Although network analysis has gained much attention in emergency management studies, there are few systematic reviews of emergency management network studies in public administration. After reviewing 44 journals, this article identified and reviewed a total of 58 studies that conducted network analysis in the context of emergency management. Based on existing literature, this article summarizes the common and unique factors driving network formation and development, describes the structural characteristics of emergency management networks, and reports the performance measures that have been used to evaluate network performance. It concludes by addressing research gaps, presenting propositions and recommendations for future research, and highlighting implications for emergency management practice. The context of this review is emergency management, but the three network research streams focused upon—network formation and development, network properties, and network performance—are relevant to all management and policy domains. This review also underscores the need to further explore the dynamic process of network formation and outcomes of network relationships and structures.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on the large-scale flood response coordination across sectors and jurisdictions, investigating the characteristics and gaps of the 2011 Thailand flood response operations.Design/methodology/approach: The large-scale flood response coordination was measured as an inter-organizational network. An extensive content analysis of news reports was conducted to identify the participating organizations and relationships among them that emerged during the initial flood response operations. Social network analysis was used to examine the patterns and gaps of coordination among the organizations.Findings: The research identified three major gaps that might weaken the response coordination. First, the coordination structure was highly fragmented with many isolated actors. Second, the benefit of inter-sector relationships was not well leveraged in the system due to weak reciprocal relationships across sectors. Third, provincial level organizations did not serve as a strong liaison between local actors (cities) and national actors.Practical implications: Based on the findings, the research offers suggestions to improve the performance of response coordination in recurring flood disasters.Originality/value: This study is distinctive in its examination of structural characteristics of large-scale, inter-sector and multi-jurisdictional flood response coordination in Thailand. Previous studies have explored how citizens were organized and responded to flood disasters at the local level, and measured indicators or causes of response resilience at the provincial level system. Yet, studies examining the patterns of coordination structure among response organizations across all affected-jurisdictional authorities and sectors have been lacking.

International Nongovernmental Organizations (INGOs) have played critical roles in improving the quality of primary health care in ordinary time and, indeed, responding to epidemic crises in developing countries. Due to a lack of empirical research for effectiveness of their responding activities, the legitimacy and accountability of nonprofits’ engagement in the health crisis as a critical responder is doubted. This paper aims to examine the effectiveness of INGOs in a context of managing a fatal epidemic outbreak of Ebola in Sierra Leone during May–November, 2014; building healthcare infrastructures, providing medical supplies, educating local residents, and training response staffs. The analysis results show that development of healthcare infrastructures and provision of medical supplies have been significantly effective in terms of decreasing the severity of the crisis in chiefdoms. The findings imply that policy tools, which allow INGOs to enter to the field in a timely manner, can improve the effectiveness of INGOs’ responses in current and future epidemic outbreaks in developing countries where people suffer from a lack of health infrastructures.