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Exploring the dynamics
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3
I. Introduction
Studies on emergency management (EM) collaboration
have attracted the attention of many public management
scholars in recent years. These studies are endeavors to develop
the concept of collaborative EM (Kapucu, Arslan, & Demiroz,
2010), recognize the importance of vertical and horizontal
communication, coordination, and collaboration in response to
extreme events (Choi, 2008; Comfort, 2002; Kettl, 2006;
Waugh & Streib, 2006), understand the factors of influence of
EM collaboration (Hicklin, O’Toole, Meier, & Robinson, 2009;
Johnson, Goerdel,
Lovrich
, & Pierce, 2015; Kapucu, Bryer,
Garayev, & Arslan, 2010; McGuire & Silvia, 2010; Reddick,
2008; Simo & Bies, 2007), and study the possible challenges of
EM collaboration (Caruson & MacManus, 2012; Scavo,
Kearney, & Kilroy, 2007). Local governments are arguably the
key actors in the U.S. when providing EM-related functional
activities.
Agranoff and McGuire (2003) explained that
collaboration can occur on both vertical and horizontal levels.
Vertical collaboration emphasizes working across levels of
governments within the U.S. federal system, while horizontal
collaboration focuses on local players (who have different
interests) within the community. Collaboration can also happen
across different departments, agencies, and organizations and be
conducted across public, private, and non-profit sectors, giving
rise to different types of collaboration. Studies have suggested
that in general, when forming collaborative relationships,
various crucial factors are in effect (e.g., managerial and
organizational capacity, leadership, resource scarcity,
interdependency, shared beliefs, trust, common purposes,
uncertainties, and past experience of conflicts) (Agranoff &
McGuire, 2001, 2003; Alter & Hage, 1993; Ansell & Gash,
2008; Bryson, Crosby, & Stone, 2006; Connelly, Zhang, &