Contextualizing resilience within a mutable network organization

Abstract

Purpose This study explored how resilience is conceptualized and operationalized in different contexts within the Team Finland network organization. It clarified how organizational and regional resilience are conceptualized as emergent and combined phenomena shaped by global crises.

Design/methodology/approach A qualitative grounded theory approach was employed to analyze 23 thematic interviews with key actors in the Team Finland network. The iterative coding process identified seven key themes and developed the core category of the mutable network organization, reflecting the emergence of resilience as a socially constructed phenomenon in which both organizations and regions undergo substantial transformations.

Findings A mutable network organization embodies how organizations navigate a landscape of diverse expertise with conflicting goals. There is an increasing need to respond flexibly to crises such as Brexit, COVID-19, and the war in Ukraine. This study highlighted the tensions between bureaucracy and real-time information, global challenges and local adaptation, and short-term agility and long-term sustainability. Resilience emerged as an adaptive capacity and dynamic, transformative force. The use of policy jargon such as the “common operational picture” was associated with masking structural challenges while framing uncontrollable changes as manageable.

Research limitations/implications This study focused on a Finnish government-led network operating globally to support internationalization. Therefore, the generalizability of the findings to other network organizations in different regimes or cultural settings may be limited.

Originality/value This study introduced a novel framework for understanding resilience in network organizations, as defined by the interviewees working in expert positions. It offered insights into how collaboration and multiscalar governance can influence organizational and regional resilience. By addressing the mutable and evolutionary nature of networks, these findings contribute to resilience and governance studies.