Conditions for Successful Collaboration in Emergency Response

Evidence From a Survey Experiment of Organized Search and Rescue Volunteers in Norway

Bibliographic Data

ID7158959
AuthorsDag Wollebæk (0000-0003-1186-9230, Institute for Social Research Oslo Norway), Vibeke Wøien Hansen (0000-0003-0960-5463, Institute for Social Research Oslo Norway, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume33
Issue1
Publication date2025-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Contingencies and Crisis Management (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0966-0879 • E-ISSN: 1468-5973
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1468-5973.70034
OpenAlexW4408376563
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited36

Trust, previous collaboration history, power asymmetry, and shifts from horizontal to hierarchical governance are factors that have been argued and, to some extent, shown to impact the success of collaboration. However, we know little about how these factors play out in the context of emergency response collaboration, particularly between public authorities and organized search and rescue (SAR) volunteers. Using a conjoint experiment with organized SAR volunteers in Norway, we examine how collaboration that blends hierarchical command and horizontal network coordination works in practice by randomly varying multiple features of a hypothetical mission. Our exploratory study confirms that the shift from horizontal to vertical modes of governance poses a challenge for collaborative emergency response. Furthermore, the findings highlight that trust, as social capital built through repeated interactions, is a key resource in multi‐actor emergency management, both as an initial condition and during the response phase

Aeronautics · Business · Emergency response · Medical emergency · Operations management · Search and rescue · Computer Science · Disaster Management and Resilience · Engineering · Medicine · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Public Policy and Administration Research