Understanding Organizations' Adaptive Responses: Toward A Behavioral Theory of Organizational Adaptation to Adverse Events [Seed Funding]

External shocks and their economic and social impact offer a fascinating opportunity to study organizational adaptiveness. They challenge organization theories, which were not developed to explain firms’ responses to such crises, especially if they have an unknown duration. In such high uncertainty, companies often revert to austerity measures, aimed at short-term survival, omitting long-term human (e.g., reduced health), organizational (e.g., decreased productivity), and societal costs (e.g., higher social welfare costs). However, this can easily make their adaptive responses MAL-adaptive, which urges a better understanding of organizational adaptive responses (OARs). OARs entail organizational changes pursuing a better ‘fit’ to changes in internal and external environment requirements. Specifically, we focus on 

1. identifying the broad array of OARs invoked by recent external shocks, such as the CP, and linking these to 
2. behavioral antecedents, and 
3. financial and workforce outcomes.

We will first make an inventory of OARs (2020-2023). External shocks, such as the CP, that unfold gradually, with highly uncertain consequences of unknown duration, create a ‘noisy environment’ which makes experience obsolete and useless for decision-making. Taking a behavioral approach, we expect that these shocks, when combined with the organization’s financial health, will affect OARs. We also include behavioral antecedents (HR, temporal, and learning orientation), which can also impact how organizations respond. Finally, we explore OARs’ (mal)adaptiveness by estimating both financial and workforce outcomes.

Team composition

• Prof. Marius Meeus is full professor in Organization Studies. His research focuses on OMT, and more in particular organizational learning, adaptiveness, innovation and network. Meeus supervised several NWO funded projects, a BSIK project, and a series of commissioned projects, e.g., by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Chambers of Commerce, and Innovation Relay Offices.
• Dr. Karina van de Voorde is associate professor in Strategic HRM, with expertise in HRS and WOP. She studies how management initiatives impact employees (e.g. their motivation and well-being) and outcomes of interest to management and in longitudinal research.
• Prof. dr. Tine Buyl is full professor in Organization Studies. She brings in the STR expertise, with a focus on executives and top management teams. She published studies on organizations’ responses to performance feedback, as well as their resilience to systemic shocks.