and guide informal volunteers, helping them fill out the necessary paperwork and funding applications to develop their efforts.Social implicationsThrough their experimentation and flexibility, informal volunteers accelerate disaster recovery, recognizing opportunities, working around bureaucracy and other roadblocks that hinder the efforts of established organizations. They also demonstrate entrepreneurial behavior that helps revitalize and jumpstart the local economy, making for stronger and more resilient communitiesOriginality/valueThis study borrows from Effectuation Theory from the entrepreneurship field in order to bring a much needed theoretical lens to the topic and greatly assists informal volunteerism research, moving from past efforts that simply define and categorize the concept.

Uncovering the effectual-causal resilience nexus in the era of Covid-19: A case of a food sector SME's resilience in the face of the global pandemic

“…Conversely, Burnard and Bhamra (2011) argue for process stages of detection (and activation), responses demonstrating resilience and learning with resilience capacity. Others see resilience as a developmental process, affecting the physical and emotional wellbeing of organisations ( Bonanno, 2004 ; Monllor, Pavez, & Pareti, 2020 ). We therefore conceptualise resilience as a dynamic process ( Billington et al, 2017 ), a lens well suited to uncovering mechanisms and how this relates to different resilience patterns.…”

Volunteers' perceived preparedness, training, experiences and satisfaction in a mass COVID‐19 pandemic vaccine clinic

“…Trained community volunteers such as members of the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) can be part of formal volunteer pool and are a great resource that can help with sheltering, staffing, consultations and the fulfilment of other evolving needs (Marshall et al, 2021). Key steps in working with informal volunteers include background checks, consistent credentialing and verification of licensure; just‐in‐time training; regular evaluation of performance; benefits; acknowledgement of liabilities; risk management; and the mitigation of injuries related to the disaster (Monllor et al, 2020; Sauer et al, 2014). Resources may be available in multiple ways, but gaps such as lack of training, and resource constraints limit disaster leaders' ability to safeguard the nation's health during extraordinary events.…”

“…When properly trained, volunteers are effective in alleviating the burdens of a disaster. Informal volunteers, especially those with local knowledge can be helpful, but those who have not received formal training have, historically, been viewed as a burden or liability for disaster management teams (Monllor et al, 2020; Whittaker et al, 2015). Volunteers can also be a liability for the government and disaster relief organizations responsible for volunteers' safety.…”

Attribution of Community Emergency Volunteer Behaviour During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study of Community Residents in Shanghai, China

“…In addition, citizen networks, institutional trust, party membership, and types of work units are closely related to the voluntary services of government organizations (Wu et al, 2018 ). For example, in Shanghai, a coexistence of non-governmental emergency volunteer service organizations and normal volunteers in the system has been initially formed (Monllor et al, 2020 ).…”