ABSTRACT
This chapter elaborates on posttraumatic growth at the organizational level. Drawing on examples of trauma from different types of organizations, we lay out the contours of this new research area in organizational scholarship. Specifically, we consider the collective experience of trauma and the nature of growth that such trauma can trigger. We elaborate on two aspects of trauma, their temporality and communal content, and whether growth occurs based on a prior or new vision for the organization. We also examine how cognitive, relational, and structural responses to trauma advance this process in a manner that fosters growth. In laying out these features of organizational posttraumatic growth (OPTG), we draw on research from individual-level posttraumatic growth (PTG) and organizational scholarship on significant adverse events.
