PUBLIC–NONPROFIT PARTNERSHIP PERFORMANCE IN A DISASTER CONTEXT: THE CASE OF HAITI
| Author | SILKE BOENIGK,ISABELLA M. NOLTE |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2011.01950.x |
| Published date | 01 December 2011 |
| Date | 01 December 2011 |
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9299.2011.01950.x
PUBLIC–NONPROFIT PARTNERSHIP PERFORMANCE
IN A DISASTER CONTEXT: THE CASE OF HAITI
ISABELLA M. NOLTE AND SILKE BOENIGK
During disasters, partnerships between public and nonprofit organizations are vital to provide fast
relief to affected communities. In this article, we develop a process model to support a performance
evaluation of such intersectoral partnerships. The model includes input factors, organizational
structures, outputs and the long-term outcomes of public–nonprofit partnerships. These factors
derive from theory and a systematic literature review of emergency, public, nonprofit, and network
research. To adapt the model to a disaster context, we conducted a case study that examines
public and nonprofit organizations that partnered during the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The case study
results show that communication, trust, and experience are the most important partnership inputs;
the most prevalent governance structure of public–nonprofit partnerships is a lead organization
network. Time and quality measures should be considered to assess partnership outputs, and
community, network, and organizational actor perspectives must be taken into account when
evaluating partnership outcomes.
INTRODUCTION
The number of disasters has increased over time: Whereas approximately 100 natural
and technological disasters were registered in 1975, in 2008, more than 600 disasters
were reported worldwide (CRED 2009). Across hundreds of countries, approximately
200 million people were affected by natural disasters in 2008, which caused economic
damage estimated at up to US$180 billion (CRED 2009). On 12 January 2010, an earthquake
shook the country of Haiti and prompted responses by hundreds of organizations from
all over the world. Six weeks later, another massive earthquake (8.8 on the Richter scale)
occurred in southern Chile.
In the case of such disasters, public and nonprofit organizations from different regions
and countries collaborate on strategic and operational bases to conduct disaster man-
agement operations (Palomo-Gonzalez and Rahm 2008). These collaborative activities
are particularly important during emergency planning and response phases (Simo and
Bies 2007). Disasters seriously disrupt a community’s functioning, which means that
locally available resources cannot suffice to solve the problem (United Nations 2009). To
minimize personal damages and economic costs, a well-organized disaster response by
nonprofit and public organizations is critical. Partnering organizations must fulfil tasks
ad hoc, even if the network of partners has been established only recently, without time
for preparation or learning (Lalonde 2010). Furthermore, hundreds of organizations from
different regions and countries might come together during an emergency response,
because no single organization can provide all the necessary services (Waugh and Streib
2006).
However, such disasters highlight the problems that arise among the different organi-
zations engaged in a disaster response. Action might be slowed or improperly conducted
if the coordination of the involved organizations is inappropriate, the communication is
unclear, or the resources are not used efficiently (Kettl 2003; Cigler 2007). Needed equip-
ment may be missing, or the technologies used by different actors may be incompatible
Isabella M. Nolte is PhD Candidate, and Silke Boenigk is Professor of Management of Public, Private & Nonprofit
Organizations, in the Department of Business Administration, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
Public Administration Vol. 89, No. 4, 2011 (1385–1402)
©2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden,
MA 02148, USA.
1386 ISABELLA M. NOLTE AND SILKE BOENIGK
(Prizzia 2008). Collaboration becomes more difficult as the size and unpredictability of a
disaster increase (Comfort et al. 2004; Comfort 2007; Palomo-Gonzalez and Rahm 2008).
As Riccardo Conti, head of the delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross
in Haiti, noted after the Haiti earthquake: ‘Given the scale of the needs, the task facing
humanitarian organizations is daunting’ (ICRC 2010).
To improve disaster response performance, it therefore seems relevant to assess pub-
lic–nonprofit partnerships holistically. Prior research into public–nonprofit partnership
management has been fragmented and modestly informed by conceptual frameworks
(Lister 2000). Several authors have analysed key factors for organizations working in
such partnerships, like experience, communication, and common norms (Shaw 2003;
Kapucu 2006a; Gazley 2008; Alexander and Nank 2009; Celik and Corbacioglu 2010).
These input factors help improve the disaster response of collaborating public and non-
profit organizations, and though they are an important dimension to consider when
forming and working in partnerships, the same attention must be given to output and
outcome factors. Yet few studies focus on the relevant results of public–nonprofit part-
nerships or link partnership inputs to its outputs and outcomes (Provan and Milward
1995). Further insights are needed to distinguish effective disaster response systems from
ineffective ones and enable an evaluation of public–nonprofit partnership performance
(Boin 2005).
Therefore, this study aims to identify the factors that require evaluation in determin-
ing whether public–nonprofit partnerships have performed well during their disaster
response operations. We develop a process model from the literature and adapt it to
the specific context of disasters by conducting a case study in the context of the Haiti
earthquake. The model offers an overview of main partnership inputs and the different
structures that public–nonprofit partnerships can take, as well as measurable outputs
and long-term outcome dimensions. The partnership inputs, structures, and results are
evaluated by public and nonprofit experts who partnered in the disaster response during
the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
LITERATURE REVIEW ON PUBLIC–NONPROFIT PARTNERSHIPS
To identify the factors that influence the performance of public–nonprofit partnerships,
we conducted a two-stage literature review (CRD 2009). First, the electronic databases
Business Source Complete and EconLit were searched by the keywords ‘public-nonprofit’,
‘public-government’, and ‘intersectoral’, paired with any of the following keywords:
‘partnership’, ‘network’, ‘cooperation’, or ‘collaboration’. The latter keywords were also
paired with the terms ‘emergency management’, ‘disaster management’, and ‘crisis
management’. Second, we scanned the reference lists of relevant studies and searched top
journals in the field of emergency and crisis management, including Disasters,International
Journal of Mass Emergencies,andJournal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, as well as
special issues, such as the one on disaster logistics in the International Journal of Production
Economics. On the basis of a review of the titles and abstracts of all resulting references,
we assigned potentially relevant articles to four different research areas: emergency
management, public management, nonprofit management, and network research. Disaster
and crisis management literature appeared in the emergency management research
category. After finishing the screening process, we retrieved full-text copies of each article
for review. Overall, we reviewed 21 studies in the field of emergency management, 8 in
public management research, 5 for nonprofit research, and 11 for network research.
Public Administration Vol. 89, No. 4, 2011 (1385–1402)
©2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
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