Risk, the COVID-19 pandemic, and organizations: Extending, repurposing, and developing theory

Soane, Emma; Macrae, Carl; Flin, Rhona; Reader, Tom W

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged and changed organisations. While the pandemic has brought opportunities for business in some sectors, such as information and communication, and for people who enjoy the flexibility they gain from home-based or hybrid work arrangements, the realization of benefits for individuals and organisations is uncertain over longer time periods and distributed unevenly across the workforce. Thus, the pandemic situation has been a trigger, albeit an unwelcome one, for revising our theorizing about organisational risk. We build on the articles within our special section and develop a perspective on how to continue the development of new theoretical insights. First, we examine how existing theories can be extended to encompass organisational risk. We focus on theories of organisational culture to do so. Second, we discuss ways that existing theories can be repurposed to address important challenges. We illustrate our points using paradoxical leadership theory and theories of creativity. Third, we reflect on ways to develop new theorizing by exploring multilevel modelling and the microfoundations of organisational risk. Fourth, we reflect on methods. In doing so, we pave the way for future studies that will enrich our understanding of organisational risk and contribute to preparations for future crises.

Citation

Soane, E., Macrae, C., Flin, R., & Reader, T. W. (2023). Risk, the COVID-19 pandemic, and organizations: Extending, repurposing, and developing theory. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12461

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 13, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jul 28, 2023
• Publication Date: Jul 28, 2023
• Deposit Date: Oct 9, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 11, 2023
• Print ISSN: 0963-1798
• Electronic ISSN: 2044-8325
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12461
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/25803524
• Publisher URL: https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joop.12461