Latent Organisational Hybridity in Administrative Crisis Management : The German Refugee Crisis of 2015/16

Abstract

Despite presenting as global challenges, the societal effects of climate change or migration movements are felt primarily at the local level. This poses challenges to administrative crisis management. In this paper, we introduce the concept of ‘latent organizational hybridity’ to theorize how local administrations can effectively address crisis situations. Instead of theorizing the exact administrative design features fit for an effective crisis response, we emphasize informal and temporal (latent) deviations from administrative routine action along operational principles borrowed from the private and non-profit sector (hybridity), in particular internal flexibilization and citizen participation. We report novel data collected from a survey of administrative crisis management organizations involved in the so-called German refugee crisis of 2015/16, covering more than half of all 401 county-level administrations. We test the effects of the different forms of latent hybridity on administrative effectiveness using regression modelling. Findings indicate that changes in administrative routines towards more flexible and participatory action have a positive impact on crisis management effectiveness. The effect of flexible activity was especially pronounced in counties and cities that were allocated higher shares of asylum seekers.