Organizational resilience: Towards a theory and research agenda

In this paper we outline the contours of a theory of organizational resilience as well as a research agenda. First, we identify how the notion of resilience has become increasingly important to all organizations and argue that organization theory currently does not reflect its importance. Second we reconcile varying definitions of resilience to create a definition of organizational resilience. Third, we identify the affective, cognitive, relational, and structural mechanisms constitutive of organizational resilience. Fourth, we develop research questions regarding the antecedents and mechanisms of resilience.

[1]  C. Perin Organization at the Limit: Lessons from the Columbia Disaster , 2006 .

[2]  K. Weick,et al.  Organizing for high reliability: Processes of collective mindfulness. , 1999 .

[3]  E. Carlson,et al.  Resilience as process , 1993, Development and Psychopathology.

[4]  M. Niland,et al.  Expertise in Nursing Practice: Caring, Clinical Judgment and Ethics , 1996 .

[5]  J. Dutton,et al.  Discerning threats and opportunities. , 1988 .

[6]  N. Repenning,et al.  Disaster Dynamics: Understanding the Role of Quantity in Organizational Collapse , 2002 .

[7]  Barry M. Staw,et al.  Threat-rigidity effects in organizational behavior: A multilevel analysis. , 1981 .

[8]  G. Klein,et al.  Intuition at Work: Why Developing Your Gut Instincts Will Make You Better at What You Do , 2002 .

[9]  M. O'hare,et al.  Searching for Safety , 1990 .

[10]  M. Landau,et al.  The Arrogance of Optimism: Notes on Failure‐Avoidance Management , 1995 .

[11]  James T. Reason,et al.  Managing the risks of organizational accidents , 1997 .

[12]  C. Tanner,et al.  Expertise in Nursing Practice: Caring, Clinical Judgment and Ethics , 1996 .

[13]  G. Bonanno Loss, trauma, and human resilience: have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events? , 2008, The American psychologist.

[14]  M. Pratt,et al.  From threat‐rigidity to flexibility ‐ Toward a learning model of autogenic crisis in organizations , 2000 .

[15]  Marlys K. Christianson,et al.  Managing the unexpected , 2001 .

[16]  Timothy J. Vogus,et al.  Organizing For Resilience , 2003 .

[17]  J. Groopman,et al.  The Anatomy of Hope. , 2004, The Permanente journal.

[18]  Paul R. Schulman,et al.  The Negotiated Order of Organizational Reliability , 1993 .

[19]  K. Cameron,et al.  Relationships, Layoffs, and Organizational Resilience , 2006 .