11. |
- Bynander, Fredrik, Docent, 1970-
(author)
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Only trees burning? : The Mid-Sweden Forest Fire of 2014
- 2019
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In: Societal Security and Crisis Management. - Houndmills, Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan. - 9783319923024 - 9783319923031 ; , s. 115-132
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The major forest fire in the province of Västmanland, during August of 2014 was an unexpected incident. The environmental prerequisites for a firestorm type of development that is present in exempli gratia Greece, and California should not exist in the subarctic biotope that caught fire on July 31 at Seglingsberg in Sala municipality. The aim of this chapter, Swedish crisis management effort in response to a forest fire in central Sweden, in 2014. In order to do so, it probes a number of challenges that were posed to the crisis response system, such as situational awareness, formal responsibilities, coordination with local and national actors, information to the public and evacuation
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17. |
- Koraeus, Mats
(author)
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Stressing Knowledge : Organisational closed-ness and knowledge acquisition under pressure
- 2017
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Organisations have been analytically conceptualised as being somewhat analogous to individuals for a long time. They have culture; they can learn; and they can behave in various odd ways. But how far can the simile be stretched? What other types of organisational cognition can we imagine? And what benefits can we gain by introducing new perspectives of this kind? This study shows that organisations can exhibit familiar symptoms of stress, such as closing themselves to the outside world and becoming unreceptive to external stimuli and input. They retreat to what is familiar and safe and put on blinders to hide anything that does not already fit with how they feel things should be, often in situations where they would be best served by being as open to and perceptive of these external stimuli as possible. Using a model of organisational behaviour that connects external pressure to an internal mode of operation and to specific knowledge-seeking behaviours, the study examines two case pairs—two success stories and two catastrophic failures—to examine patterns of organisational cognition. By comparing and contrasting the failure of the FBI during the 1993 Waco siege with its subsequent success during the 1996 Montana Freemen standoff, and doing the same with the Swedish Foreign Ministry’s handling of the 2004 Southeast Asian tsunami and the 2006 evacuation from the war in Lebanon, a pattern emerges where certain types of knowledge proved to be the key to staying as open-minded, responsive, and dynamic as these crises demanded. This knowledge can be used both during a crisis to resolve some of the confusion and time pressure that is endemic to such situations, as well as before a crisis to mitigate or even stave off the approaching chaos.
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18. |
- Koraeus, Mats, et al.
(author)
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Suburban Eruption : The Management of Social Unrest in the Suburbs of Stockholm in 2011
- 2019
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In: Societal Security and Crisis Management. - Houndmills, Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan. - 9783319923024 - 9783319923031 ; , s. 169-186
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- During the evening of 19 May, the celebration of Sweden’s gold medal in the hockey World Championship took place in the centre of the city, while reports began coming in of an unusually large number of vehicles being set on fire in Husby. During the night, additional vehicles, and even a school and a garage, were set ablaze. Police and rescue personnel were attacked when they arrived on the scene, adding to the event an unusual component in that the police also had to protect the rescue workers on site. The riots in Husby that spread across the Stockholm suburbs lasted for two weeks, although there was nothing to indicate early on that it would last this long, and what crisis management needs would arise.
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19. |
- Larsson, Gerry, 1952-, et al.
(author)
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Crisis management at the government offices : a Swedish case study
- 2015
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In: Disaster Prevention and Management. - 0965-3562 .- 1758-6100. ; 24:5, s. 542-552
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to gain a deeper understanding of crisis management at the Swedish Government office level in an international crisis by using a multiperspective approach, and paying particular attention to factors contributing favorably to the management process.Design/methodology/approachThe Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption on Iceland in 2010 was accompanied by an ash cloud that caused serious air traffic problems in large parts of Europe. Interviews were conducted with seven high-level informants at the Swedish Government offices and two informants at the Swedish Aviation Authority. An interview guide inspired by governance, command and control, and leadership perspectives was used.FindingsA Crisis Coordination Secretariat, organizationally placed directly under the prime minister, coordinated the operation. A combination of mandate (hard power) and social smoothness (soft power) on part of the Crisis Coordination Secretariat contributed to confidence building and a collaboration norm between the ministries, and between the ministries and their underlying agencies. Preparatory training, exercises and a high level of system knowledge on part of the Crisis Coordination Secretariat – contextual intelligence – also contributed to a favorable crisis management.Research limitations/implicationsThe study relies on retrospective self-report data only from a limited group of informants making generalizations difficult.Practical implications– The organizational positioning of the Crisis Coordination Secretariat directly under the prime minister gave its members formal authority. These members in turn skillfully used social flexibility to build confidence and a will to collaborate. This combination of hard and soft power is recommended.Originality/valueThe multiperspective approach used when designing the interview guide and when interpreting the responses was new as well as the focus on factors contributing to crisis management success.
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20. |
- Larsson, Oscar, 1978-
(author)
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The Governmentality of Meta-governance : Identifying Theoretical and Empirical Challenges of Network Governance in the Political Field of Security and Beyond
- 2015
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Meta-governance recently emerged in the field of governance as a new approach which claims that its use enables modern states to overcome problems associated with network governance. This thesis shares the view that networks are an important feature of contemporary politics which must be taken seriously, but it also maintains that networks pose substantial analytical and political challenges. It proceeds to investigate the potential possibilities and problems associated with meta-governance on both theoretical and empirical levels.The theoretical discussion examines meta-governance in relation to governmentality, and it puts forward the claim that meta-governance may be understood as a specific type of neo-liberal governmentality. The meta-governance perspective regards networks as a complementary structure to traditional administration that can be utilized in the implementation and realization of public policy, but which also preserves the self-regulating and flexible character of networks. This generates a contradiction between the goals of public management and the character of networks that requires further investigation.The combination of the specific dynamics of the political field of security, the diminishing role of sovereign powers, the emergence of security networks, and the meta-governance stance adopted by the Swedish state constitutes a situation that should have been favorable for the successful employment of meta-governance. The empirical investigation of meta-governance is divided into two parts. The first part reviews the historical process involved and shows how the Swedish government and public authorities have adopted a meta-governance stance. The second analyzes the specific instruments and strategies that have been deployed in the governance of security communications and in the management of Sweden’s new security communications system which is an important aspect of security networks. The historical study together with the analysis of the meta-governance tools deployed reveals that the meta-governors neither reached the goals specified, nor fulfilled the overall purpose of successful security communications.I argue on the basis of the theoretical and empirical findings obtained in the present study that it is very difficult to successfully employ meta-governance in respect to security and crisis management, and that we have sound reasons to suspect that meta-governance will run into similar difficulties in other political fields as well. I conclude that meta-governance is a far more difficult practice than has been anticipated by existing theories and policy recommendations. Turning to meta-governance as a way to govern and control organizations may in fact lead to further fragmentation and distortion of public politics.
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