Organizational Resilience: What it is and what it isn’t? A Conceptual Review

Abstract

Organizational Resilience (OR) as a construct and as a socioeconomic challenge is gaining uprising attention. Yet, a better understanding of the term in terms of what it is and what it isn't is still far behind. The present study is aimed at revisiting the definitions of OR for elucidating the scope of it. A systematic review of selected journal articles of 30 years (1990- 2020) indexed in SSCI was performed. Both identifying and distinguishing facets of definitions were reviewed qualitatively and presented. Findings indicate that OR is a multidimensional construct that possesses several features that distinguish it from other similar constructs. The study concluded that the OR is about an organizational philosophy comprised of diverse competencies to manage challenging environmental events in a continuous and progressive way. Implications suggest that any conceptualization of OR should primarily centre on the long-term continuous process of meeting the challenging environmental occurrences rather than a set of discrete capabilities to respond to a devastating event.