Towards Resilient Organizations And Societies

This open access book brings together scholars in the fields of management, public policy, regional studies, and organization theory around the concept of resilience. The aim is to provide a more holistic understanding of the complex phenomenon of resilience from a multi-sectorial, cross-national, and multidisciplinary perspective. The book facilitates a conversation across diverse disciplinary specializations and empirical domains. The authors contribute both to theory testing and theory development and provide key empirical insights useful for societies, organizations, and individuals experiencing disruptive pressures, not least in the context of a post-COVID-19 world. Diverse chapters are held together by a clear organization of the volume across levels of analysis (resilience in organizations and societies) and by an original perspective on resilience derived from an extended review, by the editors, of the existing literature and knowledge gaps, according to which each of the individual chapter contributions is positioned and connected to.

What differentiates resilient organizations from those that are not? Do we need to wait until a crisis strikes to see how resilient an organization is? Resilient Organizations draws on primary research to reveal the answers to these questions and provides practical ideas and actions to make your own organization more resilient. Organizational resilience is about creating organizations with the agility to adapt to unexpected challenges and the capacity to seize opportunity out of adversity. Dr Erica Seville, founder of the Resilient Organizations research programme, provides readers with the essential knowledge required to enable organizations to thrive in a world of change and uncertainty. Drawing on a decade of research, her team have identified 13 indicators to diagnose an organization's resilience. Resilient Organizations draws out the top five ingredients and shows how organization resilience is a capability that can and must be proactively fostered and maintained over time. Using case studies, diagnostic tools and key actions and initiatives to develop and maintain organizational resilience, Resilient Organizations is essential reading for everyone tasked with developing strong organizations that can survive and thrive in crisis and change - from risk, resilience and business continuity professionals to leadership and management teams.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A "RESILIENT" ORGANIZATION? It means you are not a prisoner of past performance, good or bad; you don't rely on the right leader alone for success but build the capability to be resilient into the organization. You constantly rehearse the culture of anticipating and responding to change, and you innovate even when you don't yet need to. You don't just survive, you thrive--amidst challenge and opportunity. This essential guide, written by a renowned expert in global resilience strategy, shows you how to be smart about success and failure. With these field-tested forward-focused tools, you can: SURVIVE SHOCKS AND SETBACKS TURN THREATS INTO OPPORTUNITIES ANTICIPATE CHANGE BEFORE IT HAPPENS ENSURE YOUR SUCCESS IS SUSTAINABLE As a bonus, the book features Postcards from the Resilient Edge, a powerhouse selection of frontline lessons from leading corporations that demonstrate ways you can marshal skill and master luck to take control of your organization's destiny. THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE NEW RESILIENCE MOVEMENT One of the most powerful trends born of the New Recession, resilience has become the operative word for business leaders and entrepreneurs facing an unpredictable market. On the forefront of this movement, global innovator and strategy consultant professor Liisa Välikangas has created a step-by-step system of proven survival strategies you can put into action immediately. Whether you need to bounce back from a downturn, take the fight to new competitors, or change your game plan at a moment's notice, The Resilient Organization shows you how to rethink your current strategies--and rebuild your company’s foundation--using four basic tools . . . INNOVATION with high impact and low overhead DESIGN that is robust, sustainable, and evolvable ADAPTABILITY to changing circumstances STRENGTH in the face of adversity By creating a culture of resilience in your organization, you'll be prepared for any challenge the future might hold. The Resilient Organization's fascinating case studies provide real-world examples of resilience in action: how to recover faster from hardships, how to experiment on new opportunities in a timely manner, how to avoid repeating bad business decisions, and when to scrap old strategiesthat just don't work anymore. Using the timetested principles of resilience, you can find golden opportunities in any situation--whether it's tough competition, reduced resources, or a roller-coaster market. If you're strategically resilient, you not only survive crises, but you can turn these crises into opportunities. LIISA VÄLIKANGAS, PH.D., is professor of innovation management at the Aalto University School of Economics (formerly Helsinki School of Economics) in Finland. She is the cofounder and president of Innovation Democracy, a nonprofi t global organization dedicated to supporting local innovation and entrepreneurship. Her research on innovation, strategy, and organization has been published in Harvard Business Review, MIT/Sloan Management Review, and The Wall Street Journal. With Gary Hamel, she coauthored the Harvard Business Review article "The Quest for Resilience" and cofounded the Woodside Institute, a research organization dedicated to advancing management innovation. Professor Välikangas currently divides her time between Helsinki and California.

In recent years, decision-makers from all sectors have been using 'resilience' as a keyword for managing societal turbulences. But what is resilience? How can we benefit from integrating digital transformation and resilience? In this book, some of the world's leading experts on resilience explore the issue and discuss possible answers to these questions. The editors of this book believe that resilience is the master key for the future. However, they also remind us that people are at the base of any process of resilience and, only by placing people at the center of transformation, can we aspire to have resilient organizations and a resilient society.

Much of the fear and uncertainty surrounding the global recession is concerned with the adverse impact it will have on organisations and society. However, recessions are nothing new. We know from past experience that when a recession is over, there always emerge organisations and individuals who have not only survived but have thrived. They often emerge stronger, fitter and better performing. Developing Resilient Organizations argues that one of the fundamental keys to survival in these circumstances is resilience or mental toughness. It can make challenge and change an opportunity rather than a threat. The book addresses a wide variety of organizational issues including motivation, performance, staff retention, behaviour, trust, attention span and teamwork. With case studies from leading organizations across the public and private sector internationally, it will show you how to develop organizational performance, well being and a positive approach to adversity and change in your organization.

In our tumultuous times, understanding and achieving resilience have never been more important. Some organizations have resilience in their DNA. They possess the agility of mind, culture, and organization to survive and thrive no matter what is put in their way. Building Resilient Organizations is focused on identifying what sets these enterprises apart, exploring the nature of resilience for organizations. Along the way, we discover some inspiring global examples of resilient projects in practice and some novel thinking for leaders to consider about what it takes to be resilient over the long haul. With contributions from leading thinkers and practitioners from throughout the world, Building Resilient Organizations will enable you and your organization to further develop resilience as a muscle in your organization.

CRISIS-READY LEADERSHIP Provides an integrated framework for making decisions in the context of a crisis, based on operationalized practices and strategies Crisis-ready Leadership: Building Resilient Organizations and Communities provides the knowledge and skills necessary to make timely and effective decisions while managing a large-scale incident. Codifying the best practices from the successful FEMA-certified course On-Scene Crisis Leadership and Decision Making for HazMat Incidents, this comprehensive volume provides systematic guidance on best practices for improving situational awareness, adapting leadership styles, implementing incident command systems across political and organizational boundaries, and more. Throughout the book, readers gain an in-depth understanding of crucial leadership and decision-making skills through examination of real-world case studies based on interviews, reports, and testimonies of experienced crisis leaders within government and the private sector. Organized around five key topics, each detailed chapter helps crisis leaders fully comprehend a particular problem, its associated challenges, and the lessons learned. Presenting operationally relevant issues and solutions supported by sound theory, this invaluable resource: Presents leading models, theories, and frameworks for situational awareness and decision making, including FEMA Community Lifelines Highlights complex challenges in different operating contexts and complicating factors such as stress and diversity, equity, and inclusion of stakeholders Emphasizes engaging the whole community to enhance preparedness and facilitate the decision-making process to chart a clear path to recovery Contains practical exercises designed to strengthen crisis leadership and decision-making skills Includes numerous case studies and example strategies, objectives, and scenarios Crisis-ready Leadership: Building Resilient Organizations and Communities is required reading for all those with leadership and decision-making responsibilities before, during, and after crisis events, including emergency managers, police and fire department leaders, C-suite executives, government agency and military leaders, public health directors, and industrial facility health, safety, security, and environmental directors.