The article “Organizational resilience and sustainable innovation: a study on the human resources management model at a Brazilian energy company”, by Isabella Freitas Gouveia de Vasconcelos, Alvaro Bruno Cyrino, Lucas Martins D´Oliveira and Eric Proença Prallon, published in Cadernos EBAPE.BR, v. 13, nº 4, October/December 2015, kicked off the debate of this special issue of Cadernos EBAPE.BR, dedicated to the theme Organizational Resilience.
In general, the concept of resilience is related to organization’s responses to disruptive events, by positively adapting to a new level of complexity in order to overcome the situation and implement change successfully.
The concept of radical innovation in technology, products, services and organizational forms inherently brings the idea of disruption and adaptation of the organization to a new level of complexity after the redesign of forms of work, business model, products and/or services, as well as the redesign of organizational processes and forms of remuneration. Moreover, regardless of the radical innovation organizations go through, they need to adapt to be able to thrive in a business environment that is increasingly competitive, where other organizations also constantly innovate. Political crises with an impact on the economy, or changes in the economy due to other economic and/or social factors, changes in legislation by the government or in regulation by international organizations can also cause disruption, requiring a redesign of the work models and/or technology. In this scenario of greater competitiveness and turbulence (which tends to be the scenario for future businesses), the concept of resilience gains relevance.
Organizations need to face these disruptive situations successfully, reaching new levels of performance and stability by implementing technologies and more complex interactions that come from the redesign of work models and of the relationships, as well as the redesign of organizational structures, forms of remuneration and careers.
Topics such as strategic foresight (anticipation of future scenarios, including those of disruption); new organizational forms (post-bureaucratic organizations, adhocracies); sustainable innovation and more substantive forms of interaction in the organizations (from Habermasian inspiration, more oriented to the real understanding of the issues and that provide a base for knowledge production); and dynamic equilibrium (the attainment of ever more complex equilibrium levels - after overcoming situations of disruption) also appear more frequently and are related to organizational resilience.
Currently, most countries in the world experience situations of economic and/or social crisis and the issue of resilience gains importance, whether in business administration, public administration or in the third sector.
Overcoming crises and creating a more just society, preserving it for future generations, restoring the planet’s climate equilibrium and protecting the environment, were topics debated at the meeting that originated the Paris agreement signed by 175 countries between 30 November 2014 and 11 December 2015.
These efforts are aimed at avoiding and overcoming social, economic and environmental disruptions, in order to offer future generations hope for a more just and balanced society. In this sense, as we shall see, the theme of resilience is also studied in ecology, social sciences and history; it is a multiple theme that permeates several areas of knowledge.
We are grateful for the collaboration of undergraduate student Erik Proença Prallon, who participated in the elaboration of the 2015 article, which is the reference for the publication of this special issue of Cadernos EBAPE.BR.
The initial article that conceptualizes the theme, was written by the journal’s current editor and co-authors. The study was approved by the former Editor-in-chief, Professor Fernando G. Tenório, and represented, as well as the article by Professor Helio Arthur Reis Irigaray, also editor of the journal, an opportunity for the development of this thematic issue.
The articles presented in this special issue of Cadernos EBAPE.BR address the theme resilience directly or indirectly, portraying excellent research on the subject.
The article, “Post-bureaucratic organizations and organizational resilience: institutionalization of more substantive forms of communication in working relations”, by Isabella Francisca Freitas Gouveia de Vasconcelos, Alvaro Bruno Cyrino, Leonardo Araújo de Carvalho and Lucas Martins d´Oliveira, shows that the more resilient an organization is, the more innovative its activities, based on substantive work. Resilient organizations adopt communication inspired in Habermas, i.e. seeking to build a deep understanding and produce factual knowledge. The post-bureaucratic organizational model, which is related to the concept of resilience, discusses these issues.
“Organizational resilience: a proposition of an integrated model and research agenda”, by Helio Arthur Reis Irigaray, Kely Cesar Martins de Paiva and Cristina Chaves Goldschmidt, synthesizes conceptual issues related to resilience in the work place and proposes an integrated analysis model.
“Resilience at work: a comparative analysis between functionalist and critical theories”, by Adriana de Azevedo Vieira and Carlyle Tadeu Falcão de Oliveira, presents qualitative research in which 59 articles published between 1999 and 2014 were analyzed. Results show that the concept of resilience (in a functionalist perspective) continues to dominate the organizational discourse.
“Skills for organizational sustainability: a systematic review”, by Edson Luis Kuzma, Sérgio Luis Dias Doliveira and Adriana Queiroz Silva, takes into consideration the relevance of discussions that involve social competences and organizational sustainability, in order to analyze and explore the relationship between organizational competencies and sustainability applied to business.
The article “Dynamic capabilities from an institutionalist viewpoint”, by José Bonfim Albuquerque Filho, Sergio Bulgacov and Márcia Ramos May, aims to clarify the effects of strategic, technical and institutional responses in the perspective of dynamic capacities, considering the environmental changes in business. The study is based on a case study of the oldest media company in Brazil.
“Recognition of the Theme “Social Responsibility” in Higher Education Institutions. Analysis of Undergraduate Courses in Business Administration in the State of Rio de Janeiro”, by Luiz Antonio Jucá Serao, Mirian Albert Pires, Fátima Bayma de Oliveira and Anderson de Souza Sant’Anna, analyzes the level of recognition given to the term social responsibility in undergraduate courses in Administration offered by higher education institutions in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The study brings the perspective of course coordinators, students and student organizations that promote social practices.
“Organizational resilience and social marketing: an assessment of foundations and affinities”, by Daniel Kamlot, links the concept of organizational resilience to social marketing. The article seeks to find common ideas between these areas of study and to identify how they relate to each other.
The article “Motivating factors in hospital environmental management programs: a multiple case study in four private Brazilian hospitals”, by Jan Kruger, Claudia Araújo and Guilherme Curi, investigates the motivation for hospital managers to adopt enviromentally responsible programs, as well as identifying the actions implemented in the institutions. A multiple case study was conducted in four Brazilian hospitals in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
“Critical aspects of telework in a multinational company”, by Igor Leal Aderaldo, Carlos Victor Leal Aderaldo and Afonso Carneiro Lima, shows that companies are constantly forced to adapt, updating their policies, processes and practices, and work routines. Among the several work practices, telework is a controversial theme in administration and deserves some in-depth study.
Finally, the article “Types of financial and non-financial information disclosure about corporate social responsibility”, by Maria José da Silva Faria, aims to list different forms of disseminating social responsibility information adopted by companies providing insightful analysis.
We wish you a pleasant read!
Isabella Francisca Freitas Gouveia de Vasconcelos
Editora
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
Sept 2017
