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Bringing the biophysical to the fore: Re-envisioning organizational adaptation in the era of planetary shifts

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Peer-reviewed

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Type

Article

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Authors

Howard-Grenville, Jennifer  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3737-0465
Lahneman, Brooke 

Abstract

The nature and scope of changes in organizations’ external environments is without precedent due to planetary shifts, or major changes in earth’s biophysical systems. Our theories of organizational adaptation lack the capacity to explain what will be needed on behalf of business organizations, and their strategists and managers, to adjust to these shifts. In this essay, we review organizational adaptation theory and explain why it falls short of offering adequate explanations in an era of planetary shifts. We then draw on ecological theories of adaptation, with their focus on social-ecological systems and panarchy, to suggest ways to advance organizational adaptation theory for our times.

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Keywords

So!apbox Forum: Strategy and Organization Scholarship through a Radical Sustainability Lens, climate change, contingency perspectives, organizational change, sustainability, time horizon/pacing/temporality, topics and perspectives

Journal Title

Strategic Organization

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1476-1270
1741-315X

Volume Title

19

Publisher

SAGE Publications