Organizational Resilience: A Model and Future Research Agenda

In the face of challenging conditions, resilience capabilities are essential for organizational survival and sustainability. Despite significant academic interest and practical utility of this construct, a lack of theoretical foundation, definitional inconsistencies, and an apparent operational muddle predominates. Extant reviews of this topic comprise an amalgam of frameworks, conceptualizations, and empirical findings from disparate perspectives such as supply chain, strategic, and operational management. Frames of reference from an organizational level are rare. We extend past reviews by deconstructing management-related definitions and measures of organizational resilience through a series of in-depth and broad-based text mining exercises using Leximancer. We found five distinctive research streams, suggesting that organizational resilience is comprised of cognitive, behavioral, and micro-foundational components. We conclude with a unifying definition that can bring coherence and clarity for future research. The central role of contextual contingencies such as the environmental conditions, time, and timing is highlighted.