Antecedents and Performance effect of Organizational Resilience: An Examination of Small and Medium Enterprises in Nigeria.

Given an increasingly turbulent business environment, organisations are becoming more fragile and suffering from disruptions. Research has proposed that organizational resilience is an effective way to survive and thrive. However, significant ambiguity remains in the literature about what organizational resilience is and empirical work on its antecedents and performance effects are still lacking. This thesis addresses these concerns by adopting a three-phase sequential exploratory mixed method research design starting with a qualitative study and followed by two consecutive quantitative studies. The thesis provides a definition of organisational resilience and classifies it into two dimensions: bounce back and bounce forward resilience. These dimensions were distinguished conceptually, operationally, and empirically. Employing the resource-based view of the firm and the dynamic capability perspective, the thesis empirically examines the antecedents to organisational resilience and its effect on firm performance. In particular, the thesis examines the roles of organisational-level human and social capital on bounce back and bounce forward resilience and how these in turn influence firm performance. The relationships were tested by structural equation modelling (SEM) using a sample of 177 small and medium size enterprises from Lagos, Nigeria. The findings suggest that different forms of organisational-level human and social capital indeed relates to the two dimensions of resilience, and that bounce forward resilience enhance firm performance. Hence, SME managers seeking to improve organizational resilience should note that bounce back and bounce forward resilience can be effectively improved by enhancing appropriate forms of organisational-level human and social capital. Overall, this thesis contributes to organisational resilience literature by providing a definition and measurement of organisational resilience, as well as an empirical evidence of the antecedents and performance effects of organisational resilience that forms a solid foundation for future research to adopt a multidimensional perspective.