Roles of institutions and dynamic capability in the relationship between collaboration and performance in emergency management: evidence from 110 cases in Shanghai

Abstract The existing research identifies that cross-organizational collaboration is important in the enhancement of emergency management. However, little effort has been made to empirically examine how collaboration contributes to emergency performance. Within this field lies a theoretical controversy that institutional arrangement and dynamic capability compete with each other to enhance emergency collaboration. Numerous studies find that a contingency plan, as a form of institutional arrangement, is necessary for ensuring collaboration in a planned and legitimate manner. Conversely, research also suggests that absorptive capacity, as an important dynamic capability for organizations to adapt to changing environments, is beneficial to the improvement of emergency collaboration. The current study contributes to the understanding of the influence of collaboration on emergency performance by (1) investigating the relationship between collaboration networks and performance, and (2) examining the mediating roles of the contingency plan and absorptive capacity in this relationship. Employing structural equation modeling with data from 110 cases of emergency drills in Shanghai, results suggest that collaboration networks have a positive association with emergency performance, which is simultaneously mediated by contingency plan and absorptive capacity, and further demonstrate that absorptive capacity exerts a stronger effect than contingency plan. Overall, the findings point to a need to dissolve the nuanced contradiction between the institutions and dynamic capability and weigh the two approaches when implementing emergency collaboration across organizations.