ABSTRACT
This chapter begins to lay bare the conceptual architecture for organisational resilience. Just as was the case for risk, we find that it is a dense and highly disputed concept. One key area where it must be better defined is its relationship with the legacy of business continuity planning. The choice is to see these terms as roughly synonymous or to explicate a clear point of differentiation. We argue that a mature definition of organisational resilience connotes the active promotion of business success in addition to protection from shock or stress. Looking to the two extant sources of doctrine on the meaning of resilience, we can observe only uncertainty. Industry standards offer a range of interpretations which appear to be a modest evolution of the business continuity concept. Academic literature focuses the plethora of applications for the term resilience without a unifying theory. It is clear that organisational resilience cannot be meaningfully applied until this definitional problem is solved. We propose that the choices in resolving it should differentiate it from business continuity, competitively align it with the business agenda, maintain an intellectual and financial investment, and demonstrate a strategic value. This represents a significant cultural shift for most organisations.
