Mk. Lindell et Dj. Whitney, EFFECTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENT, INTERNAL STRUCTURE, AND TEAM CLIMATE ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LOCAL EMERGENCY PLANNING COMMITTEES, Risk analysis, 15(4), 1995, pp. 439-447
This study proposed and tested a model of factors influencing the effe
ctiveness of Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs). Data were co
llected from the chairs of Michigan LEPCs, who were asked to provide i
nformation about their LEPCs' staffing, activities, resources, and tea
m climate, as well as information about community hazards and relation
ships with other organizations in their communities. The model was par
tially supported. As hypothesized, team climate substantially mediated
the relationships between an LEPC's effectiveness and many of the att
ributes of its internal structure and external environment. In additio
n, three (emergency planning resources, community support and LEPC sta
ffing and structure) out of four categories of variables hypothesized
to influence team climate were, in fact directly related to it. There
were two major inconsistencies with the model. First, two types of eme
rgency planning resources were found to have a direct influence on LEP
C effectiveness rather than an indirect effect mediated by team climat
e. In addition, hazard vulnerability was hypothesized to have a direct
effect on team climate, but the data showed this relationship was med
iated by community support and by LEPC staffing and structure. A revis
ed model was proposed that suggests ways in which members can change t
he structure of an LEPC and strategies to enhance its effectiveness.