Organisational learning and self-adaptation in dynamic disaster environments

This paper examines the problems associated with inter-organisational learning and adaptation in the dynamic environments that characterise disasters. The research uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate whether organisational learning took place during and in the time in between five disaster response operations in Turkey. The availability of information and its exchange and distribution within and among organisational actors determine whether self-adaptation happens in the course of a disaster response operation. Organisational flexibility supported by an appropriate information infrastructure creates conditions conducive to essential interaction and permits the flow of information. The study found that no significant organisational learning occurred within Turkish disaster management following the earthquakes in Erzincan (1992), Dinar (1995) and Ceyhan (1998). By contrast, the 'symmetry-breaking' Marmara earthquake of 1999 initiated a 'double loop' learning process that led to change in the organisational, technical and cultural aspects of Turkish disaster management, as revealed by the Duzce earthquake response operations.     

Role of information in collective action in dynamic disaster environments

This study explores the major issues facing collective response operations after destructive earthquakes. The small-n case study design employs qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate the decision-making process in a context of seismic risk to exemplify how public managers can utilise information and communication systems to ensure collaborative actions in managing an extreme event. Fifty-eight semi-structured interviews with 39 key decision-makers and researchers and content analyses of daily reports from Cumhuriyet comprise the main data sources. The study compares and contrasts the Turkish disaster management system following the Marmara and Duzce earthquakes of 1999. It addresses whether the use of information and communication technologies significantly affected its performance. The study's findings reveal that difficulties in accessing and exchanging timely and accurate disaster-relevant information inhibited coordination during the Marmara response while increased communication functions improved coordination and search-and-rescue activities during the Duzce response.