Organizational resilience and the challenge for human resource management: Conceptualizations and frameworks for theory and practice

DOI: 10.5176/2251-2349_HRMPD14.09

Authors: Marcus Ho, Stephen T.T. Teo, Tim Bentley, Martie-Louise Verreyne, Peter Galvin

Abstract: Organizational resilience is an increasingly important characteristic for organizations. The notion of organizational resilience has only recently taken root in the human resource literature. However, diverse perspectives and definitions have impeded the utility of this construct for organizational research and practice. In this study, we conducted three analysis utilizing content analysis with Leximancer software to examine how organizational resilience has been conceptualized in the social sciences literature and examine its implications for human resource management. Our analysis suggests that organizational resilience is linked with understanding process and capabilities of the organization in order to respond to uncertain and potentially disruptive crises and events. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Keywords: Organizational resilience; Human resource management;Strategic human resource management; Organizational capabilities