Beyond Adaptation: Resilience for Business in Light of Climate Change and Weather Extremes

TLDR

Climate change is projected to increase extreme weather events, posing catastrophic risks to organizations, yet current adaptation strategies focus mainly on economic factors and may be ill‑equipped to handle such environmental volatility. The article argues that organizational adaptation must be broadened to include climate change and weather extremes, calling for new conceptual and practical approaches in corporate strategy and decision making. The authors propose a resilience framework that enables organizations to build resources and capabilities to avoid or minimize collapse and to reorganize amid climate‑driven discontinuities. The paper outlines implications for organizational practice and research, highlighting how resilience can inform strategy and decision processes.

Abstract

Scientific findings forecast that one of the major consequences of human-induced climate change and global warming is a greater occurrence of extreme weather events with potentially catastrophic effects for organizations, industries, and society. Current management and adaptation approaches typically focus on economic factors of competition, such as technology and innovation. Although offering useful insights, these approaches are potentially ill equipped to deal with any increases in drastic changes in the natural environment. This article argues that discussions on organizational adaptation need to be broadened and that new conceptual and practical approaches are needed to incorporate the effects of climate change and a greater occurrence of weather extremes into corporate strategy and decision making. The authors advance the notion that a resilience framework might provide insights into dealing with new types of environmental change. They contend that by developing resilience, organizations can develop resources and capabilities to avoid or minimize organizational collapse and to reorganize in light of discontinuities associated with climate change and weather extremes. Implications for organizational practice and research are discussed.