How temporary organisations manage flexibility in times of crises? Experiences of a Chinese control command in response to COVID‐19

ABSTRACT

Coordination of the response to the COVID‐19 crisis may be understood as the multimonth management of a temporary organisation instead of classical crisis management. A key question is how to maintain operational flexibility, that is, an organisation's ability to adapt its day‐to‐day functions to accommodate a changing environment. This contribution describes how a control command established by a Chinese municipality in response to COVID‐19 tried to cope with the problems at hand. Based partially upon participatory observation the following aspects are considered shifting political attention, adapting interaction frequency, changing organisational structures, improvising routines, and altering priorities. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Contingencies & Crisis Management is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)