Organizational resilience: state of the art and new future cyber inquiries

Contemporary societies, and the organizational systems on which they rely, are increasingly exposed to unexpected disruptive events, such as the recent health or geo-political crises. Organizations therefore need a certain level of Organizational Resilience (OR). Since OR is a multifaceted concept, a first aim of this article is to find a trait d’union among many studies and conceptualizations of OR, stimulating academic debate, critical thinking, and further research. An additional goal is to propose a specific direction for future research leading to a better understanding of the characteristics that make organizations more resilient to an increasing relevant adverse phenomenon, namely cybersecurity and related cyberattacks. The authors develop a systematic literature review about the concept of OR in the Management and Organization science fields. A second facet is the authors’ proposed three-stage conceptual framework of OR, which is consistent with the relevant ideas emerging from the systematic literature review. A third section focuses on the exploration of relationships between cybersecurity and organizational domains, going beyond a purely technical focus.

Results show that there is a need to address many unresolved research gaps, and to systematize the fragmentation of current Organization and Management research. It is clear that many critical areas still lack a solid and more comprehensive operationalization of OR, including cyber OR.