Abstract. Simulation is a way to deal with the lack of data and difficulty in designing controlled experiments in the field of crisis response. This paper presents the analysis and design of a simulation model used to evaluate different coordination mechanisms for a crisis response organization. Such organizations are often multidisciplinary, short-lived and ad hoc. Coordination between the responders can be achieved in a structured way (through standards and hierarchy) or can manifest itself in an adaptive or emergent manner. The characteristics of the response organization and the study of structured vs. emergent coordination fit with the capabilities and nature of multi-agent systems (MAS). The MAS model is built using the GAIA methodology and the JADE agent framework. The model can be configured differently to deal with an emergency scenario developed separately as a discrete-event simulation, providing a testbed for simulating coordination in crisis response.

A computer-based simulation of a multi-agent networked, virtual organization is experimented with to explore the impact of human-agents misrepresenting information to others when performing an organization-level decision task. It is a common-place phenomenon that humans make misrepresentations (or errors) in judgment (accidental or otherwise) when evaluating information and then passing their resulting conclusion on to others, which can affect the accuracy of organization-level decisions. This can have great relevance in organizations under stress or undergoing large-scale change, e.g., as in the case of a merger or acquisition, as humans can make even more misrepresentations. For this study, repeated simulations are executed with different levels of actor knowledge-misrepresentation to assess the impact on the dynamics of organization performance. Organization performance is quantified by the accuracy of a knowledge-based task, repeated over multiple time periods. Each task is a single binarydecision, which is derived by actor majority vote. Actors base their vote on the partial, factual knowledge that each holds, but their best-effort vote can be reversed according to the actor’s tendency to misrepresent the totality of the accurate information they truly hold. The underlying

In the past two decades, organizational scholars have focused significant attention on how organizations manage crises. While most of these studies concentrate on crisis prevention, there is a growing emphasis on crisis response. Because information that is critical to crisis response may become outdated as crisis conditions change, crisis response research recognizes that the management of information flows and networks is critical to crisis response. Yet despite its importance, little is known about the various types of crisis information networks and the role of IT in enabling these information networks. Employing concepts from information flow and social network theories, this paper contributes to crisis management research by developing four crisis response information network prototypes. These networks are based on two main dimensions: (1) information flow intensity and (2) network density. We describe how considerations of these two dimensions with supporting case evidence yield four prototypical crisis information response networks: Information Star, Information Pyramid, Information Forest, and Information Black-out. In addition, we examine the role of IT within each information network structure. We conclude with guidelines for managers to deploy appropriate information networks during crisis response and with suggestions for future research related to IT and crisis management.