Comeback or evolution? Examining organizational resilience literature in pre and during COVID-19

Abstract

PurposeThe ability of companies to develop organizational resilience before, during and after crises is crucial for their development and growth. The future forecasts increasingly more crises, thus this paper aims at identifying key topics around organizational resilience in COVID-19 times, differentiating them of pre-crisis literature and synthesizing them into a research framework.Design/methodology/approachBased on Web of Science and Scopus, the authors analysed the content of the only twenty-seven VHB-ranked primary studies discussing organizational resilience during COVID-19, providing a complete survey of this research area.FindingsFollowing a content analysis, the authors identified main topics of interest for researchers at the moment of COVID-19, how it differed from before this adversity and provide an outlook on future research. The results presented include in the COVID-19 context: an adapted definition of organizational resilience, key theoretical framework, insights for future research. Some topics have been found to be increasingly more important during COVID-19 (i.e. digitalization, partnerships and learning) while others have been less explored although present in pre-COVID-19 research on organizational resilience (i.e. dynamic capabilities, anticipation and preparedness).Originality/valueUnderstanding key issues in global disruptions could help practitioners in fostering resilience as much as researchers in identifying new ways to advance and maintain resilience. This paper differs from other reviews by providing a full text analysis, based on qualitative content analysis, of all ranked published papers in the considered period.

Correlations between organizational change and resilience

“…For instance, Douglas and Haley (2024) argued that learning and other strategies that support knowledge and skill development are significant for building OR. Paeffgen et al (2023) argued that OR can be assessed using a variety of organizational attributes, including response, longterm survival, recovery and adaptation. Linnenluecke (2017) questioned if OR can be brought about by institutional mandates.…”