MANAGING THE UNEXPECTED: SENSE-MAKING IN THE CHINESE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lu, Xiaoli; Xue, Lan
• 署名单位: Tsinghua University
• 刊物名称: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-3298
• DOI: 10.1111/padm.12261
• 发表日期: 2016
• 页码: 414-429
• 关键词: homeland security; CRISIS; SENSEMAKING; ORGANIZATIONS

摘要

China built a new National Emergency Management System (NEMS) after the 2003 SARS crisis to cope with the challenges of crisis and disaster management, particularly the challenge of joint sense-making. This article investigates how the NEMS addresses joint sense-making challenges in crisis management. It explores several recent crises in China to uncover factors that undermine or facilitate joint sense-making. Our study unearths a low degree of professionalization, plans that do not match crisis events, a lack of accountability, and the absence of unified leadership. These critical factors make it hard for the newly built NEMS to establish a common understanding of a crisis. This article concludes with lessons for China's NEMS that may also be useful for other large countries.