Expanding the Universe of Multi‐Organizational Arrangements: Contingent Coordination and the Deepwater Horizon Transportation Challenges

Highly flexible in nature, “contingent coordination” may be an ideal response mechanism for many of today's increasingly complex problems. However, the existing literature lacks a conceptual discussion regarding factors that contribute to its success or failure, as well as an empirical application of the theory. When the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling unit exploded in April 2010, it resulted in the largest response effort in American history, involving personnel representing numerous organizations stretching from the southern coast of Louisiana through the panhandle of Florida. This article explores five underlying themes of contingent coordination, and applies those themes to the Deepwater Horizon incident response. We find that contingent coordination holds promise as a means to address transient, complex problems. La “coordinacion contingente” tiene naturaleza altamente flexible y puede ser un mecanismo de respuesta ideal para muchos de los problemas cada vez mas complejos de hoy en dia. Sin embargo, la literatura existente carece de una discusion conceptual sobre los factores que contribuyen a su exito o fracaso, asi como una aplicacion empirica de la teoria. Cuando la unidad de perforacion Deepwater Horizon exploto en Abril de 2010, esto dio lugar a los esfuerzos de respuesta mas grandes en la historia estadounidense, involucrando personal en representacion de numerosas organizaciones representadas desde la costa sur de Louisiana a traves de la peninsula de la Florida. Este articulo explora cinco temas fundamentales de la coordinacion contingente, y aplica estos temas a la respuesta al incidente de Deepwater Horizon. Encontramos que la coordinacion contingente es una promesa como medio para hacer frente a problemas complejos transitorios. Related Articles Neill, Katharine A., and John C. Morris. 2012. “A Tangled Web of Principals and Agents: Examining the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill through a Principal–Agent Lens.” Politics & Policy 40 (4): 629-656. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2012.00371.x/abstract Norman, Emma R., and Rafael Delfin. 2012. “Wizards under Uncertainty: Cognitive Biases, Threat Assessment, and Misjudgments in Policy Making.” Politics & Policy 40 (3): 369-402. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2012.00356.x/abstract Musgrave, Meagan. 2013. “The Illinois Underground Storage Tank Fund: Tanks for Nothing.” Politics & Policy 41 (5): 765-787. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12036/abstract Related Media Deepwater Horizon Response. 2010. “Flickr Photostream, 1,299 Photos.” https://www.flickr.com/photos/deepwaterhorizonresponse/with/5004726869/ Dvidshub. 2010. “Deepwater Horizon Response Joint Press Conference, Part 1.” April 29. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYx7L86m8kc Hayward, Tony. 2010. “BP Group CEO Tony Hayward Discusses Deepwater Horizon Response Operations.” Deepwater Horizon JIC. May 5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON9luL-w8tE Applegate, Evan. 2014. “Twenty-Five Years of Oil Spills” Bloomburg Businessweek. March 13. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-03-13/25-years-of-oil-spills