Corporate involvement in disaster response and recovery : an analysis of the Gujarat Earthquake

Disaster vulnerability is a serious issue in developing countries where globalization, development patterns, poverty and environmental degradation are placing more people at risk to natural disasters. Recent appeals for greater multi-sectoral collaboration to tackle complex disaster situations have raised the need for private sector participation in disaster management. The private sector is already beginning to play more engaged roles in disaster response and recovery on a voluntary basis, yet limited understanding currently exists about their activities in this area. Given the problem of rising vulnerability to natural disasters and the emergence of increased private sector involvement in disaster activities, this thesis seeks to understand: 1) why firms become involved in disaster response and recovery on voluntary (i.e. philanthropic) terms; and 2) the nature and implementation of corporate initiatives in this context. To illustrate private sector motivations and roles in the disaster response and recovery, the study focused on corporate responses to the Gujarat Earthquake in India in 2001. The research was informed by concepts of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The analysis produced three sets of findings, based on in-depth interviews with national and multinational companies which responded to the Gujarat Earthquake. The research indicates that corporations are motivated to become involved in disaster response and recovery based on six organizational factors: social values, disaster sensitivity, internal organization, external pressures, and perceived benefits.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Sayegh, Tracy, 1976-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• JoAnn Carmin.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/17708

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/17708