CRISMART researcher defended doctoral thesis

Edward Deverell, researcher and analysis support program director at CRISMART defended his doctoral thesis “Crisis-induced learning in public sector organizations” on 29 March at Utrecht University, the Netherlands.

Abstract: Despite increasing practical and scholarly interest in crisis management (CM) in recent years, issues of how public organizations manage and learn from crises still pose virtual puzzles for crisis scholars. This thesis increases the theoretical knowledge of CM and crisis-induced learning by addressing some of the most critical knowledge gaps in contemporary CM research. The thesis calls for practical models to help us understand what factors affect the CM and learning process. Deverell argues that organizations play a vital role in CM and therefore he brings together literature on CM, learning, public management and organization theory. Deverell examines CM and learning processes during and after crises as an interconnected process by studying six cases of organizational CM. He uses the case studies to suggest a framework of CM and learning processes in public organizations. The framework is an attempt to clarify the ambiguities surrounding CM studies and practical CM processes. The framework also constitutes a step towards more sensible and useful definitions and concepts that are closer to practical reality. According to the framework, the ability to adapt to changes in the external environment is essential in the initial stages of crises. The results also show that rigidity rather than flexibility is the more plausible response to threats and emerging crises. This applies to public organizations with crisis experience, as well as for those without. Further, organizations with recent CM experience are more likely to learn during a crisis than those that lack such experience. On the whole, the crisis aftermath does not seem to be the most favorable period for crisis learning. Learning and creativity seem more likely to be created during the acute crisis phase.