Emergence and institutionalization of interorganizational coordination structures in crises

Crises often reveal a mismatch between organizational and problem structures, demanding interorganizational coordination or new organizational solutions. Much is known about functions and roles of such organizational solutions, but less about the processes underlying them. This study investigates the processes behind the emergence and institutionalization of organizational solutions to meet new coordination needs in crises, using the Swedish County Administrative Boards' coordination offices for Covid-19 and Ukraine as a case. Based on 94 interviews across political-administrative levels, this study reveals that the coordination office emerged as an interorganizational coordination structure during Covid-19 but is now institutionalized and central to the crisis management system. The institutionalization began during the 2018 wildfires, demonstrating the importance of a decisive event in initiating and shaping organizational adaptation to crises. Thereafter, practices were institutionalized through increasing returns connected to incentives, commitments to norms and identities and objectification of shared ideas and routines. The findings motivate consideration of criteria for evaluating new coordination structures that may become permanent. Contingently evolving practices, often taken for granted and embedded in professional norms and identities, calls for explicit consideration of alternative practices. Last, this study illustrates the importance of appreciating the past when understanding present and future coordination structures.