Modelling organisational resilience of public sector organisations to navigate complexity: empirical insights from Lithuania

Abstract

Public sector organisations are increasingly tasked to adapt and evolve, dealing with shocks and disturbances without compromising their role as wealth generators. However, as complex adaptive systems, they do not manifest equal capacity for adaptation and evolution in response to complexity. This article explores the role of resilience in public sector organisations and sheds light on the interactions between different elements of resilience that enable these organisations to navigate complexity. The study combines a systematic literature review and a quantitative empirical investigation to propose and test a framework of organisational resilience in the public sector. It identifies planning, adaptation, and enhanced learning as critical phases to explain organisational resilience and how they intervene dynamically when dealing with adversity. The empirical investigation analyses the Lithuanian public sector organisations and explains the relationships among the model dimensions. The paper offers a model for theory development to understand the dimensions of the resilience of complex adaptive public sector organisations and how they interrelate with each other. For practice, it suggests which aspects are relevant to help public sector organisations develop their capacity to build resilience and overcome adversity.