HOW NETWORK CONFIGURATIONS CONTRIBUTE TO ORGANISATIONAL RESILIENCE - A qualitative case study of how organisational resilience operates
Year: 2021
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate and identify what network configurations\ncontribute to organisational resilience. Particular focus is directed to the HR-function’s\nrole and function in promoting organisational resilience.\nTheory: This study relies on two theoretical frameworks. Firstly, the organisational resilience scale\nas presented by Kantur & Iseri-say (2015) has been used as a means to identify traits\nassociated with organisational resilience. Secondly, social network analysis has been\nemployed to discern how these traits are present and operated within the relational ties\nthat together constitute the network configuration being studied. In regard to social\nnetwork analysis, four overarching research traditions have been used: formal/informal\nties, strong/weak ties, structural holes and social capital.\nMethod: A qualitative approach has been assumed in which semi-structured in-depth interviews\nhave been utilised. Two sets of respondents have served as informants: co-workers and\nHR-professionals. The setting for the study is a multinational corporation.\nResult: Whereas leaders and HR-professionals fulfil similar roles as effective sources of nonredundant\nknowledge, which proved valuable in the context of pursuing organisational\nresilience, team members had another primary purpose. Their contribution towards\norganisational resilience is discernible in their ability to produce social capital which in\nturn empower employees to enact practices associated with resilience. However, the\nfindings also indicate that leaders and HR-professionals assist in the production of social\ncapital. In doing so, this study extends the notion that the HR-function’s value in\nestablishing organisational resilience is expressed in its ability to establish a desirable\nhuman capital, by also highlighting the function’s contributive role in securing a strong\nsocial capital. Further, this study also critiques and expands the organisational resilience\nscale (Kantur & Iseri-say, 2015) and question a fundamental research paradigm in social\nnetwork theory relating to the distinction made between strong and weak ties.
Author: Aron Falkenberg
Language: English
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3197552804