The Resilient Organization
Abstract
Both academics and practitioners have recently discovered resilience as a core topic of interest. Resilience is widely viewed as a potential solution to the challenges posed by crises and disasters. The promise of resilience is an organization or society that absorbs shocks and ‘bounces back’ after a disturbance. While the idea of resilience is increasingly popular, empirical research on resilient organizations is actually quite rare. This article explores whether a relation exists between organizational characteristics, processes and resilience. Building on the insights of high reliability theory and crisis research, it probes this relation in two organizations that experienced deep crises: the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) and National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA).
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Most studies treat resilience as an outcome, focusing on sources and factors that distinguish resilient from less resilient organizations.
“Most studies just point to organizational characteristics, resources, or processes that seem to be significant for resilience (e.g., Weick 1993;Kendra and Wachtendorf 2003;Gittell et al. 2006).This means that resilience is simply treated as an outcome-when organizations perform well during crisis or bounce back from interruptions (e.g., Horne and Orr 1998).”
From Organizational resilience: a capability-based conceptualization (2020) · cites this paper as Boin and van Eeten 2013
It remains unclear what resilient organizations actually do and how organizational resilience may be achieved in practice.
“But this falls short: it remains unclear what resilient organizations actually do and how organizational resilience may be achieved in practice (Boin and van Eeten 2013;Duit 2016).”
From Organizational resilience: a capability-based conceptualization (2020) · cites this paper as Boin and van Eeten 2013
It is unclear whether resilience is the result of designed processes or the outcome of improvisation and luck.
“For example, we do not really know if resilience is ''the result of designed processes or perhaps the outcome of improvisation and luck'' (Boin and van Eeten 2013, p. 430).”
From Organizational resilience: a capability-based conceptualization (2020) · cites this paper as Boin and van Eeten 2013
The first stage of the resilience process refers to the attempt to anticipate critical developments and potential threats and be prepared.
“This means that the first stage of the resilience process refers to the attempt to anticipate critical developments and potential threats and be prepared (e.g., Somers 2009; Boin and van Eeten 2013).”
From Organizational resilience: a capability-based conceptualization (2020) · cites this paper as Boin and van Eeten 2013
Cites
Kendra, J. M., & Wachtendorf, T. (2003) · Disasters · doi:10.1111/1467-7717.00218 · Cited by 574 · see citing works
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Organizational resilience: a capability-based conceptualization
Duchek, S. (2020) · Business Research · doi:10.1007/s40685-019-0085-7 · Cited by 2,027 · see citing works
- Authors
- Boin, A., & van Eeten, M. J. G.
- Affiliations
- Utrecht University (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Boin, Arjen
- ORCID
- Boin, Arjen
- Venue
- Public Management Review
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2013-03
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 429-445
- ISSN
- 1461-667X (ISSN-L)
- 1471-9037
- 1471-9045
- OpenAlex
- W2057596939
- Cited by
- 493
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 82 · 2025: 77 · 2024: 55 · 2023: 61 · 2022: 60 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 37.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Public Management Review (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Disaster Management and Resilience
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Supply Chain Resilience and Risk Management
- Social Sciences › Communication › Public Relations and Crisis Communication
- Keywords
- organizational resilience, high reliability organizations, organizational crisis, crisis management, CAISO, NASA, organizational characteristics, organizational processes, disaster recovery
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