City government resilience: Towards a diagnostic instrument

Abstract

This study starts with exploring the evolution of thinking regarding organisations as open systems. It provides a perspective on a total systems approach to organisation design and organisation development and identifies high leverage components in systems which enable organisation resilience. It provides a holistic perspective on organisation resilience and sustainable economic growth including the paradigmatic developments, schools of thinking, theoretical principles theories and models for orgainsational resilience. It identifies the anticipation, adaptation and recovery (AAR) framework as starting point within which a diagnostic instrument could be designed and developed. It investigates trends patterns of behaviour and systemic structures that influence resilience, with specific reference to city government, including high leverage areas within the extended AAR meta-framework. Factors and items are components of a diagnostic instrument for gauging and enabling resilience in city government including aspirational descriptors for factors and items in the diagnostic instrument with which to gauge current reality for a city government resilience strategy. The aspirational quality of descriptors provides a perspective on the desired results (vision) for particular aspects and may form the basis for linking factors and items to benchmarks. Capability assessment, capacity-building in cross-cutting competencies, anticipation, adaptation, recovery, sustainable development, green growth and smart cities form the meta-framework of the diagnostic instrument within which items and their descriptors are situated. Triangulation between the literature study, the instrument design, and cross-checking with a purposive sample of users established its validity empirically within a pre-test and post-test framework to develop the final diagnostic instrument for gauging city government resilience. Hierdie studie begin met die ondersoek van die evolusie van denke rakende organisasies as oop stelsels. Dit bied 'n geïntegreerde stelselsbenadering tot organisasie-ontwerp en organisasie-ontwikkeling, en identifiseer hoë-hefboom komponente in stelsels wat organisatoriese veerkragtigheid moontlik maak. Dit bied 'n holistiese perspektief op organisatoriese veerkragtigheid en volhoubare ekonomiese groei, insluitende die paradigmatiese ontwikkelinge, denkskole, teoretiese beginsels, teorieë en modelle vir organisasie veerkragtigheid. Dit identifiseer die verwagting, aanpassing en herstel (VAH), ook genoem die “AAR” raamwerk, wat as ontwerpsbeginpunt vir die ontwikkeling van 'n diagnostiese instrument dien. Dit ondersoek tendense van gedrag- en sistemiese strukture wat veerkragtigheid beïnvloed, met spesifieke verwysing na stadsregering, insluitend hoë-hefboomgebiede binne die uitgebreide AAR meta-raamwerk. Faktore en items word komponente van 'n diagnostiese instrument wat veerkragtigheid meet en dit ook van toepassing op stadsregering maak deur die faktore en items wat in die diagnostiese instrument vervat is. Vaardigheidsaanslag, kapasiteitsbou in kruisvaardighede, afwagting, aanpassing, herstel, volhoubare ontwikkeling, “groen” ontwikkeling en “slim” stede (smart cities) vorm die meta-raamwerk van die diagnostiese instrument waarbinne items en hul aanwysers geleë is. Triangulering van data afkomstig van die literatuurstudie, die instrumentontwerp en ‘n kruiskontrole met 'n doelgerigte steekproef van gebruikers het empiries die instrument se geldigheid vasgestel binne 'n voor-toets- en na-toets-raamwerk om die finale diagnostiese instrument te ontwikkel wat ‘n stadsregering se veerkragtigheid meet.