Summary:
Purpose: Given their differences in missions, goals, governance, resources, and professional ethics, public and private organisations are affected differently by disruptive events such as the COVID-19 crisis. As a result, the factors supporting their respective resilience may also vary. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of resilience antecedents in public administrations based on a systematic literature review of public administration and management scholarship, and compares them with resilience factors in private enterprises. In doing so, it examines the extent to which resilience antecedents differ between the two types of organisation. The related results should constitute a sound basis for the further development of public administrations’ resilience and related research.
Design/methodology/approach: The literature used in this systematic review was selected by focusing on the Web of Science (WoS), Google Scholar, and fifty top-ranked public management and management journals, chosen mainly according to their Scopus ranking. The search specifically focused on public administrations, narrowly defined as entities endowed with political authority in their field of activity, thus excluding autonomous public organisations, such as hospitals, in order to avoid unnecessary complexity. The studies included in the review also needed to address resilience in terms of the capacity to “absorb, overcome, and recover” from external or internal shocks. The data collection process was guided by the PRISMA workflow, which helped to minimise bias and ensure that only the most relevant studies were selected for in-depth analysis.
Findings: In addition to identifying many common resilience factors at the organisational, team, and individual levels, mostly related to financial, material, and human resources, this review reveals key elements specific to public administrations, such as legal and bureaucratic constraints. It is argued that, according to the dominant public management paradigm, the development of this antecedent may be challenging. Furthermore, the capability to mobilise a network of partners to solve crisis-related issues seems to be particularly important for public organisations. Indeed, in the case of public administrations, cooperation with other public and private actors is essential not only for their own survival and continued functioning as organisations but also, given their societal mission, for leading the response to a crisis.
Academic contribution to the field: Based on the existing scientific literature, this article clarifies the extent to which resilience antecedents differ between public administrations and private enterprises. Although general differences between the public and private sectors are well known, no such comparison has been made to date with regard to resilience factors. In doing so, it creates a solid basis for further empirical research on the numerous research gaps identified.
Originality/significance/value: There are a number of factors that organisations need to work on if they wish to improve their resilience, regardless of their legal form. However, this article also identifies the resilience antecedents that are particularly important for public administrations and require specific attention from public managers.
SWITCH edu-ID
Administration
