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dc.contributor.authorBryce, Cormac
dc.contributor.authorRing, Patrick
dc.contributor.authorAshby, Simon
dc.contributor.authorWardman, Jamie
dc.date.accessioned2020-05-11T07:52:28Z
dc.date.available2020-05-11T07:52:28Z
dc.date.issued2020en_US
dc.identifier.issn1366-9877
dc.identifier.doi10.1080/13669877.2020.1756379
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12127/6483
dc.description.abstractThe transboundary dynamics of COVID-19 present an unprecedented test of organisational resilience. In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS), a talisman of collective fortitude against disease and illness, has struggled to cope with inadequate provision of virus tests, ventilators, and personal protective equipment needed to fight the pandemic. In this paper, we reflect on the historic dynamics and strategic priorities that have undermined the NHS’s attempts to navigate these troubled times. We invoke the organisational resilience literature to address ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’ of preparedness in readiness and response to the current pandemic. In particular, we draw on Meyer’s (1982) seminal work on ‘adaptation to jolts’, excavating current preparedness failings. We argue an overreliance on perceived efficiency benefits of ‘lean production’ and ‘just in time’ continuity planning superseded strategic redundancy and slack in the system. This strategic focus was not simply the result of a failure in foresight, but rather a failure to act adaptively on knowledge of the known threats and weaknesses spotlighted by earlier projections of an inevitable pandemic threat. In conclusion, we consider how the UK Government and NHS must now undergo a phase of ‘readjustment’ in Meyer’s terms, in light of these failings. We suggest that independent responsibility for national future preparedness should be handed to the NHS free from political interference. This would operate under the umbrella of a national emergency preparedness, resilience and response public body, enshrined in law, and similar in governance to the current Bank of England. This will help ensure that foresight is accompanied by durability and fortitude in safeguarding the UK against future pandemic threats.en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherTaylor & Francisen_US
dc.subjectCovid-19en_US
dc.subjectNHSen_US
dc.subjectCoronavirusen_US
dc.subjectOrganisational Resilienceen_US
dc.subjectEmergency Preparednessen_US
dc.titleResilience in the face of uncertainty: Early lessons from the COVID-19 pandemicen_US
dc.identifier.journalJournal of Risk Researchen_US
dc.source.volume23
dc.source.issue7-8
dc.source.beginpage880
dc.source.endpage887
dc.contributor.departmentCass Business School, City, University of London, London, UKen_US
dc.contributor.departmentCaledonian Business School Glasgow, Caledonian University, Glasgow, UKen_US
dc.contributor.departmentNottingham University Business School, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UKen_US
dc.identifier.eissn1466-4461
vlerick.knowledgedomainSpecial Industries : Financial Services Managementen_US
vlerick.typearticleJournal article with impact factoren_US
vlerick.vlerickdepartmentAFen_US
dc.identifier.vperid258194en_US


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