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New Yorkers Respond to the World Trade Center Attack: An Anatomy of an Emergent Volunteer Organization
Author(s) -
Voorhees William R.
Publication year - 2008
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/j.1468-5973.2008.00530.x
Subject(s) - legitimacy , world trade center , ground zero , public relations , center (category theory) , phenomenon , emergency management , organizational structure , political science , business , knowledge management , law , computer science , chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , politics , terrorism , crystallography
In the aftermath of the New York World Trade Center attack, an emergent group of citizen volunteers organized to provide needed supplies to the workers at Ground Zero. The emergent‐group phenomenon has been documented after many disasters. This paper examines the organization of this emergent group through the organizational characteristics of structure, legitimacy, communications, leadership and organizational change. Finally, it argues that through a better understanding of the organizational characteristics, emergency‐management personnel will be better prepared to manage and coordinate the activities of disaster‐related emergent groups.