Joanne R. Stevenson

Organizational Networks and Recovery Following the Canterbury Earthquakes

Following a disaster, the recovery of organizations is influenced by the flow of resources and information through organizational networks. The 2010–2011 earthquakes in Canterbury, New Zealand, had major direct and indirect impacts on local organizations and the regional economy. This paper utilizes 47 organizational case studies to assess the role of organizations’ networks in their response and short-term recovery activities, and to explore the effects of networks on regional reconstruction and related sectors. The results are organized around four thematic analyses, focusing on organizations’ support network characteristics, the types of support mobilized to aid recovery, network adaptations for new post-quake demands, and the economic impacts of organizational networks in reconstruction. The paper discusses how organizations managed and utilized networks to reduce the impacts of the earthquakes and to adapt to altered post-quake environments. These empirical observations of post-quake organizational behavior can also inform regional economic impact and resilience modeling.

Rural organizational impacts, mitigation strategies, and resilience to the 2010 Darfield earthquake, New Zealand

The September 4, 2010, Mw 7.1 “Darfield” earthquake and the associated aftershock sequence affected the central Canterbury Plains of New Zealand’s South Island, an area of high-intensity agricultural production, supported by rural service towns. With rural organizations exposed to intense ground shaking that caused widespread critical service outages, structural and non-structural damage to built infrastructure, as well as ground-surface damage from flooding, liquefaction or surface rupture, the event represented a unique opportunity to study the impacts of a major earthquake and aftershock sequence on farming and rural non-farming organizations. This paper analyses the short-term impacts on 56 farming organizations and compares them to the impacts on 22 rural non-farming organizations 4 months following the event. The most commonly cited direct impacts on farming organizations were disruption to electrical services, water supply disruption, and structural damage. For rural non-farming organizations, the most common direct impacts were non-structural damage, electricity disruption, and damage to equipment. The effect of stress on farmers was the greatest organizational challenge while rural non-farming organizations cited maintaining cash flow to be of greater significance. In terms of mitigating the effects of the event, farming organizations cited well-built buildings and insurers to be helpful generally, and their neighbors to be most helpful specifically in areas of higher intensity shaking. Rural non-farming organizations utilized lenders or insurers, and showed very little use of neighbor relationships. In summary, this study emphasizes the fact that farming and rural non-farming organizations are impacted and respond to an earthquake in ways that are fundamentally distinct.

Organisational resilience following the Darfield earthquake of 2010

This paper presents the preliminary findings of a study on the resilience and recovery of organisations following the Darfield earthquake in New Zealand on 4 September 2010. Sampling included organisations proximal and distal to the fault trace, organisations located within central business districts, and organisations from seven diverse industry sectors. The research captured information on the challenges to, the impacts on, and the reflections of the organisations in the first months of recovery. Organisations in central business districts and in the hospitality sector were most likely to close, while organisations that had perishable stock and livestock were more heavily reliant on critical services. Staff well-being, cash flow, and customer loss were major concerns for organisations across all sectors. For all organisations, the most helpful factors in mitigating the effects of the earthquake were their relationship with staff members, the design and type of buildings, and critical service continuity or swift reinstatement of services.

Business recovery: an assessment framework

This paper presents a Business Recovery Assessment Framework (BRAF) to help researchers and practitioners design robust, repeatable, and comparable studies of business recovery in various post-disruption contexts. Studies assessing business recovery without adequately considering the research aims, recovery definitions, and indicators can produce misleading findings. The BRAF is composed of a series of steps that guide the decisions that researchers need to make to ensure: (i) that recovery is indeed being measured; (ii) that the indicators of recovery that are selected align with the objectives of the study and the definition of recovery; and, where necessary, (iii) that appropriate comparative control variables are in place. The paper draws on a large dataset of business surveys collected following the earthquakes in Canterbury, New Zealand, on 4 September 2010 and 22 February 2011 to demonstrate the varied conclusions that different recovery indicators can produce and to justify the need for a systematic approach to business recovery assessments.

Organizational Support Networks and Relational Resilience After the 2010/11 Earthquakes in Canterbury, New Zealand

Abstract This chapter analyzes the postearthquake support networks of 32 case study organizations affected by the 2010–11 earthquake in Canterbury, New Zealand. In this work we examine: the kinds of support organizations mobilized to aid their recovery, the kinds of relationships that comprised their postdisaster support networks, and the networking behaviors of organizations experiencing positive versus degenerative trajectories. We find that organizations enlisted support for every aspect of their day-to-day functioning and to meet emergent needs. Organizations in this study tended to draw on established relationships, people and organizations within the affected region, and a mix of personal and professional connections. We also observed a number of networking behaviors, including managed reciprocity and devolved decision-making, that allowed some organizations to navigate the complex postdisaster landscape better than others.