Resilience and Humanity: A Framework for Thriving Through Disruptions
Open Access
- 18 May 2026
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in Administrative Sciences
- Vol. 16 (5) , 235
Abstract
The accelerating convergence of geopolitical volatility, technological disruption, environmental stress, and societal transformation has rendered traditional strategic management frameworks insufficient. Organizations now operate in environments defined not only by disruptions with existential implications but by wickedness—conditions in which problems are ambiguous, stakeholders disagree, and solutions reshape the challenge itself. Building on the premise that strategy itself is a wicked problem, this article advances a central claim: organizational resilience is best understood as an architectural capability largely grounded in humanity-based identity. Unlike organizational structure, mission, or even current strategy, each of which may be transient in turbulent environments, organizational identity, which is a construct that derives from individuals and humanity, provides an enduring basis for harmonizing the organization and its environment. Utilizing the lens of “humanity”—in its two dimensions of humankind and humaneness—we synthesize research on wicked problems, organizational identity, dynamic capabilities, modular design, alliances and smart power, and hybrid intelligence. We then propose an integrative model linking humanity-driven identity to resilience through three vectors—Inspirational Transformative Ambition, Innovative Value Networks, and Hybrid Intelligence Ecosystems—operationalized via a recently developed diagnostic tool. Finally, we offer corroborative evidence for the “Business of Humanity” logic, arguing that aligning humankind (opportunity across the full market spectrum) with humaneness (values-based evaluation) strengthens resilience by expanding opportunity sets while enhancing legitimacy, trust, and stakeholder alignment.Keywords
This publication has 18 references indexed in Scilit:
- Presidential Address: Macrofinance and ResilienceThe Journal of Finance, 2024
- Strategy in the time of pandemics, climate change and the Kurzweil SingularityJournal of Strategy and Management, 2021
- Organizational resilience: a capability-based conceptualizationBusiness Research, 2019
- Risk2: Measuring the Risk in Value at RiskCFA Magazine, 1996
- Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive AdvantageJournal of Management, 1991
- The Economics of Organization: The Transaction Cost ApproachAmerican Journal of Sociology, 1981
- Gramsci and the Theory of HegemonyJournal of the History of Ideas, 1975
- Resilience and Stability of Ecological SystemsAnnual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 1973
- Dilemmas in a general theory of planningPolicy Sciences, 1973
- The Nature of the FirmEconomica, 1937