Improving Organizational Resilience in Businesses: A Qualitative Study on the Effect of COVID-19

Abstract

Due to the long-term threat that it poses, COVID-19 has become an important problem for businesses, and therefore, for national economies. Obviously, organizations that have survived this process will be able to continue with more stability and will gain significant gains in terms of organizational resilience. The aim of this study is to investigate the strategies of businesses to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 period and the subsequent recovery process from the perspective of human resources, leaders, and corporate structure. From this point of view, this study was carried out with a case study, which is one of the qualitative research designs. During the data collection process of the study, interviews were conducted with fifteen senior managers of businesses operating in various sectors, selected by the purposive sampling technique. The data obtained from the in-depth and semistructured interviews were subjected to thematic analysis in a case study design. The findings, which are divided under the three main headings of human resources, leadership, and organization/system, point to the following results: In terms of human resources: experience, generating ideas, psychological resilience, and commitment to the organization and its culture; in terms of leadership: valuing the employees, analytical thinking, foresight, quick decision making and prudence; and in terms of organization/system: positive financial situation, quick response to the market, the effectiveness of alternative solutions, effective use of digital infrastructure and online commerce, as well as effective communication/ cooperation, contribute effectively to organizational resilience.