The capability of organizations to respond to
unexpected events has been investigated from different
theoretical angles: organizational learning, improvisation,
ambidexterity, resilience, to name but a few. These concepts, however, hardly ever refer to structural characteristics. Against this backdrop, the aim of this paper is twofold.
First, based on systems and organizational learning theory,
it will theoretically link the characteristics of organizational structure with organizational responses to unexpected external jolts, thus contributing to better understand
the reactions of organizations to the unexpected. Second, it
will empirically illustrate the relation of organizational
structure with organizational responses by investigating
how Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Austria reacted
to the unexpected inflow of refugees from Central Europe.
In 2015, CSOs accepted a wide range of responsibilities
and worked together with government entities to provide
shelter, catering, and transport for almost one million
refugees. Based on participant observations during opera-
tion, in-depth interviews (2015 and 2016) and focus groups
with decision-makers (2017), we will sketch three longi-
tudinal case studies of organizations with very different
structures, concentrating on the processes and operations
they developed during the crisis. Our findings show that
their responses are closely related to their structure,
specifically to the flexibility and the stability of structural elements. Remarkable changes took place in all organizations investigated. Initial responses and first
structural changes occurred mainly where the structure
already allowed for flexibility. Yet in the long run, the
adaptations also impacted the stable structural elements.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VIENNA/oai:epub.wu-wien.ac.at:6627 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Meyer, Michael, Simsa, Ruth |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Source Sets | Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article, PeerReviewed |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) |
| Relation | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11266-018-00050-y, https://link.springer.com/, http://epub.wu.ac.at/6627/ |
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