Organizational Adaptation to Crises: Mechanisms of Coordination and Structural Change
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Date
1976-11
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Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Disaster Research Center
Abstract
Description
Much of social life is so structured that behavior occurs rather routinely. Most of the time, established and standardized procedures are followed, manifesting themselves in the habitual behavior of individuals and/or the traditional actions of groups. At times however internal and/or external factors generate enough stress and strain so that it is possible to think of responding entities as being in a state of crisis. Crises required the reworking of established and standardized procedures or the creation of new means as well as of organizations for carrying them out. In large part, the direction of response of groups and organizations is for certain aspects of emergent behavior to be combined with elements of routinized organizational behavior. (Dynes and Quarantelli, 1968; Brouilette and Quarantelli 1969; Dynes 1970)
Keywords
structural change, stress, strain, behavior