Organizational resilience: Towards a theory and research agenda

In this paper we outline the contours of a theory of organizational resilience as well as a research agenda. First, we identify how the notion of resilience has become increasingly important to all organizations and argue that organization theory currently does not reflect its importance. Second we reconcile varying definitions of resilience to create a definition of organizational resilience. Third, we identify the affective, cognitive, relational, and structural mechanisms constitutive of organizational resilience. Fourth, we develop research questions regarding the antecedents and mechanisms of resilience.