Continuity Culture: A Key Factor for Building Resilience and Sound Recovery Capabilities

This article investigates the extent to which Jordanian service organizations seek to establish continuity culture through testing, training, and updating of their business continuity plans. A survey strategy was adopted in this research. Primary and secondary data were used. Semistructured interviews were conducted with five senior managers from five large Jordanian service organizations registered with the Amman Stock Exchange. The selection of organizations was made on the basis of simple random sampling. Interviews targeted the headquarters only in order to obtain a homogenous sample. Three out of five organizations could be regarded as crisis prepared and have better chances for recovery. The other two organizations exhibited characteristics of standard practice that only emphasizes the recovery aspect of business continuity management (BCM), while paying less attention to establishing resilient cultures and embedding BCM. The findings reveal that the ability to recover following major incidents can be improved by embedding BCM in the culture of the organization and by making BCM an enterprise-wide process. This is one of few meticulous studies that have been undertaken in the Middle East and the first in Jordan to investigate the extent to which service organizations focus on embedding BCM in the organizational culture

The vulnerability of public spaces: challenges for UK hospitals under the 'new' terrorist threat

This article considers the challenges for hospitals in the United Kingdom that arise from the threats of mass-casualty terrorism. Whilst much has been written about the role of health care as a rescuer in terrorist attacks and other mass-casualty crises, little has been written about health care as a victim within a mass-emergency setting. Yet, health care is a key component of any nation's contingency planning and an erosion of its capabilities would have a significant impact on the generation of a wider crisis following a mass-casualty event. This article seeks to highlight the nature of the challenges facing elements of UK health care, with a focus on hospitals both as essential contingency responders under the United Kingdom's civil contingencies legislation and as potential victims of terrorism. It seeks to explore the potential gaps that exist between the task demands facing hospitals and the vulnerabilities that exist within them

Knocked down but not out and fighting to go the distance: Small business responses to an unfolding crisis in the initial impact period

This study explores in real time how small businesses adjust to an unfolding crisis in the initial crisis impact period and what kinds of actions they take. A weekly diary study following a group of entrepreneurs in London over the first couple months of the COVID-19 inspired lockdown across the UK beginning March 23, 2020, found that small businesses were knocked down but not out by events. Small businesses were increasing their chances of survival (going the distance) by 1) monitoring business functioning and detecting risks (checking vitals), 2) initiating quick defensive moves to absorb damages and defend against additional risks (blocking), 3) undertaking more skilful moves to avoid further damages (deflecting), and 4) planning the next move and managing expectations (developing tactical awareness). While the unfolding crisis does not literally represent a fight, features of how boxers engage in a fight were borrowed to help explain small business responses

Local government strategies in the face of shocks and crises: the role of anticipatory capacities and financial vulnerability

This paper, building on governmental financial resilience literature, and using data from a survey of over 600 local governments in Germany, Italy, and the UK, looks at the role that external shocks, anticipatory capacities, and associated perceived vulnerabilities, play in determining different organizational response strategies (i.e., “bouncing back” vs. “bouncing forward” strategies) at times of crisis. In the face of shocks, higher perceived vulnerabilities will especially be associated with bouncing back strategies, whereas the presence of anticipatory capacity will be associated with bouncing forward strategies

Social conduct, learning and innovation: an abductive study of the dark side of agile software development

Agile methodologies have been adopted by an increasing number of organizations to improve their responsiveness. However, few studies have empirically analysed the effect of Agile on long-term organizational goals such as learning and innovation. Using an abductive approach, this study examines the relationships between self-regulated teams’ social conduct and their resulting learning and innovation. Results indicate that the perceived time pressure to get the job done greatly impedes team engagement in learning and innovation activities. Time pressure is affected by the various control strategies deriving from the implementation of Agile, which constitute its dark side: concertive, belief, diagnostic and boundary controls

Recovering the Divide: A Review of Strategy and Tactics in Business and Management

With origins in military history, strategy and tactics is a frequently used conceptual couplet in the business and management literature. This paper reviews how strategy and tactics are portrayed, identifying a dominant ‘pragmatic’ account of strategy as an expression of formal, planned ends achieved through the subordinate means of tactics. Pragmatic distinctions give rise to a range of well-known problems, in particular in strategy implementation stages. We suggest that some of these problems may be avoided when the strategy–tactics relationship is conceived differently. We elaborate two alternative distinctions: a sociological framing of tactics as mechanisms of resistance to formal, controlling strategies; and a processual perspective, which sidesteps fixed distinctions between tactics and strategy, giving rise to more fluid interrelations between both modes. Based on a review of the business and management literature, we identify key examples of each trope and conclude by drawing insights for each account on the basis of these wider discussions

'Spiritual life' as the heart of the professionalization process of spriritual and community animators in Quebec, Canada

The ‘spiritual care and guidance and community involvement service’ in Quebec has existed since 2001. It replaced pastoral animation in schools and is intended to promote the spiritual development and community involvement of all students, whether or not they are affiliated with a religion. This article presents the historical background that led to the development of this service; as well as the professional concerns of its stakeholders. The concerns raised are based on awareness of great diversity among those who provide this service, both in their training and in their understanding of the meanings of the terms that define their work. Presently working toward the professionalization that they deem essential to their very survival, they are using professional strategies that do not reflect their reality and abilities. This article seeks to demonstrate the relevance of changing perspectives so that this profession is not limited only to community involvement, but instead adopts an interactionist point of view, focused on the spiritual aspect of the role