To coordinate or not? A configurational approach to understand public organizations' emergency preparedness coordination

Abstract

Abstract With increasing hazard risks, coordinating public agencies to address emerging threats has become a pressing challenge for public administration. However, little empirical research explores why some public organizations actively coordinate with others in preparation for future crises while others do not. The related research relies on correlation‐based approaches and generates inconclusive findings. To further extend current inquiry, this study takes a configurational approach and examines which configurations of organizational attributes—and environmental characteristics—lead to emergency preparedness coordination. A configurational model for emergency preparedness coordination is proposed along with three propositions. We conducted a large‐N fuzzy‐set QCA to examine U.S. public transit agencies' interorganizational coordination in preparation for the extreme weather events. Findings demonstrate that it is the configurations rather than individual attributes that are essential for active preparedness coordination. Both top‐down and bottom‐up mechanisms can achieve active coordination and managerial commitment is a critical contingency factor.