Comparative Analysis of Learning Conditions across Different Roles in a Large National Crisis Management Exercise

Abstract

Large-scale crisis exercises are commonly treated as shared learning events, yet participation within such exercises is often differentiated across organisations. This Work in Progress examines how differentiated participation in a national crisis exercise series shapes organisational learning conditions and coordination demands. Drawing on empirical material from the Swedish KBÖ24 exercise series, the study compares organisations participating partly and fully in the exercise series as different activity positions within the same exercise system. Using Activity Theory as a sensitising analytical lens, the analysis focuses on differences in exposure to decision-making under uncertainty, operational roles, participation in evaluation processes, and learning trajectories over time. The results suggest that large-scale exercises function as differentiated learning environments, where exercise design and role allocation shape the visibility of system-level coordination challenges and opportunities for reflective learning. Complementary sensemaking perspectives help explain why learning outcomes are position-dependent rather than performance-dependent. The paper contributes to early analytical insights into how exercise design influences learning across complex, multi-organisational crisis management systems.