National Patterns of Teamwork during an Emergency Management Simulation

Abstract

As a means to facilitate coordination of international relief teams during sudden onset disasters, the UN has formed a structure called the On Site Operations Coordination Center (OSOCC). The main objective of the OSOCC is to help local authorities re-establish control in the affected area. As with any command and control operation where people from different parts of the world are involved, multiculturalism can become an issue. Differences in values, norms and attitudes can create problems in communication, planning and execution of the operation. We use the C3Fire microworld and the Schwartz Value Survey as our main instruments to study cultural influences on command and control decision making in simulated OSOCC. The C3Fire microworld has been used extensively in empirical research on command and control. Results show that culturally-driven differences in planning and allocation of roles/responsibilities can pose potential barriers to efficient decision making in command and control.