Abstract: This is a work in progress paper on work and IT usage in distributed crisis management. The data presented in this paper has been collected at a one-day tabletop exercise with four Swedish municipalities. Four members of the four municipalities’ crisis organizations were invited to the exercise, which was designed as one scenario divided into two cases. At the start of each case of the exercise, each municipality was split into two separate rooms, to simulate a distributed crisis management. During the first case they could communicate using phone, TETRA radio, and the Internet. During case two in the scenario, there was no Internet connection. The study indicates that all the municipalities managed to organize and solve the given tasks using primarily voice communication, in case one using phone or, e.g., Teams, and in case two using TETRA radio. Information sharing using IT was non-existing.

Abstract: Many organizations train and educate their staff to prepare for crisis. One approach is train-the-trainer (ToT; Training of trainers) concept. It is based on the idea that someone can be trained as a trainer, who in turn train their colleagues. The philosophy resembles a pyramid scheme that allows for a fast and efficient spread of knowledge and skills. This study focused on perceptions of the ToT concept through interviews with ToT trainers. Two learning theories, organizational learning (4I) and experiential learning theory (ELT) were used to conceptualize the ToT-concept. It was found that the ToT-concept can be used as the method to conduct ELT to achieve organizational learning and knowledge (4I). Furthermore, the study also presents how participants perceives ToT using thematic analysis. This resulted in four themes: Common understanding of ToT, Learn-by doing, No grounding in ToT, and Difficult to ensure quality.

Abstract: The use of methods to inform changes of command and control has long been important, in particular through empirical surveys and computational simulation. In this article, we focus on a particular type of control: “bump less” time-shift of authority during emergency response where it is not desirable to interrupt task resolution (Dess et al.,1984). As an example we address a particular type of control in a sociotechnical use case, i.e. ensuring coordinated action among human and non-human entities, and specifically use as a case shift of who ensures coordinated action when what entities are participating fluctuate over time, yet there is a need to sustain coordination (e.g. due to criticality of sustained performance). We do some work to detail a sociotechnical control mechanism and we present methods for examining the influence such control may have on performing both planned, prescribed, organizational task work as well as dynamic, non-prescribed tasks (Stanton et al., 2018). We argue that measures of high fidelity, with high specificity, defined before task resolution (feedforward) may be particularly important in prescribed change due to the possibility to define clear goals for coordinating and detailing who holds coordination authority. For dynamic change, on the other hand supporting technology that enable a sensing and processing of feedback the number of agents/entities undergoing change is not predetermined and the change of who is best suited to coordinate authority is less clear. Our theorizing is illustrated by using traditional linear control theory emulating shift of control nuanced by an emergency use case. In conclusion, we suggest future directions for research as well as practical implications.