- Title
- Linking organisational competency to project success in post-disaster reconstruction
- Creator
- von Meding, Jason; Oyedele, Lukumon; Bruen, John
- Relation
- Open House International Vol. 39, Issue 3, p. 7-18
- Relation
- http://www.openhouse-int.com/abdisplay.php?xvolno=39_3_1
- Publisher
- Open House International Association
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2014
- Description
- With the expected increase in the magnitude and frequency of natural disasters in coming years, more people than ever will be faced with post-disaster reconstruction (PDR) scenarios. In many cases, non-government organisations (NGOs) are in a position to make interventions to improve conditions for those facing the impacts of disasters. Within a complex and turbulent environment it is essential that responding agencies deploy appropriate configurations of competencies to mitigate project barriers that arise. This paper sets out in the context of three strands of knowledge; disaster management, strategic management and project management and builds upon the authors' (2009) theory for the delivery of PDR projects. The idea that NGOs and their staff possess various competencies (to degrees), and that competency can be configured to produce successful projects in any given environment, is the central argument of the paper. Within a mixed-methods approach, the wider study incorporated 4 case studies in post-tsunami Sri Lanka and 4 case studies in post-cyclone Sidr Bangladesh. Exploratory interviews with expert NGO participants were combined with direct observations and the collection of quantitative survey data. The mechanisms and phenomena observed within the case studies contributed to the development of a conceptual theoretical framework. The study reveals that NGOs face barriers in seven key areas and that organisations must deploy certain configurations of organisational and operational competencies in order to effectively develop and implement strategies to address these barriers. The theoretical framework demonstrates how the utilisation of these competencies, deployed in targeted clusters, has the potential to create positive outcomes for beneficiaries as measured by PDR Project Success Indicators (PDRPSIs). If dynamic tools can be developed that effectively model competency and predict success, all organisations involved in disaster response and recovery could benefit. In addition, the knowledge is highly transferable to other sectors and environments.
- Subject
- barriers; competency; NGOs; post-disaster reconstruction; PDR; project success
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1297301
- Identifier
- uon:19419
- Identifier
- ISSN:0168-2601
- Language
- eng
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