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8 - Structures

Organizing versus Disorganizing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2023

Jori P. Kalkman
Affiliation:
Netherlands Defense Academy
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Summary

Crisis research focuses primarily on how response structures should be organized. There are ongoing debates about the required degree of flexibility in the response structure and what role emergent groups should have. A shared assumption in this research is that organization and structure are synonymous with order in a crisis and enable a rapid, coordinated response. Disorganization, by extension, is criticized for crisis response failures. This view ignores the risk of over-organization and crisis response rigidity. In uncertain crises, disorganizing might produce a looser, less ordered structure that facilitates a novel, adaptive response. The dilemma for frontline responders revolves around the need for both organizing and disorganizing during crises. It is worthwhile noting that different types and phases of the crisis demand different forms of reorganizing. The reorganizing process, through disorganizing and organizing, needs to be ongoing throughout the duration of the crisis situation to ensure that crisis demands and organizational response structures evolve synchronously.

Type
Chapter
Information
Frontline Crisis Response
Operational Dilemmas in Emergency Services, Armed Forces, and Humanitarian Organizations
, pp. 118 - 134
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Structures
  • Jori P. Kalkman, Netherlands Defense Academy
  • Book: Frontline Crisis Response
  • Online publication: 28 September 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009262170.008
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  • Structures
  • Jori P. Kalkman, Netherlands Defense Academy
  • Book: Frontline Crisis Response
  • Online publication: 28 September 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009262170.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Structures
  • Jori P. Kalkman, Netherlands Defense Academy
  • Book: Frontline Crisis Response
  • Online publication: 28 September 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009262170.008
Available formats
×