Social Network Analysis of Learning Teams During Emergency Events

Understanding factors that enhance or diminish learning and adaptability levels of individuals is instrumental in achieving individual and organizational performance goals. In this study, the effect of social network structure on learning attitudes of emergency personnel during an emergency event is investigated. Based on social network theories, and the social influence model of learning, a theoretical framework is proposed to investigate the effects of network structure on learning outcome of bushfire coordinating teams. To test our framework, we investigate social network data which has been extracted from the transcripts of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission report. Empirical results suggest that network structure of emergency personnel play a crucial role in the ability of those actors to engage in learning-related work activity. We infer that this will mean that these actors are better able to adapt and improvise in complex emergency events. We suggest that social network analysis may have a valuable part to play in the study of emergency events. By presenting a model of learning-related work activity, based on network structure, personnel within emergency services organizations can strengthen their capacity to be flexible and adaptable.

[1]  Naim Kapucu,et al.  Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Interorganizational Coordination in Complex Environments of Disasters : The Evolution of Intergovernmental Disaster Response Systems , 2011 .

[2]  Dennis Schoeneborn,et al.  Organization as Communication , 2011 .

[3]  Nicholas S. Vonortas.  Social network methodology , 2013 .

[4]  Luciano Rossoni,et al.  Models and methods in social network analysis , 2006 .

[5]  Rob Cross,et al.  A Relational View of Information Seeking and Learning in Social Networks , 2003, Manag. Sci..

[6]  Jörn Altmann,et al.  On the Correlation between Research Performance and Social Network Analysis Measures Applied to Research Collaboration Networks , 2011, 2011 44th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[7]  Jonathon N. Cummings,et al.  Tie and Network Correlates of Individual Performance in Knowledge-Intensive Work , 2004 .

[8]  R. Hanneman.  Introduction to Social Network Methods , 2001 .

[9]  Susan Pascoe,et al.  Interim report: 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission , 2009 .

[10]  Peter Secretan.  Learning , 1965, Mental Health.

[11]  Liaquat Hossain,et al.  Social Networks Perspective of Firefighters' Adaptive Behaviour and Coordination among Them , 2010, 2010 IEEE/ACM Int'l Conference on Green Computing and Communications & Int'l Conference on Cyber, Physical and Social Computing.

[12]  J. Coleman,et al.  Medical Innovation: A Diffusion Study. , 1967 .

[13]  Dennis F. Galletta,et al.  Individual Centrality and Performance in Virtual R&D Groups: An Empirical Study , 2003, Manag. Sci..

[14]  Stephen P. Borgatti,et al.  Centrality and network flow , 2005, Soc. Networks.

[15]  Katherine Faust.  Centrality in affiliation networks , 1997 .

[16]  Wenpin Tsai,et al.  Social networks and organizations , 2003 .

[17]  E. Salas,et al.  Effects of communication network structure: Components of positional centrality , 1991 .

[18]  L. Comfort.  Shared Risk: Complex Systems in Seismic Response , 1999 .

[19]  J. Coleman,et al.  The Diffusion of an Innovation Among Physicians , 1957 .

[20]  Maureen Tam,et al.  Constructivism, Instructional Design, and Technology: Implications for Transforming Distance Learning , 2000, J. Educ. Technol. Soc..

[21]  Steven B. Andrews,et al.  Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition , 1995, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[22]  G. Hamel.  Competition for competence and interpartner learning within international strategic alliances , 1991 .

[23]  K. S. Chung.  Understanding Attitudes towards Performance in Knowledge-intensive Work: The Influence of Social Networks and ICT Use , 2009 .

[24]  L. Freeman.  Centrality in social networks conceptual clarification , 1978 .

[25]  David L. Banks,et al.  Social Network Methodology in the Study of Disasters: Issues and Insights Prompted by Post-Katrina Research , 2009 .

[26]  Alex Bavelas,et al.  Communication Patterns in Task‐Oriented Groups , 1950 .

[27]  J. Coleman,et al.  Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital , 1988, American Journal of Sociology.

[28]  M. Dodgson.  Learning, Trust, and Technological Collaboration , 1993 .

[29]  Liaquat Hossain,et al.  Disaster response preparedness coordination through social networks. , 2010, Disasters.

[30]  W. Powell,et al.  Interorganizational Collaboration and the Locus of Innovation: Networks of Learning in Biotechnology. , 1996 .

[31]  Harold Guetzkow,et al.  Factors in the Organizational Development of Task-Oriented Groups , 1957 .

[32]  Ulrik Brandes,et al.  Centrality Measures Based on Current Flow , 2005, STACS.