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Organizational Networks in Times of Crisis: Lessons from Katrina
Author(s) -
Curtis Christopher A.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of contingencies and crisis management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.007
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1468-5973
pISSN - 0966-0879
DOI - 10.1111/1468-5973.12138
Subject(s) - hurricane katrina , government (linguistics) , disaster response , emergency management , public relations , test (biology) , business , social network analysis , crisis management , content analysis , political science , public administration , natural disaster , social media , sociology , geography , law , paleontology , social science , philosophy , linguistics , meteorology , biology
The purpose of this study was to examine how well organizations that could have potentially aided in the response to Hurricane Katrina were integrated into the relief effort following the disaster using a social network analysis framework. It was hypothesized that a number of organizations were kept isolated from or peripheral to mitigation efforts. Quantitative content analysis of media reports and government documents was performed to test this hypothesis, which was confirmed. The results of this study suggest that if relief efforts are to be more successful in the future, organizations with valuable resources must be included in the interorganizational networks of responders before and immediately after disasters take place.