A Study of Ad Hoc Network Performance in Disaster Response

Management problems are prevalent within ad hoc networks of public and nonprofit organizations that engage in disaster relief. This study explores the enabling factors that have an impact on the performance of public-nonprofit networks during disaster response and outcome factors that are influenced by the network performance. A survey is conducted among 288 disaster managers and analyzed by Partial Least Squares (PLS). The analysis reveals that a general openness to collaborate, collaboration experience, mutuality, and coordination have a strong impact on the performance of public-nonprofit networks. The network performance highly influences the long-term outcomes of a disaster response. The whole network of organizations can be strengthened and single organizations can acquire new knowledge. The results of this study help to derive implications for the management of public and nonprofit organizations active in disaster management operations.