Search

Control commands established by Chinese local governments to tackle COVID-19 proved effective in containing its spread nationwide. The primary interest in this contribution is to uncover the mechanism underlying the effectiveness of a control command established by Qingdao municipality in managing COVID-19. We conclude that the combination of five conditions, namely, task immersion, qualified team members, flexible organizing, high swift trust, and high operational representation, is sufficient to result in effective temporary organizing. Our study contributes to the policy and governance literature through adding building blocks to the explanation regarding the effectiveness of temporary organizations in managing crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coordination is one of the most challenging crisis management issues governments face worldwide. In this contribution, we examine the coordination mechanism applied by Qingdao control command in China to fight against COVID‐19. Its coordination is implemented contingently via five different approaches: achieving compromises through a centralized tiered meeting system, developing standard operating procedures through issuing documents, encouraging pragmatic problem‐solving through improvisation, establishing routines through finding shortcuts, and following commands and suggestions from higher‐up. Two perspectives, the structural‐institutional and cultural perspectives, have been applied to explain the choice of the contingent coordination mechanism. Our study contributes to the existing crisis coordination literature through substantiating the approaches underlying contingent coordination and providing a preliminary explanation of it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]