Aug 2026· Marketing Theory· 0 citations· 89 references
Abstract
This paper reconsiders the concept of market resilience from a performative and practice-based perspective. We deliberate how dominant conceptions of market resilience are problematic as they overlook the open-ended, dynamic, and often messy ways in which markets evolve. Building on Science and Technology Studies (STS) and market studies, we develop a novel conceptualization of market resilience as dynamically enacted through three interlinked practices:
instigation
,
incorporation
, and
insistence
. We review how resilience has been framed in existing literatures, tracing its multifaceted origins rooted in desires to address uncertainty, withstand external threats, and achieve lasting recovery, to its current popularity in an anxiety-ridden age. We then draw on Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to identify three critical limitations of these dominant perspectives: (i) the presumption of resilience as an inherent capability, (ii) the obsession with failure prevention, and (iii) the tendency to encourage asymmetric rearview mirror accounts. Mobilizing examples from financial, housing, food, and healthcare markets, we sketch out how we might think differently of market resilience if we think of markets as in-the-making. By reconceptualizing resilience performatively – that is, as something that markets and entangled actors continuously
enact
, rather than have – we seek to move beyond narrow notions of failure prevention and recovery. Our research agenda highlights how this perspective opens up new avenues for examining resilience in markets as varied, contested, and always in the making.
This study investigates how Bali, Indonesia, and Beishan, China, strategically sustain their cultural identities amid globalising pressures. It addresses a gap in comparative resilience research by moving beyond sector-specific analyses to uncover the underlying principles of cultural adaptation. Using qualitative oral history, the research captures grassroots perspectives to reveal two contrasting paradigms: Bali enacts centripetal resilience, defending a sacred cultural core through ritual and social cohesion, whereas Beishan pursues centrifugal innovation, treating heritage as assets for entrepreneurial fusion with global culture. The findings demonstrate that the nature of perceived threats shapes whether communities adopt defensive fortification or proactive reinvention. The study argues that cultural resilience is not a universal strategy but a contextually coherent alignment of ontology, threat perception, and adaptive action. By proposing a comparative framework of centripetal and centrifugal resilience, it advances resilience theory and provides a transferable analytical lens for understanding how communities negotiate continuity and change across diverse cultural contexts.
I Putu Permana Mahardika, I Gusti Ayu Gde Sosiowati, I Wayan Mulyawan et al.· Jurnal Kajian Bali· 0 citations
This paper advances the resilience imperative in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), a strategically significant yet underexplored context in international business research, by offering a conceptual point of view. This study aims to conceptually integrate diverse empirical and conceptual contributions from the special issue to clarify how the region’s distinctive institutional, political and social dynamics shape organizational and community resilience.
Adopting a multilevel and multistakeholder perspective, this viewpoint synthesizes insights from the special issue’s contributions, including conceptual reviews, qualitative case studies, longitudinal phenomenological research and participatory action research on organizational, community and sectoral resilience in LAC. The discussion organizes these insights into four interrelated analytical dimensions: regional institutional context and value definition; governance architectures and policy alignment; capability development encompassing digital, social and environmental dimensions; and stakeholder embedding and legitimacy.
This paper identifies four mutually reinforcing dimensions of resilience in LAC. First, institutional context and value definition are shaped by pendular policy regimes and persistent implementation gaps. Second, governance architectures affect community resilience by allocating decision rights and rents. Third, multidimensional capability development spans digital, social and environmental aspects. Finally, stakeholder embedding and legitimacy reveal a potential dark side of resilience, whereby firm-level adaptation strategies may externalize risks to vulnerable workers and communities.
This paper proposes a five-step blueprint to guide multinational enterprises, domestic firms and policymakers in developing context-sensitive resilience strategies for LAC that are effective, competitive and socially inclusive. It reframes resilience as both a strategic and ethical imperative in international business, extending beyond a narrow risk-management perspective. It also advances an agenda for longitudinal, multilevel and comparative research that examines both the enabling and constraining outcomes of resilience across contexts.
E. Moore, M. Ogasavara, Maria Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez et al.· Multinational Business Revie...· 0 citations
Abstract This study examines the resilience of women entrepreneurs in Lebanon amid compounding crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic collapse, and the 2020 Beirut Port explosion, focusing on their interactions within family, community, and society to uncover the factors driving their capacity to recover and adapt. Using 45 semi-structured interviews guided by Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory (EST) (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 2000), the research explores the experiences of female entrepreneurs leading small businesses in Beirut and Mount Lebanon. Thematic analysis reveals patterns across four EST levels: at the microsystem level, adaptability, proactive resourcefulness, and managed vulnerability characterize resilience; at the mesosystem level, empathy-driven customer relationships, teamwork, and family ties provide critical support; at the exosystem and macrosystem levels, community resilience initiatives, local sourcing, shifting gender norms, and ethical business practices collectively shape broader ecosystem adaptation. Crucially, the study also documents failure cases, identifying four structural vulnerability factors that distinguish discontinued businesses from survivors. By moving beyond trait-based views, this study advances a model of “embedded resilience,” demonstrating that entrepreneurial survival in poly-crisis environments is structurally dictated by localized resource substitutions across ecological layers rather than individual endurance alone.
O. Kuran, L. Khabbaz· Entrepreneurship Research Jo...· 0 citations
In the context of economic turbulence, pursuing new development opportunities through digital transformation has become an inevitable choice for Chinese firms, with top executives serving as core decision-makers. Drawing on resource orchestration theory and the too-much-of-a-good-thing effect, this study examines the relationship between executive psychological resilience and enterprise digital transformation, as well as its boundary conditions, using panel data from Chinese A-share listed firms from 2011 to 2024. The results provide evidence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between executive psychological resilience and enterprise digital transformation, suggesting that an optimal level of psychological resilience exists for digital transformation. Beyond this level, manifestations of bounded rationality, including an underestimation of transformation risks and attentional biases, lead to inefficient resource orchestration. Industry capital intensity weakens this nonlinear relationship, while slack resources appear to shift the turning point to an earlier stage. By questioning the cognitive inertia that treats resilience as a universally beneficial personality trait, this study shifts the perspective on the relationship between executive psychological resilience and enterprise digital transformation from a linear to a nonlinear framework. It further extends the application of the resource orchestration theory in the digital transformation context and contributes to research on the micro-level drivers of digital transformation—specifically executive psychological traits.
Amid weakening institutional environments, fiscal retrenchment, and rising demand for social services, nonprofit organizations (NPOs) worldwide face a fundamental challenge of how to build resilience in their organizations without compromising mission accountability. This article introduces a process model of NPO resilience built around three stages: anticipation, coping, and adaptation. Moving beyond the dominant outcome- and capability-based accounts that have characterized the literature to date, this model specifies how three mechanisms drive this process: (1) accumulating slack resources for shock absorption and experimentation, (2) exercising entrepreneurial judgment for calibrating risk under uncertainty, and (3) empowering frontline responsiveness through dynamic delegation. Crucially, the article situates these mechanisms within broader public policy and governance contexts. Drawing on empirical insights from diverse organizations and institutions, we identify key policy enablers: funding rules that allow the financing of operating reserves, trust-based contracting that balances managerial discretion with oversight, and capacity-building investment in data systems. As part of this process model, we reframe “mission drift” as adaptive mission respecification, arguing that, with clear governance guardrails, strategic pivots preserve rather than erode social value. This study provides a comprehensive roadmap for nonprofit leaders, policy makers, and funders seeking to build nonprofit resilience in turbulent environments.
Aureliu Sindila, Xueyong Zhan, Yong Jin· Global Public Policy and Gov...· 0 citations
