RAPID: Network Improvisation in Emergency Response: An Application to Debris Removal Operations

这项快速反应研究资助（RAPID）将调查紧急多组织网络内的决策过程，该网络正在纽约州开展飓风桑迪后的碎片清除行动。预计这项研究将有助于扩大对组织如何即兴发挥的研究：即他们如何在时间限制下采取创造性和有用的行动，而几乎没有或根本没有可能取消以前的行动。这项工作将发现和审查组织即兴发挥的程度与组织总体业绩之间的关系，特别侧重于实地碎片清除小组的效率、效力和工作分配之间的权衡。详细的性能数据将从运输的货物记录中提取（使用现有的计算机系统收集），并辅以问卷数据和成本估计。这项工作将采用和扩展从对碎片清除网络的研究中得出的方法，以分析碎片清除活动，并辅之以基于统计和模拟的方法，以表征这些网络中个人和群体的行为。这项工作将包括向执业专业人员宣传本研究的方法和结果。它将产生经过验证的数据集，用于解决复杂网络中的即兴行为，沿着结果将通过学术和实践场所的出版物和演示文稿广泛传播。最后，预计这项工作将有助于提高社会规划和应对大规模灾害的能力，特别是通过提高对碎片清除绩效决定因素的认识。

This Rapid Response Research Grant (RAPID) will investigate decision making processes within the emergent multi-organizational network that is undertaking post-Hurricane Sandy debris removal operations in the State of New York. The research is expected to contribute to an expanding body of research on how organizations improvise: that is, how they take creative and useful action under time constraint, with little or no possibility of undoing previous actions. This work will discover and examine relationships between degree of organizational improvisation and overall organizational performance, focusing specifically on tradeoffs between efficiency, effectiveness and distribution of effort by debris removal teams in the field. Detailed performance data will be extracted from records of loads hauled (as collected using existing computer-based systems), supplemented with questionaire data and cost estimates. The work will employ and extend methods drawn from research on queueing networks to analyze debris removal activities, supplemented by statistical- and simulation-based methods for characterizing the behaviors of individuals and groups within these networks. This work will include outreach to practicing professionals concerning the methods and results of this research. It will produce validated data sets for addressing improvised behavior within complex queueing networks, along with results that will be broadly disseminated through publications and presentations in academic and practitioner venues. Finally, this work is expected to contribute to society's ability to plan for and respond to large-scale disasters, particularly by improving understanding of the determinants of debris removal performance.