Wilkinson, S; Potangaroa, R; Cameron, R and Mitansha, M (2024) Improving disaster response: Combining organisational and individual resilience for improved outcomes. In: Thomson, C (ed.) Proceedings of 40th Annual ARCOM Conference, 2-4 September 2024, London South Bank University, UK.
Abstract
Disaster recovery requires strong construction organisations and resilient individuals. This paper examines construction organisational and individual resilience in the context of disaster response. The paper focusses on assessing how individuals and construction organisations respond to disasters. Through a case study methodology, assessing disaster response and recovery in New Zealand, the paper highlights major themes that must be considered when combining organisational and individual resilience to improve recovery outcomes. For organisations, that means having, for instance, adaptive plans, strong connections and supply chains, effective leadership, and adequate resources. For individuals, it includes resilience training, a focus on mental health, and developing ways of collaborating and communicating effectively. The main findings are that organisational and individuals can improve their resilience through focussing on resilience building processes and attributes that build resilience. These processes and mechanisms are influenced by the themes found in the current research. Based on different case studies, the paper identifies a broad spectrum of themes which integrates organisational and individual resilience. This will ultimately help in developing a foundation for creating a framework which can allow organisations to withstand and adapt to challenges whilst allowing individuals to enhance their resilience.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | disaster response; individual resilience; New Zealand; organisational resilience |
| Index terms: | methodology, building process, mental health, organizational resilience, recovery, construction organization, disaster response, New Zealand, case study, disaster recovery |
| Subjects: | emergency and crisis management, building construction, health conditions and diseases, research methods, Geography, operations management, data collection methods, organization, business |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Site Management, Sustainability, Project Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Health and Safety, Business Strategy |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here