Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2225-8329

The Evolution of Organizational Resilience: A Systematic Literature Review

Mansoor Ali Khan, Suresh Ramakrishnan, Saleh F. A. Khatib

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARAFMS/v16-i1/27549

Open access

This study offers a systematic literature review of organizational resilience studies related to business and management, combining findings from 218 peer reviewed articles published within 2010 and 2024 and indexed in Scopus. The review indicates that, despite tremendous growth in literature, organizational resilience stays conceptually disconnected and empirically inconsistent. Existing research alternately defines resilience as a capability, process, or outcome, leading to different measuring methodologies and inconsistent empirical findings. In particular, the analysis highlights persisting tensions in the resilience performance link, contradictory evidence about the effectiveness of ESG measures, and context dependent results of digital transformation among firm sizes and sectors. Drawing on a structured thematic and methodological approach, this review advances the field by critically integrating fragmented research streams and revealing systemic shortcomings in theory formation, research design, and operationalization. The findings underline the necessity for longitudinal, multi-level, and adaptive research frameworks capable of harmonizing firm-level strategies with institutional, technical, and sustainability driven dynamics. By changing the focus from descriptive aggregation to critical synthesis, this work provides a robust framework for improving organizational resilience research and practice.

Abueid, R., & Elamer, A. A. (2021). Nudging toward diversity in the boardroom : A systematic literature review of board diversity of financial institutions. (October 2020), 985-1002. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2665
Ahrens, T., & Ferry, L. (2020). Financial resilience of English local government in the aftermath of COVID-19. Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management, 32(5), 813-823. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBAFM-07-2020-0098
Al-Omoush, K., Ribeiro-Navarrete, B., & McDowell, W. C. (2023). The impact of digital corporate social responsibility on social entrepreneurship and organizational resilience. Management Decision. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-11-2022-1613
Amann, B., & Jaussaud, J. (2012). Family and non-family business resilience in an economic downturn. Asia Pacific Business Review, 18(2), 203-223. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602381.2010.537057
Amaral, P. C. F., & Da Rocha, A. (2023). Building resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic: the journey of a small entrepreneurial family firm in Brazil. Journal of Family Business Management, 13(1), 210-225. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFBM-02-2022-0017
Andersson, T., Cäker, M., Tengblad, S., & Wickelgren, M. (2019). Building traits for organizational resilience through balancing organizational structures. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 35(1), 36-45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scaman.2019.01.001
Annarelli, A., Battistella, C., & Nonino, F. (2020). A framework to evaluate the effects of organizational resilience on service quality. Sustainability (Switzerland), 12(3), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12030958
Anwar, A., Coviello, N., & Rouziou, M. (2023). Weathering a Crisis: A Multi-Level Analysis of Resilience in Young Ventures. Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, 47(3), 864-892. https://doi.org/10.1177/10422587211046545
Arimany-Serrat, N., Farreras-Noguer, M. À., & Coenders, G. (2023). Financial resilience of Spanish wineries during the COVID-19 lockdown. International Journal of Wine Business Research, 35(2), 346-364. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWBR-03-2022-0012
Barasa, E., Mbau, R., & Gilson, L. (2018). What is resilience and how can it be nurtured? A systematic review of empirical literature on organizational resilience. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 7(6), 491-503. https://doi.org/10.15171/ijhpm.2018.06
Barbera, C., Guarini, E., & Steccolini, I. (2020). How do governments cope with austerity? The roles of accounting in shaping governmental financial resilience. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 33(3), 529-558. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-11-2018-3739
Barbera, C., Jones, M., Korac, S., Saliterer, I., & Steccolini, I. (2017). Governmental financial resilience under austerity in Austria, England and Italy: How do local governments cope with financial shocks? Public Administration, 95(3), 670-697. https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12350
Beuren, I. M., dos Santos, V., & Theiss, V. (2022). Organizational resilience, job satisfaction and business performance. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 71(6), 2262-2279. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-03-2021-0158
Borah, P. S., Dogbe, C. S. K., Dzandu, M. D., & Pomegbe, W. W. K. (2023). Forging organizational resilience through green value co-creation: The role of green technology, green operations, and green transaction capabilities. Business Strategy and the Environment. https://doi.org/10.1002/BSE.3446
Branicki, L., Steyer, V., & Sullivan-Taylor, B. (2019). Why resilience managers aren’t resilient, and what human resource management can do about it. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 30(8), 1261-1286. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2016.1244104
Bridges, D., Wulff, E., & Bamberry, L. (2023). Resilience for gender inclusion: Developing a model for women in male-dominated occupations. Gender, Work and Organization, 30(1), 263-279. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12672
Bürgel, T. R., Hiebl, M. R. W., & Pielsticker, D. I. (2023). Digitalization and entrepreneurial firms' resilience to pandemic crises: Evidence from COVID-19 and the German Mittelstand. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 186(PA), 122135-122135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.122135
Burnard, K., Bhamra, R., & Tsinopoulos, C. (2018). Building organizational resilience: Four configurations. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 65(3), 351-362. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2018.2796181
Cardillo, G., Bendinelli, E., & Torluccio, G. (2023). COVID-19, ESG investing, and the resilience of more sustainable stocks: Evidence from European firms. Business Strategy and the Environment, 32(1), 602-623. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3163
Casprini, E., Pucci, T., & Zanni, L. (2023). From growth goals to proactive organizational resilience: first evidence in women-led and non-women-led Italian wineries. Review of Managerial Science, 17(3), 1017-1036. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-022-00557-1
Castellacci, F. (2015). Institutional Voids or Organizational Resilience? Business Groups, Innovation, and Market Development in Latin America. World Development, 70, 43-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.12.014
Ciasullo, M. V., Montera, R., & Douglas, A. (2022). Building SMEs’ resilience in times of uncertainty: the role of big data analytics capability and co-innovation. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, 16(2), 203-217. https://doi.org/10.1108/TG-07-2021-0120
Conz, E., & Magnani, G. (2020). A dynamic perspective on the resilience of firms: A systematic literature review and a framework for future research. European Management Journal, 38(3), 400-412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2019.12.004
Conz, E., Magnani, G., Zucchella, A., & De Massis, A. (2023). Responding to unexpected crises: The roles of slack resources and entrepreneurial attitude to build resilience. Small Business Economics(0123456789). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-022-00718-2
Crichton, M. T., Ramsay, C. G., & Kelly, T. (2009). Enhancing Organizational Resilience Through Emergency Planning: Learnings f...: Library Plus - for books, articles and more. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 17(1), 24-37. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.derby.ac.uk/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=4eff2a5e-14ff-4ecc-9cb2-e3c272911431%40sessionmgr120
Croci, E., Hertig, G., Khoja, L., & Lan, L. L. (2023). Board characteristics and firm resilience: Evidence from disruptive events. Corporate Governance: An International Review(February 2022), 1-31. https://doi.org/10.1111/corg.12518
Cui, L., Wu, H., Wu, L., Kumar, A., & Tan, K. H. (2022). Investigating the relationship between digital technologies, supply chain integration and firm resilience in the context of COVID-19. Annals of Operations Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-022-04735-y
Czakon, W., Hajdas, M., & Radomska, J. (2023). Playing the wild cards: Antecedents of family firm resilience. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 14(1), 100484-100484. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfbs.2022.100484
Dahles, H., & Susilowati, T. P. (2015). Business resilience in times of growth and crisis. Annals of Tourism Research, 51, 34-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2015.01.002
Danisman, G. O., Demir, E., & Zaremba, A. (2021). Financial Resilience To the Covid-19 Pandemic: the Role of Banking Market Structure. Applied Economics, 53(39), 4481-4504. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2021.1904118
Dhoopar, A., Sihag, P., Kumar, A., & Suhag, A. K. (2022). Organizational resilience and employee performance in COVID-19 pandemic: the mediating effect of emotional intelligence. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 30(1), 130-155. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-06-2020-2261
Do, H., Budhwar, P., Shipton, H., Nguyen, H.-D., & Nguyen, B. (2022). Building organizational resilience, innovation through resource-based management initiatives, organizational learning and environmental dynamism. Journal of Business Research, 141, 808-821.
Duchek, S., Raetze, S., & Scheuch, I. (2020). The role of diversity in organizational resilience: a theoretical framework. Business Research, 13(2), 387-423. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40685-019-0084-8
Foulon, B., & Marsat, S. (2023). Does environmental footprint influence the resilience of firms facing environmental penalties? Business Strategy and the Environment. https://doi.org/10.1002/BSE.3478
Gani, M. O., Yoshi, T., & Rahman, M. S. (2023). Optimizing firm's supply chain resilience in data-driven business environment. Journal of Global Operations and Strategic Sourcing, 16(2), 258-281. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGOSS-02-2022-0013
Gayed, S., & El Ebrashi, R. (2022). Fostering firm resilience through organizational ambidexterity capability and resource availability: amid the COVID-19 outbreak. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 31(1), 253-275.
Ge, C., Huang, H., Wang, Z., Jiang, J., & Liu, C. (2023). Working from home and firm resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Operations Management, 69(3), 450-476. https://doi.org/10.1002/joom.1200
Gerschberger, M., Ellis, S. C., & Gerschberger, M. (2023). Linking employee attributes and organizational resilience: An empirically driven model. Journal of Business Logistics(December 2022), 1-31. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbl.12337
Guan, F., Tienan, W., & Tang, L. (2022). Organizational resilience under COVID-19: the role of digital technology in R&D investment and performance. Industrial Management and Data Systems, 123(1), 41-63. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-04-2022-0220
Guo, Y., Chen, Y., Usai, A., Wu, L., & Qin, W. (2023). Knowledge integration for resilience among multinational SMEs amid the COVID-19: from the view of global digital platforms. Journal of Knowledge Management, 27(1), 84-104. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-02-2022-0138
Hajishirzi, R., Costa, C. J., & Aparicio, M. (2022). Boosting Sustainability through Digital Transformation’s Domains and Resilience. Sustainability (Switzerland), 14(3), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031822
He, Z., Huang, H., Choi, H., & Bilgihan, A. (2023). Building organizational resilience with digital transformation. Journal of Service Management, 34(1), 147-171. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-06-2021-0216
Herbane, B. (2019). Rethinking organizational resilience and strategic renewal in SMEs. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 31(5-6), 476-495. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2018.1541594
Hillmann, J. (2021). Disciplines of organizational resilience: contributions, critiques, and future research avenues (Vol. 15). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-020-00384-2
Hillmann, J., & Guenther, E. (2021). Organizational Resilience: A Valuable Construct for Management Research? International Journal of Management Reviews, 23(1), 7-44. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12239
Huang, Q., Xing, Y., & Gamble, J. (2019). Job demands–resources: a gender perspective on employee well-being and resilience in retail stores in China. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 30(8), 1323-1341. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2016.1226191
Huang, W., Chen, S., & Nguyen, L. T. (2020). Corporate social responsibility and organizational resilience to COVID-19 crisis: An empirical study of Chinese firms. Sustainability (Switzerland), 12(21), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12218970
Huang, X., Chau, K. Y., Tang, Y. M., & Iqbal, W. (2022). Business Ethics and Irrationality in SME During COVID-19: Does It Impact on Sustainable Business Resilience? Frontiers in Environmental Science, 10(March), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.870476
Jiang, S., Yeung, A. C. L., Han, Z., & Huo, B. (2023). The effect of customer and supplier concentrations on firm resilience during the COVID?19 pandemic: resource dependence and power balancing. Journal of Operations Management, 69(3), 497-518.
Karreinen, S., Paananen, H., Kihlström, L., Janhonen, K., Huhtakangas, M., Viita-aho, M., & Tynkkynen, L. K. (2023). Living through uncertainty: a qualitative study on leadership and resilience in primary healthcare during COVID-19. BMC Health Services Research, 23(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09223-y
Kass-Hanna, J., Lyons, A. C., & Liu, F. (2022). Building financial resilience through financial and digital literacy in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Emerging Markets Review, 51(PA), 100846-100846. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ememar.2021.100846
Khatib, S. F. A. (2021). Drivers of corporate voluntary disclosure : a systematic review. (July 2022). https://doi.org/10.1108/JFRA-04-2021-0110
Knook, J., Eastwood, C., Mitchelmore, K., & Barker, A. (2023). Wellbeing, environmental sustainability and profitability: Including plurality of logics in participatory extension programmes for enhanced farmer resilience. Sociologia Ruralis, 63(S1), 141-162. https://doi.org/10.1111/soru.12413
Li, H., Terjesen, S., & Umans, T. (2020). Corporate governance in entrepreneurial firms: a systematic review and research agenda (Vol. 54). Small Business Economics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-018-0118-1
Liang, L., & Li, Y. (2023). The double-edged sword effect of organizational resilience on ESG performance. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. https://doi.org/10.1002/CSR.2520
Liu-Lastres, B., & Cahyanto, I. P. (2023). Are we always ready? Examining event professionals approaches to risk and crisis management and resilience. Tourism Management Perspectives, 46(October 2021), 101073-101073. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2023.101073
Lloyd-Smith, M. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic: Resilient organisational response to a low-chance, high-impact event. BMJ Leader, 4(3), 109-112. https://doi.org/10.1136/leader-2020-000245
Lusardi, A., Hasler, A., & Yakoboski, P. J. (2021). Building up financial literacy and financial resilience. Mind and Society, 20(2), 181-187. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11299-020-00246-0
Marcucci, G., Antomarioni, S., Ciarapica, F. E., & Bevilacqua, M. (2022). The impact of Operations and IT-related Industry 4.0 key technologies on organizational resilience. Production Planning and Control, 33(15), 1417-1431. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2021.1874702
McManus, S., Seville, E., Vargo, J., & Brunsdon, D. (2008). Facilitated Process for Improving Organizational Resilience. Natural Hazards Review, 9(2), 81-90. https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)1527-6988(2008)9:2(81)
Mom?ilovi?, M., Begovi?, S. V., Tomaševi?, S., & Ercegovac, D. (2015). Sustainable growth rate: Evidence from agricultural and food enterprises. Management: Journal of Sustainable Business and Management Solutions in Emerging Economies, 20(76), 63-75.
Novak, D. C., Wu, Z., & Dooley, K. J. (2021). Whose resilience matters? Addressing issues of scale in supply chain resilience. Journal of Business Logistics, 42(3), 323-335. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbl.12270
Orth, D., & Schuldis, P. M. (2021). Organizational learning and unlearning capabilities for resilience during COVID-19. Learning Organization, 28(6), 509-522. https://doi.org/10.1108/TLO-07-2020-0130
Prayag, G., Ozanne, L. K., & Chowdhury, M. (2024). How can service organizations build resilience by leveraging capabilities and service worker team knowledge? Journal of Services Marketing, 38(4), 474-493.
Putritamara, J. A., Hartono, B., Toiba, H., Utami, H. N., Rahman, M. S., & Masyithoh, D. (2023). Do Dynamic Capabilities and Digital Transformation Improve Business Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic? Insights from Beekeeping MSMEs in Indonesia. Sustainability (Switzerland), 15(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/su15031760
Qamar, A., Collinson, S., & Green, A. (2023). Covid-19 disruption, resilience and industrial policy: the automotive sector in the West Midlands. Regional Studies, 57(6), 1156-1170. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2022.2126449
Rehak, D., Senovsky, P., & Slivkova, S. (2018). Resilience of critical infrastructure elements and its main factors. Systems, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/systems6020021
Rodriguez-Sanchez, A., Guinot, J., Chiva, R., & Lopez-Cabrales, A. (2021). How to emerge stronger: Antecedents and consequences of organizational resilience. Journal of Management and Organization, 27(3), 442-459. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2019.5
Rurkkhum, S. (2023). A bundle of human resource practices and employee resilience: the role of employee well-being. Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJBA-01-2022-0050
Sá, M. M. d., Miguel, P. L. d. S., Brito, R. P. d., & Pereira, S. C. F. (2020). Supply chain resilience: the whole is not the sum of the parts. International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 40(1), 92-115. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-09-2017-0510
Sahebjamnia, N., Torabi, S. A., & Mansouri, S. A. (2018). Building organizational resilience in the face of multiple disruptions. International Journal of Production Economics, 197, 63-83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2017.12.009
Salignac, F., Marjolin, A., Reeve, R., & Muir, K. (2019). Conceptualizing and Measuring Financial Resilience: A Multidimensional Framework. Social Indicators Research, 145(1), 17-38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-019-02100-4
Santoro, G., Bertoldi, B., Giachino, C., & Candelo, E. (2020). Exploring the relationship between entrepreneurial resilience and success: The moderating role of stakeholders' engagement. Journal of Business Research, 119(April), 142-150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.11.052
Santoro, G., Messeni-Petruzzelli, A., & Del Giudice, M. (2021). Searching for resilience: the impact of employee-level and entrepreneur-level resilience on firm performance in small family firms. Small Business Economics, 57(1), 455-471. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-020-00319-x
Schwaiger, K., Zehrer, A., & Braun, B. (2022). Organizational resilience in hospitality family businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative approach. Tourism Review, 77(1), 163-176. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-01-2021-0035
Searing, E. A. M., Wiley, K. K., & Young, S. L. (2021). Resiliency tactics during financial crisis: The nonprofit resiliency framework. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 32(2), 179-196. https://doi.org/10.1002/nml.21478
Shela, V., Ramayah, T., & Noor Hazlina, A. (2023). Human capital and organisational resilience in the context of manufacturing: a systematic literature review. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 24(2), 535-559. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-09-2021-0234
Suk, M., & Kim, W. (2021). COVID-19 and the airline industry: crisis management and resilience. Tourism Review, 76(4), 984-998. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-07-2020-0348
Trabucco, M., & De Giovanni, P. (2021). Achieving resilience and business sustainability during COVID-19: The role of lean supply chain practices and digitalization. Sustainability (Switzerland), 13(22). https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212369
Yadav, P., & Shaikh, I. (2023). Measuring financial resilience with consumer sentiment data from India. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 41(5), 1083-1103. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-07-2022-0325
Yang, J., Liu, Y., & Kholaif, M. M. N. H. K. (2023). Trust Relationship with Suppliers, Collaborative Action, and Manufacturer Resilience in the COVID-19 Crisis. Behavioral Sciences, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13010033
Yuan, R., Luo, J., Liu, M. J., & Yu, J. (2022). Understanding organizational resilience in a platform-based sharing business: The role of absorptive capacity. Journal of Business Research, 141(15), 85-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.11.012
Zahedi, J., Salehi, M., & Moradi, M. (2023). Identifying and classifying the financial resilience measurement indices using intuitive fuzzy DEMATEL. Benchmarking, 30(4), 1300-1321. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-07-2021-0395

Khan, M. A., Ramakrishnan, S., & Khatib, S. F. A. (2026). The Evolution of Organizational Resilience: A Systematic Literature Review. International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, 16(1), 191-216.