Interplay of Resources and Institutions in Improving Organizational Resilience of Construction Projects: A Dynamic Perspective

Abstract The increasing number of destructive events, such as natural disasters and social public events, may result in project delays and impair project performance. Accordingly, building and enhancing the organizational resilience of construction projects is a priority for construction organizations. This study seeks to advance this literature by exploring the combination of conditions to enhance resilience from resource and institutional perspectives. Specifically, resource-based theory and institutional theory are used to identify factors that affect the organizational resilience of construction projects, and fifteen representative Chinese projects are selected. A conditional combination is explored to build organizational resilience from pre-crisis and post-crisis perspectives and make a comparative analysis. Results show that institutional factors dominate the construction of proactive organizational resilience, whereas resource factors play a major role in enhancing reactive organizational resilience. Organizational norms are the main guarantee for the crisis response of construction projects whether before or after a disaster. This study contributes to understanding the dynamic changes of organizational resilience in construction projects. The findings provide a basis for enhancing organizational resilience, focusing on crisis preparedness and recovery efforts to respond to frequent and unexpected challenges.