The Art of Organisational Resilience


Book Description

The battlefield of the past is an opportunity for the future commander, the future manager to reflect. The books rationale for translating military concepts into management speak is the authors impression in the classroom that managers in commercial organisations tend to follow ‘outdated’ models of management, without reflecting on a military science that is believed to provide thought leadership. The case study of the Fall of France in 1940 is a contest between two archetypes of organisational resilience, with one prevailing over the other. The resulting insights shaped military science; concepts such as Auftragstaktik have found its way into doctrinal thinking of modern armies as well as framed contemporary management literature. This book provides a compelling analysis of the monumental events in May 1940, and provides rudimentary answers from a military and management perspective, true to the premise of history. The Art of Organisational Resilience is a highly distinctive and readable book that explores the strategy, operations and tactics of modern business and the role of resilience in sustaining business in increasingly complex, often fast-changing and adverse conditions.




The Art of Organisational Resilience


Book Description

The need for organisational resilience -- Strategic resilience -- Operational resilience -- Tactical resilience -- Leadership -- Logistics -- Roads to resilience




Building a Resilient Organisation


Book Description

In this book, John Arthur and Louise Moody introduce the concept of the reasoning chain, a new approach to risk-based reasoning systems in large, complex and distributed organisations. Arguing that large, complex and distributed organisations are particularly focussed on a triple-helix of chain metaphors – supply, value and reputation chains – the authors propose that there is overwhelming evidence that the accepted approaches to risk and resilience do not compliment this architecture. This is extremely problematic because risk and resilience constructs have been formally and informally regulated for these industries. The Reasoning Chain proposes and illustrates a holistic solution to the problems thrown up by existing norms. It is proposed that the reasoning chain be intentionally designed on an equal footing with supply, value and reputation; a quadruple helix. Through challenge of best practice, an argument unfolds to outline the novel approach for risk based resilience reasoning in large distributed organisations, illustrated through a series of case studies and guidance to implementation. This book is an accessible and valuable resource for risk managers and decision makers responsible for complex business decisions.




HBR's 10 Must Reads on Organizational Resilience (with bonus article "Organizational Grit" by Thomas H. Lee and Angela L. Duckworth)


Book Description

Build resilience in your company to weather the greatest crises. If you read nothing else on organizational resilience, read these 10 articles. We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help your company prepare for and overcome disruption, social upheaval, and disaster. This book will inspire you to: Reposition your core business while launching a separate, disruptive business Build the ability to continually anticipate and adjust to emerging trends Prepare for the business implications of climate change Learn about the risks of hyperefficient businesses Develop organizational grit Rebound from a recession faster than your competitors Lead your company through any kind of crisis This collection of articles includes "How Resilience Works" by Diane Coutu; "The Quest for Resilience" by Gary Hamel and Liisa Valikangas; "Disruptive Technologies: Catching the Wave" by Joseph L. Bower and Clayton M. Christensen; "Organizational Grit" by Thomas H. Lee and Angela L. Duckworth; "Leading in Times of Trauma" by Jane E. Dutton, Peter J. Frost, Monica C. Worline, Jacoba M. Lilius, and Jason M. Kanov; "Learning from the Future" by J. Peter Scoblic; "Leading a New Era of Climate Action" by Andrew Winston; "The High Price of Efficiency" by Roger L. Martin; "Reigniting Growth" by Chris Zook and James Allen; "Global Supply Chains in a Post-Pandemic World" by Willy C. Shih; and "Roaring Out of Recession" by Ranjay Gulati, Nitin Nohria, and Franz Wohlgezogen. HBR's 10 Must Reads paperback series is the definitive collection of books for new and experienced leaders alike. Leaders looking for the inspiration that big ideas provide, both to accelerate their own growth and that of their companies, should look no further. HBR's 10 Must Reads series focuses on the core topics that every ambitious manager needs to know: leadership, strategy, change, managing people, and managing yourself. Harvard Business Review has sorted through hundreds of articles and selected only the most essential reading on each topic. Each title includes timeless advice that will be relevant regardless of an ever‐changing business environment.




Towards Resilient Organizations and Societies


Book Description

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.




The Resilience Framework


Book Description

This book puts forward a carefully crafted theoretical framework that makes a substantial contribution to the field of organizational resilience. It is a framework that goes far beyond the traditional crisis management perspective (accidents, scandals, etc) to an investigation of the characteristics and factors that make organizations viable over time. The book creates a much-needed link between human resource management and organizational development on the one hand, and the literature about risk and crises management and resilience engineering on the other. The book assembles several robust social science theories such as evolutionary theory, complexity theory, and institutional theory, as well as concepts from management theory such as followership, organizational trust, open innovation, and serendipity management into a coherent framework. It also integrates important models from the field of resilience engineering that have not previously been included in the research on organizational resilience. Several new models are used to present the theoretical framework, models that have relevance for researchers as well as practitioners. In addition to the theoretical framework, all chapters are set in various practical environments that both illustrate the use of resilience resources and align with the framework itself.




Project Resilience


Book Description

As the title suggests, Project Resilience is about making projects and project managers more resilient. The authors look at projects not simply from a ’mechanistic’ approach in which work can be broken down, executed and controlled as a series of interlocking parts but rather as ’organic’ constructs, living entities existing for a finite period of time, consisting of people, structures and processes. These entities are constantly challenged by environmental adversity - risk, uncertainty and complexity. Resilience involves finding ways to help project managers notice more, interpret adversity more realistically, prepare themselves better for it, contain and recover from it quicker and more appropriately. The book has two purposes: it offers a glimpse into our tendencies to be irrational in the face of adversity: risk, uncertainty and complexity. The second purpose is to offer a new perspective to aid in managing risky, and in particular uncertain and complex projects. The authors go beyond commonly-accepted standards in project management with the aim of providing an understanding of how to implement project-wide resilience. The purpose is to guide, not to prescribe. It is best used as a trigger for a thinking process to define your own unique approach to managing uncertainty, not to replace your experience and judgement. Ultimately, it has been written to challenge traditional wisdom in project management, and to address the rationale for creative best practices.




Elgar Introduction to Theories of Organizational Resilience


Book Description

With organizational environments becoming more unstable, uncertain and equivocal, the concept of resilience has become increasingly significant for management studies. Resilience connotes organizational, team and individual capacities to absorb external shocks and to learn from them, while simultaneously preparing for and responding to external jolts. This book pinpoints the essential aspects of managerial and organizational resilience and offers insights that stimulate critical thinking. As the concept of resilience is essentially made up of contrasting forces, the volume presents some innovative synthetic interpretation that allows a deeper comprehension of the phenomenon and provides managers and policy-makers with a solid basis for taking their decisions.




The Nature of Business


Book Description

The business of biomimicry—companies the way nature intended.




Sisu


Book Description

Discover the Finnish quality of sisu and how cultivating it can help you lead a life of greater purpose and happiness. This ancient Finnish word describes an attitude of courage, resilience, grit, tenacity and perseverance. This key psychological competence enables extraordinary action in times of adversity. To have sisu confers a further dimension of doing so with honesty, integrity and humility. By cultivating sisu you can: Face life's challenges with courage and determination Enhance your wellbeing and find your focus Communicate confidently and resolve conflicts effectively Cultivate endurance and achieve your fitness goals Raise kind and resilient children Act with integrity and fight for what you believe in Sisu is a universal trait. It may have been bottled and labelled by the Finns, but it is within reach of everyone. It lies within you, and you are very likely to have used it already.