Non-governmental organizations working in disasters: conductance and resistance factors in relationships, structures and power
Date
2021
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) carry out much of the disaster response work in both United States and international settings. However, NGOs are not bound by any formal external coordination mechanism, leaving them free to choose how much, or even, whether, to relate to official coordination efforts. However, their interactions constitute a kind of informal coordination as they may make decisions based on exchanges and observations of other NGOs. ☐ This qualitative study used a base of organizational relations theory to identify factors that encourage and discourage NGO interchanges. The study focused on NGO working in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. In late September, 2018, Hurricane Maria swept over the island of Puerto Rico destroying thousands of houses, damaging roofs of thousands more and leaving the entire island without communication or electric power. Scores of NGOs went into action following the hurricane, although Puerto Rico’s unique situation as a U.S. territory with a Latin American culture confounded both NGOs accustomed to working internationally and organizations whose normal scope of activity was within the 50 U.S. states. ☐ Data was collected through in-person and telephone interviews, observations of NGO meetings and conferences and in archival examination of NGO web sites. The results showed eight factors that influence NGOs interactions with one another. Factors that were primarily external were the Puerto Rico environment, uncertainty, informal nature of coordination, and improvisation and emergence. All exhibited both positive and negative effects on NGO interaction except improvisation and emergence which was found to be largely negative. Factors that were primarily internal to NGOs were organizational culture, desire for efficacy, power factors, and affinity. These also had negative and positive effects on NGO interaction, excepting a desire to work more efficiently, which seemed to conduct NGOs primarily toward more interaction. ☐ Using a conductance/resistance framework to analyze NGO interactions, the study finds that coordination for NGOs in Puerto Rico is a value. It is also largely informal, a fact that NGOs used to their advantage, deciding when to coordinate their actions with other organizations and when to work mostly alone. The unique Puerto Rican setting highlighted the importance of place in disaster work, affecting every aspect of NGO work. Hurricane Maria response work proceeded more slowly than responses to many storms in the U.S. as NGOs came to terms with a setting that was unfamiliar to them. ☐ This study shows that NGOs in Puerto Rico relied on information from their exchanges with one another to make their disaster response decisions. In that way it contributes to a better understanding of how the interactions happened and how they may have affected the way that disaster response is carried out.
Description
Keywords
Disaster response, Non-Governmental Organizations, Non-profits, National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters, Organizational coordination, Organizational interaction, Puerto Rico