| This dissertation examines the problem of building cooperation among public and nonprofit organizations to achieve public service goals in emergencies. It explores what factors contribute to successful public-nonprofit partnerships, and what factors inhibit their development. Its theoretical framework draws upon the extensive literature in public-nonprofit partnership, social capital and inter-organizational relations, with a particular focus on decision making under conditions of uncertainty. The study applies this framework to study the relationships that emerged among public and nonprofit organizations following the World Trade Center crisis on September 11, 2001 in New York City. The study uses network analysis to assess the relationships among these organizations in terms of their strength, direction, and density in the rapidly evolving response system, and their continuity during the period of recovery.; The ability to build and maintain relationships with significant others in order to leverage resources and competencies in emergencies is not an easy task. This study addresses the problem of inter-organizational coordination in response to extreme events. Extreme events require coordinated action among many actors across multiple jurisdictions under conditions of urgent stress, high demand, and tight time constraints. Nonprofit organizations partnering with public organizations and stimulating civic participation can play an important role in emergency response operations. The problem is sociotechnical in that the capacity for interorganizational coordination depends upon the technical structure and stability of the information systems that support decision making among the participating organizations.; The research uses a theoretical framework primarily drawn from dynamic network theory, complex adaptive systems theory, and social capital theory. Organizational analysis techniques, using UCINET 6.0, are used to identify the major organizations that participated in the response system, transactions performed by the organizations, and, specifically, the interactions between public and nonprofit organizations in response operations. This analysis produced a daily record of interactions among public and nonprofit organizations for the first 21 days of disaster operations. With this record of interactions, alternative strategies of action are explored under different assumptions of access to information, number of organizations involved in the response operations, and time available for response, using the Monte Carlo simulation techniques of Crystal Ball.; The research found that effective response and recovery require well-coordinated partnership and trust between government agencies at all levels and between the public and nonprofit sectors. Achieving higher levels of protection and responding to a disaster are not the responsibility of government alone. Timely and truthful communication on plans and actions is critical. Ongoing collaboration raises trust, and the importance of broad collaboration among various governmental levels and between government, the nonprofit sector, and the public cannot be overemphasized. |
