Frontiers of Engineering Reports on Leading-Edge Engineering from the 2018 Symposium (2019) / Chapter Skim
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Combining Formal and Informal Structures in Crisis Response - Willow Brugh, Galit Sorokin, and Gerald R. Scott
Combining Formal and Informal Structures in Crisis Response - Willow Brugh, Galit Sorokin, and Gerald R. Scott
Pages 37-48
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From page 37... ...
Attempts to improve coordination during crises by synchronizing and planning outside of a crisis setting often fail because of either lack of representation from informal and ad hoc response groups or competing priorities and requirements in formal organizations. Working with formal and informal response groups, this project sought to improve coordination by creating a game to help responders develop the knowledge, skills, and networking capacities necessary to interact and coordinate with each other in the field.
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From page 38... ...
In fact, it has been used in training workshops conducted by offices of emergency services seeking to understand and improve the integration of volunteers and informal response organizations in their disaster response operations, and it led to insights for collaboration opportunities during the responses to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. This paper explains the problem, why building a game was the course of action chosen, the methods we used to create the game, and preliminary results.
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From page 39... ...
Informal response entities often have or are able to quickly gather high- resolution information and data. Neighborhood needs are rapidly assessed, support and failure points are known, and local knowledge is quickly disseminated.
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From page 40... ...
ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY, COLLABORATION, AND COOPERATION Formal organizations share certain characteristics -- some level of hierarchy, bureaucracy, and norms of internal and external communication -- that can be used in organizational theory models to describe and enhance understanding of how they function. Bureaucratic political theory, epistemic community theory, and game theory each provide insights on how cooperation and collaboration1 can develop in an often discordant emergency response ecosystem (Scott 2003)
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From page 41... ...
3) , "an epistemic community is a network of professionals with recognized expertise and competence in a particular domain and an authoritative claim to policy-relevant knowledge within that domain or issue-area." Although Haas was writing about international politics, epistemic communities are also found in the disaster response ecosystem.
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From page 42... ...
THE PROJECT In creating and play testing the game, we focused on reducing duplication of effort between formal and informal organizations to support more effective placement of resources; on understanding how trust impacts the ability and motives of various actors; and on building visibility and trust between the different groups. The objective of the game was to create understanding about why some actors behave the way they do and to thereby create a faster feedback loop around lack of collaboration and ineffective response.
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From page 43... ...
Their study concerned an effort of deliberate change, and the goal of our game-building project was similarly to instigate change in how formal and informal organizations interact in disaster response. Selection of Game Development Team To represent formal and informal perspectives, invitees for the game creation group were from local response groups (the Empowered Communities Project, San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, Salvation Army Crisis Response)
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From page 44... ...
It was okay to be wrong. Day 3 • Participants visualized the game flow to identify effective aspects (figure 2)
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From page 45... ...
Templates to generate more cards of each type 4. A process for capturing and enacting feedback from play testers3 The game reveals how different player types behave, how duplication of efforts and subsequent waste impact the response ecosystem, and how working together might enhance response efficiency.
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From page 46... ...
Even formal groups are forced into coordination during a response, regardless of investment of resources in precrisis partnerships. The informal sector is by definition unorganized until an event occurs, with energy expended in doing what it can rather than in becoming familiar with existing resources.
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From page 47... ...
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research described here was funded by the Office of the Secretary of Defense through the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Joint Interagency Field Experimentation and performed for Georgia Tech Research Institute by Willow Brugh.
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From page 48... ...
2004. Disaster exercise outcomes for professional emergency personnel and citizen vol unteers.
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