Introduction
Organisations play key roles within our society. They have the responsibility for managing,
maintaining and operating our infrastructure, running our economy, and providing employment
and essential goods and services for our communities. The ability of an organisation to
respond effectively to adverse events depends on their structure, the management and operational
systems they have in place, and the collective resilience of these.
The ability of key organisations to continue to function in the face of unexpected events will
have a large influence on the length of time that essential services are unavailable, and on the
duration of recovery for the community as a whole. There is a need therefore to be able to
critically evaluate the consequences that hazard events may have on organisations.
New Zealand organisations have been through considerable structural change over the past
two decades. This has occurred at all levels from central through to local government and the
private sector. Some organisations have in fact been through several cycles of restructuring in
the pursuit of different philosophies. This process has seen the evolution into smaller and
more independent organisations and business units. Their focus on short-term economic
efficiency has however had a detrimental effect in terms of planning to be resilient in the face
of major emergency events.
Recent flood events and multi-agency simulation exercises have highlighted specific organisational
challenges to be addressed in order to maintain a sustainable response to major emergencies.