Evaluation of Inter-Organizational Coordination of Housing Services in Rural Alaska Through Social Network Analysis

Abstract

The effects of climate change are increasingly threatening the livelihoods, economies, and cultural identities of Indigenous communities in Alaska, resulting in a disruption of their social, physical, and ecological systems that are impairing their communities' sustainability. A major concern of Alaska Native communities is the effects of climate change exacerbate their pre-existing housing issues. Further, a wide range of organizations participates in addressing housing issues, including governmental, regional, private, tribal, and non-profit organizations. Throughout the literature, a growing focus has been placed on inter-organizational coordination networks as a means of supporting climate-vulnerable communities. Despite this growing knowledge, it has been found that there has been little focus on inter-organizational coordination when it comes to the mitigation of climate change in the development of housing. Furthermore, there is a lack of knowledge about the way inter-organizational coordination influences the level of engagement in Indigenous communities. To address this gap, we surveyed 26 organizations and 36 participants that are active in addressing housing issues in rural Alaska. In this study, we used social network analysis (SNA), including Logistic Regression Quadratic Assignment Procedure (LRQAP), in order to study the influence of inter-organizational activities on housing concerns within an organization as well as the impact of their network centrality on community engagement levels. The results of the social network analysis identified the prominent players in the inter-organizational networks, particularly, Organization V, receiving the most shared resources from the other organizations, and Organizations D and Y, providing the most shared resources to the other organizations. For organizations that shared financial resources, the odds of addressing housing issues through housing design concern increased by 38% (p*0.1). Additionally, organizations that shared knowledge and information increased their chances of addressing climate change issues through housing design concerns by 45% (p*0.1). Sharing resources and knowledge increased the chances of adapting to climate change through sociocultural concerns by 51% (p*0.1).