How organizational resilience overcomes managerial status quo bias in the face of uncertainty

Abstract

It is generally accepted that for organizations to achieve sustained long term growth; they must be able to withstand unpredictable and inevitable external disruptions. This goal is shaped by an organization’s adaptive capabilities, which enhance its agility and responsiveness to uncertainty. This study focuses on how status quo bias can hinder an organization’s capacity to attain resilience and what interventions that an organization can employ to overcome status quo bias. This study also explores the development of organizational resilience and the initiatives that managers employ in an emerging market context. This qualitative study utilized a narrative approach in which thirteen participants were interviewed using semi-structured schedules. The findings of these interviews revealed that an organization’s ability to overcome status quo bias has a dual effect of building organizational resilience. The findings also demonstrate that enterprises that operate in South Africa, Eswatini and the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa develop unique adaptive capabilities that respond to unique opportunities and persevere through external disruptions. Overall, the study highlights that organizations must align their internal environment to their external environment through interdependent dynamic relationships that form an iterative cycle of progressive improvement and supports the creation of novel products, services, processes, and knowledge.