Understanding Multisector Stakeholder Value Dynamics in Hurricane Michael: Toward Collaborative Decision-Making in Disaster Contexts

Abstract

Despite a growing acknowledgement of shared responsibilities in emergency management, one of the hidden and overlooked issues in the disaster literature is the identification and integration of multisector stakeholder values: the things that are of importance, merit, and utilities to the stakeholders. Stakeholders (e.g., public, private, and nonprofit sectors and community residents) hold numerous values with varying degrees of importance, forming a system of value priorities. Stakeholder values and value priorities—referred to as value systems—are not static in a disaster context; they are dynamic, time-sensitive, and event-driven. A more in-depth understanding of the dynamics of stakeholder value systems is crucial to facilitate the policy makers to introduce more proactive and timely measures toward building resilient communities. To address this gap, this paper focuses on identifying and understanding the stakeholder values across different disaster phases in the context of Hurricane Michael. Based mainly on semistructured interviews with 51 stakeholders in Hurricane Michael affected areas in Florida, 16 stakeholder values were identified and classified into four broad categories of Schwartz’s theory of basic human values: conservation, openness to change, self-transcendence, and self-enhancement. Despite different value priorities of stakeholders, some of the most prioritized values include safety, resource efficiency, community adaptability, community cohesion, and community growth. In addition, the importance of stakeholder values dynamically changes across different disaster phases (i.e., preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation). The study’s findings inform practitioners about implementing disaster resilience strategies that account for diverse stakeholder needs and priorities, thus facilitating value-centered decision-making in emergency management.