To coordinate or not? A configurational approach to understand public organizations' emergency preparedness coordination
采用组态方法，研究美国公共交通机构在极端天气事件应急准备中为何有些积极协调而有些不协调，发现组织属性和环境特征的组合比单一因素更重要。
Abstract With increasing hazard risks, coordinating public agencies to address emerging threats has become a pressing challenge for public administration. However, little empirical research explores why some public organizations actively coordinate with others in preparation for future crises while others do not. The related research relies on correlation‐based approaches and generates inconclusive findings. To further extend current inquiry, this study takes a configurational approach and examines which configurations of organizational attributes—and environmental characteristics—lead to emergency preparedness coordination. A configurational model for emergency preparedness coordination is proposed along with three propositions. We conducted a large‐N fuzzy‐set QCA to examine U.S. public transit agencies' interorganizational coordination in preparation for the extreme weather events. Findings demonstrate that it is the configurations rather than individual attributes that are essential for active preparedness coordination. Both top‐down and bottom‐up mechanisms can achieve active coordination and managerial commitment is a critical contingency factor.