Bridgette Sullivan-Taylor

Creating resilient SMEs: why one size might not fit all

This article is a first step towards addressing a gap in the field of organisational resilience research by examining how small and medium enterprises (SME) manage the threat and actuality of extreme events. Pilot research found that the managerial framing of extreme events varied by a range of organisational factors. This finding informed further examination of the contextual nature of the resilience concept. To date, large organisations have been the traditional focus of empirical work and theorising in this area; yet the heterogeneous SME sector makes up approximately 99% of UK industry and routinely operates under conditions of uncertainty. In a comparative study examining UK organisational resilience, it emerged that SME participants had both a distinctive perspective and approach to resilience when compared to participants from larger organisations. This article presents a subset of data from 11 SME decision-makers. The relationship between resilience capabilities, such as flexibility and adaptation, is interrogated in relation to organisational size. The data suggest limitations of applying a one-size-fits-all organisation solution (managerial or policy) to creating resilience. This study forms the basis for survey work examining the extent to which resilience is an organisationally contingent concept in practice.

Managing the Threat of Terrorism in British Travel and Leisure Organizations

This paper examines the perceived threats from terrorism in six organizations in the travel and leisure sector in the UK. These organizations are particularly exposed to such extreme threats. This paper examines how managers in organizations deal with uncertainty where probabilities are impossible or difficult to define and examines how they face the challenge of interpreting and acting upon these interpretations. Theoretically the paper draws upon two lenses: organizational resilience and institutional perspectives. The former assumes managers can act autonomously to increase organizational resilience. The latter argues that systemic features of organization are more accurate explanations of why managers and organizations fail to spot threats and impending disasters. The data indicate that perceptions of uncertainty and threats from terrorism and theories of action differ in and between organizations depending upon factors such as the accuracy and completeness of information; previous experience of terrorist events and whether or not these threats were prioritized over other uncertainties. Three organizations in the aviation industry prioritize threats from terrorism, whilst three organizations in the leisure and travel sector do not. Managers in the aviation industry tend to take a proactive, organizational resilience stance towards uncertainty, whilst managers in the other organizations are more reactive, or take little action, with systemic features of organization taking precedence over decisions and actions.

Extreme events, organizations and the politics of strategic decision making

Purpose – Threats of extreme events, such as terrorist attacks or infrastructure breakdown, are potentially highly disruptive events for all types of organizations. This paper seeks to take a political perspective to power in strategic decision making and how this influences planning for extreme events. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 160 informants drawn from 135 organizations, which are part of the critical national infrastructure in the UK, forms the empirical basis of the paper. Most of these organizations had publicly placed business continuity and preparedness as a strategic priority. The paper adopts a qualitative approach, coding data from focus groups. Findings – In nearly all cases there is a pre-existing dominant coalition which keeps business continuity decisions off the strategic agenda. The only exceptions to this are a handful of organizations which provide continuous production, such as some utilities, where disruption to business as usual can be readily quantified. The data reveal structural and decisional elements of the exercise of power. Structurally, the dominant coalition centralizes control by ensuring that only a few functional interests participate in decision making. Research limitations/implications – Decisional elements of power emphasize the dominance of calculative rationality where decisions are primarily made on information and arguments which can be quantified. Finally, the paper notes the recursive aspect of power relations whereby agency and structure are mutually constitutive over time. Organizational structures of control are maintained, despite the involvement of managers charged with organizational preparedness and resilience, who remain outside the dominant coalition. Originality/value – The paper constitutes a first attempt to show how planning for emergencies fits within the strategy-making process and how politically controlled this process is.

TQM implementation in New Zealand service organizations

Studies various approaches used in total quality management (TQM) implementation in four mid to large service organizations in New Zealand. The research was conducted through a qualitative field study, using in‐depth interviews of in‐house trainers and internal and external quality consultants, as well as structured questionnaire responses from employees within the service organizations. Finds the existence of certain unique New Zealand workplace variables that influence the effectiveness of TQM implementation when foreign‐based implementation literature is followed. The extent to which Deming’s philosophies and principles are practised in New Zealand is decreasing as more prescriptive and contemporary approaches to TQM implementation have become available. In practice, the role of training is not the main tool for implementation in the organizations studied, however, it does have a key role to play. Finds that experiential applied learning methods are predominant in New Zealand TQM implementations, as opposed to the traditional classroom‐style training.

Why resilience managers aren’t resilient, and what human resource management can do about it

Abstract Prior resilience research typically focuses on either the individual or the organisational level of analysis, emphasises resilience in relation to day-to-day stressors rather than extreme events and is empirically under-developed. In response, our study inductively theorises about the relationships between individual and organisational resilience, drawing upon a large-scale study of resilience work in UK and French organisations. Our first-hand accounts of resilience work reveal the micro-processes involved in producing resilient organisations, and highlight the challenges experienced in doing resilience work in large organisations. We show that these micro-processes have significant implications for resilience at both individual and organisational levels, and draw implications for how HRM interventions can help to promote individual, and thus organisational, resilience.

How entrepreneurial resilience generates resilient SMEs

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how entrepreneurial behaviors support small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) resilience, refine the concept of entrepreneurial resilience, and identify how SME resilience might be promoted.,Qualitative data were collected in the UK via 11 focus groups which provided a sub-sample of 19 SME participants.,Because of their experience operating in uncertain environments, their direct experience of adversity, and the informal organizational settings they inhabit, entrepreneurs are often highly resilient and possess capabilities that enable SMEs to be resilient. Entrepreneurial resilience provides a basis for SME resilience that differs significantly from best practices as understood in larger firms.,Exploratory qualitative research on a small sample (n=19) limits the generalizability of this work. Further research could quantitatively test the paper’s findings and/or examine the link between entrepreneurial resilience and the resilience of larger firms.,Rather than encouraging formal planning and redundancy, policy and practice designed to promote the resilience of SMEs should pay greater attention to building capacities to cope with uncertainty, generating and leveraging personal relationships, and activating the ability to experiment and think creatively in response to crises.,This paper draws on organizational psychology research to refine understanding of entrepreneurial resilience and to empirically examine and inductively theorize the multi-level relationships between entrepreneurial resilience and SME resilience.