The Dynamics of Interorganizational Collaboration in Disaster Management: A Network Study Based on Flood Disasters in China

Abstract

Interorganizational collaboration networks have become an important tool for disaster management. However, research on how different organizations can effectively collaborate throughout the entire disaster management process in centralized states such as China is scarce. This study begins to fill this lacuna by investigating interorganizational collaboration in different phases of disaster management and analyzing changes in the structure of the networks constructed during the preparedness and response phases of the 2020 flood disaster in Hubei Province, China. Building on the complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory, we argue that interorganizational collaboration changes dynamically according to its tasks and requirements. In the preparedness phase, interorganizational collaborations primarily follow established plans and choose horizontal self-organized collaboration mechanisms. However, when the urgent information and resource requirements increase in the response phase, many organizations choose vertical mandatory collaboration mechanisms. We found that organizations at the central and provincial levels in China were well positioned to coordinate information and resources and strengthen the interorganizational collaboration and communication that is crucial in disaster management. These findings contribute to the study of interorganizational collaboration networks in disaster management.