Organizational Structure and Collaboration: Emergency Management Agencies and Their Choice to Work With Voluntary Organizations in Planning

Despite the growing literature that explains how organization structure develops or changes, there are very few studies that seek to investigate the influence that an organization's structure has on its decision to work across sectors in emergency management (EM). Using EM as a context, this study observes the influence that organizational autonomy has on an agency's choice to work with voluntary organizations in the development of EM plans. Through the analysis of a national survey of county EM agencies, this study finds that an organization's autonomy does not influence its choice to work with voluntary organizations in the development of EM plans; however, the type of organization an EM agency is situated in does. Finally, recommendations for future research are presented to better understand why autonomous organizations enter into cross-sector collaborations.