Emergent learning during crisis: A case study of the arctic circle border crossing at Storskog in Norway

Abstract

This explorative study addresses emergent learning related to the refugee crisis in Norway in 2015. We define emergent learning as organizational learning that occurs as a benign by‐product of solving immediate problems as they arise. The study is based mainly on secondary data; media coverage, public evaluation report, and other public documentation. The results from empirical research confirm that emergent learning has had a profound influence on how the Storskog crisis in 2015 was managed. Our findings also reveal suboptimal problem solving, insufficient management capacity, and public organizations who were not prepared to respond fast enough.

“Samhandling”: On the nuances of resilience through case study research in emergency response operations

“…Lessons learned, in turn, provide insights to enhance capacity building and improve the entire EMS to be better prepared for handling the next event/incident (Figure 1). Such a process can be understood as “crisis‐induced learning” (Broekema et al, 2017; Brown‐Devlin et al, 2020; Steen & Rønningsbakk, 2021). In our case, OFFB interacts with several O&G companies in different geographical areas, it has access to a wide range of resources (e.g., information and key personnel).…”

“…Lessons learned, in turn, provide insights to enhance capacity building and improve the entire EMS to be better prepared for handling the next event/incident (Figure 1). Such a process can be understood as "crisis-induced learning" (Broekema et al, 2017;Brown-Devlin et al, 2020;Steen & Rønningsbakk, 2021) We looked into the OFFB's evaluation report to understand how evaluators used various perspectives to interpret experiences during WP's ERO. The findings indicate that the insights provided in the report were balanced and gave recognition to the involved actors' adaptive behavior and creativity, informal decision-making, and comments about shortcomings of the existing ER plans.…”

“…Managing individuals, teams, and conflicts within the system's goals, recognizing changes in a dynamic working environment, and dealing with uncertainties are issues beyond the boundaries of standard EM procedures. In particular, among the most critical aspects that contribute to resilience in an ERO are distributed situational awareness (SA) (Salmon et al, 2009), interaction, and effective coordination (Christensen & Lægreid, 2019; Klein et al, 2005; Steen & Rønningsbakk, 2021; Wolbers et al, 2018), adaption and improvisation (Woods & Branlat, 2011), and reliable communication (Rivera & Kapucu, 2015; Shittu et al, 2018) between the stakeholders involved.…”

Learning from Neighbors: The Spatial Spillover Effect of Crisis Learning on Local Government

“…Research in crisis learning is emerging [47][48][49][50], and relevant prior research has provided an important foundation for this study. Still, there is room for further expansion as follows: First, from a methodological perspective, most of the existing crisis learning research is based on discursive induction and case-based deduction [51,52], with case descriptions, textual analysis, and empirical summaries, thus lacking a concrete understanding of positivism. Second, the research perspective gradually extends from intra-organizational to inter-organizational learning [53,54].…”

Resilience in emergency management: Learning from COVID-19 in oil and gas platforms

“…Emergencies create challenges for organizations by putting them in settings where they stretch operational boundaries and manifest adaptive capacities [ 1 , 2 ]. However, they also represent a chance for changes in policy reforms, institutional overhaul, and even leadership revival [ 3 , 4 ]. Adaptive capacity and willingness to change are key elements for embracing such learning opportunities [ [5] , [6] , [7] ].…”