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Resilient Businesses: Assessment, Approaches and Technology

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2015) | Viewed by 39945

Special Issue Editors

Knowledge Management and Innovation, Escola de Engenharia, Dept. Sistemas de Informação, Universidade do Minho, 4805-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Interests: Information Systems, Open Innovation, Knowledge Management, Organizational resilience
Escola de Engenharia, Dept. Sistemas de Informação, Universidade do Minho, 4805-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Interests: organizational resilience, adoption and diffusion of information systems and technology, business processes management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will comprise a selection of papers addressing approaches and tools for assessing and improving business resiliency. Research papers address the multifaceted phenomena of managing the collective and of the distributed capacities required to (1) anticipate potentially disruptive events; (2) avoid or prevent their occurrence; (3) plan and prepare for disruption in order to protect the business; and (4) recover to a new, fully functional state and assure continued operations. Covered topics include the definition of the concept of business resilience, the identification of factors affecting resilience, measurement tools for assessing business resilience, principles guiding the design of resilient businesses, challenges to consider when implementing changes for increasing business resilience (cognitive, strategic, technological, political, and ideological), resilience simulation models, resilience assessment tools, information systems for supporting the resilience of businesses, business continuity, and risk management, among others. Papers selected for this Special Issue are subject to a rigorous peer review procedure with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of research results, developments, and applications.

Prof. Dr. Isabel Ramos
Prof. Dr. Rui Dinis Sousa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.


Keywords

  • business resiliency
  • resilience indicators
  • resilience principles
  • value chain resilience
  • business continuity
  • crisis management
  • information systems for resilient businesses

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

810 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Refugee Migration: A Rethink towards a Positive Capability Approach
by Mohammed Al-Husban and Carl Adams
Sustainability 2016, 8(5), 451; https://doi.org/10.3390/su8050451 - 06 May 2016
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 9330
Abstract
A major challenge facing many countries around the world is how to sustainably address the issues of increased numbers of refugee migrants. The refugee migrant “issue” is often heavily political as a high density of migrants in local areas impacts communities (e.g., disrupting [...] Read more.
A major challenge facing many countries around the world is how to sustainably address the issues of increased numbers of refugee migrants. The refugee migrant “issue” is often heavily political as a high density of migrants in local areas impacts communities (e.g., disrupting local employment, service and culture). Different migrants come with different “baggage” and needs which can be a significant draw on the hosting communities’ resources. This paper argues that sustainable long-term solutions to refugee migrants will require a rethink to the existing dominant models of containment and charity. The paper draws upon insights from a study of a large refugee camp in Jordan over a three-and-a-half-year period, and historical cases of refugee migration. The paper presents a sustainable model that develops long-term capability for the various stakeholder groups. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Businesses: Assessment, Approaches and Technology)
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223 KiB  
Article
The Systemic and Global Dimension of Business Resilience in a Socio-Technical Perspective
by Paulo Garrido
Sustainability 2016, 8(3), 209; https://doi.org/10.3390/su8030209 - 27 Feb 2016
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4513
Abstract
This paper proposes to augment the concept of a business resilience improving process by enlarging such a process with a dimension of external action that addresses the vaster frame of systemic resilience of our societies. To this aim, I propose to widen the [...] Read more.
This paper proposes to augment the concept of a business resilience improving process by enlarging such a process with a dimension of external action that addresses the vaster frame of systemic resilience of our societies. To this aim, I propose to widen the concept of socio-technical system (STS) to human societies, based on the idea that the development and survival of human societies has necessary social and technical factors. I also propose a concept of resilience in terms of dealing with failures of STS. Two particular cases of very large failure avoidance are considered: nuclear war and civilizational collapse, and I propose that such cases should be present in the referred dimension of external action of any business resilience program. Because the action of public governments and their cooperation is crucial for advancing global systemic resilience, I suggest that businesses should analyze and model the decisions of governments in a wider context of naturally occurring cooperating and conflicting human groups. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Businesses: Assessment, Approaches and Technology)
859 KiB  
Article
The Resilience of a Small Company and the Grounds of Capitalism: Thriving on Non-Knowledgeable Ground
by Margarida Cardoso and Isabel Ramos
Sustainability 2016, 8(1), 74; https://doi.org/10.3390/su8010074 - 13 Jan 2016
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 5133
Abstract
A case about a small company in Portugal enables an analysis of the resilience of small companies undergoing open innovation environments. Successfully facing non-knowledgeable grounds―which means insecurity, likelihood of disruption risk and uncertainty—is only possible through constant adaptation, by which a company can [...] Read more.
A case about a small company in Portugal enables an analysis of the resilience of small companies undergoing open innovation environments. Successfully facing non-knowledgeable grounds―which means insecurity, likelihood of disruption risk and uncertainty—is only possible through constant adaptation, by which a company can thrive and, through rational thinking, enable continuity. This study shows that open innovation achieved through agile partnerships can provide the resources and synergies necessary for the continued adaptation of small businesses to environments of high uncertainty. An ability to innovatively adapt is a central characteristic of resilient companies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Businesses: Assessment, Approaches and Technology)
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381 KiB  
Article
Organizational Green IT Adoption: Concept and Evidence
by Qi Deng and Shaobo Ji
Sustainability 2015, 7(12), 16737-16755; https://doi.org/10.3390/su71215843 - 18 Dec 2015
Cited by 93 | Viewed by 9604
Abstract
Green IT has emerged as an important research topic in information systems and in other areas, such as business sustainability management. Some progress has been made in our understandings of green IT in a wide area of research topics, ranging from the green [...] Read more.
Green IT has emerged as an important research topic in information systems and in other areas, such as business sustainability management. Some progress has been made in our understandings of green IT in a wide area of research topics, ranging from the green IT definition to the motivation for adopting green IT by organizations. This paper provides a holistic review and explanation of why organizations adopt green IT. Based on an extensive review of extant studies and a broad theoretical foundation, the paper presents a theoretical framework on organizational green IT adoption (OGITA). For researchers, the study provides a comprehensive review of previous green IT adoption studies and a roadmap for future research. For practitioners, the study provides managers and policy makers a systematic analytical framework in guiding their business decisions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Businesses: Assessment, Approaches and Technology)
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2010 KiB  
Article
Modelling and Enhancement of Organizational Resilience Potential in Process Industry SMEs
by Slavko Arsovski, Goran Putnik, Zora Arsovski, Danijela Tadic, Aleksandar Aleksic, Aleksandar Djordjevic and Slavisa Moljevic
Sustainability 2015, 7(12), 16483-16497; https://doi.org/10.3390/su71215828 - 14 Dec 2015
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 5676
Abstract
The business environment is rapidly changing and puts pressure on enterprises to find effective ways to survive and develop. Since it is almost impossible to identify the multitude of complex conditions and business risks, an organization has to build its resilience in order [...] Read more.
The business environment is rapidly changing and puts pressure on enterprises to find effective ways to survive and develop. Since it is almost impossible to identify the multitude of complex conditions and business risks, an organization has to build its resilience in order to be able to overcome issues and achieve long term sustainability. This paper contributes by establishing a two-step model for assessment and enhancement of organizational resilience potential oriented towards Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the process industry. Using a dynamic modelling technique and statistical tools, a sample of 120 SMEs in Serbia has been developed as a testing base, and one randomly selected enterprise was used for model testing and verification. Uncertainties regarding the relative importance of organizational resilience potential factors (ORPFs) and their value at each level of business are described by pre-defined linguistic expressions. The calculation of the relative importance of ORPFs for each business level is stated as a fuzzy group decision making problem. First, the weighted ORPFs’ values and resilience potential at each business level are determined. In the second step, near optimal enhancement of ORPFs’ values is achieved by applying a genetic algorithm (GA). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Businesses: Assessment, Approaches and Technology)
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422 KiB  
Article
The Dynamic Relationship between Growth and Profitability under Long-Term Recession: The Case of Korean Construction Companies
by Seungkyu Yoo and Jaejun Kim
Sustainability 2015, 7(12), 15982-15998; https://doi.org/10.3390/su71215796 - 02 Dec 2015
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 5196
Abstract
We conducted an empirical analysis of the dynamic relationship between growth and profitability for small- and medium-sized construction companies that faced long-term economic stagnation in Korea. The period of the analysis spanned 2000 to 2014, and the full period was divided into two [...] Read more.
We conducted an empirical analysis of the dynamic relationship between growth and profitability for small- and medium-sized construction companies that faced long-term economic stagnation in Korea. The period of the analysis spanned 2000 to 2014, and the full period was divided into two halves: before the 2008 global financial crisis and after it. Our empirical model was based on the system generalized method of moments model, and 264 construction companies were used as the study sample. The results of the empirical analysis are as follows. (1) A profitability-driven management strategy limits company growth, thus prolonging the economic downturn; (2) When the macroeconomic environment is relatively stable, high growth in the previous period fosters profitability in the current period. This implies that the phenomenon of dynamic increasing returns is present in the Korean construction industry, and learning through growth enhances productivity and profitability. Consequentially, a strategy oriented towards short-term profitability (popular with small- and medium-sized Korean construction companies) makes the corporate management less resilient, causing them to select “de-growth” during the long-term stagnation by decreasing their scale of operations. Accordingly, it is important for companies to maintain the balance between growth and profitability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Businesses: Assessment, Approaches and Technology)
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