Exogenous crisis learning of local governments: learning in unaffected areas after the 7·20 rainstorm disaster in China

Purpose Explore the learning orientation and observation orientation of local governments in unaffected areas after the 7·20, 2021, rainstorm disaster in China. Design/methodology/approach Firstly, through a theoretical analysis, the post-disaster learning of local governments in unaffected areas is defined as exogenous crisis learning. Then, the study collated 922 events of exogenous crisis learning, as reported in newspapers and policy documents, which occurred in 250 cities in China following the 7·20 rainstorm disaster. The data were analyzed using the Gioia methodology, thereby obtaining the data structure of the exogenous crisis learning orientation and observation orientation of local governments. Findings The exogenous crisis learning orientations of local governments in unaffected areas after the 7·20 rainstorm disaster include superficial learning, cognitive learning, behavioral learning and accountability learning. The data indicate that local governments showed a greater preference for cognitive learning orientation (36.02%) and superficial learning orientation (33.57%). In exogenous crisis learning, disaster was observed in four different ways: attention, copying, synthesis and goal. Amongst the various ways in which local governments engaged in exogenous crisis learning following the 7·20 disaster, the most common were copying (35.71%) and attention (33.57%). Furthermore, this study presents a detailed analysis of the exogenous crisis learning orientations and observation orientations. Originality/value Existing studies have indicated that local governments can not only learn from their own past experiences but also draw valuable lessons from other places. However, the orientation analysis of local governments to learn from other crises is limited. This study makes efforts to fill this gap.