Chapter 1.3: Framing Organizational Resilience in Family Firms

Resilience is a concept that has proven to adapt very smoothly in different contexts. Over the years, several disciplines have taken up this concept, proving to be of primary importance and incredible fluidity. To put it mildly, the concept of resilience itself has proven to be resilient. Nevertheless, this fluidity has led to a series of often conflicting definitions and evidence. For this reason, this work looks at the concept of resilience to arrive at organizational resilience and, even more specifically, at organizational resilience in family firms. In fact, the aim of this paper is to raise a critical reflection on organizational resilience in family firms and propose a conceptual map to study this complex phenomenon within the unique context of family-owned businesses. By linking crisis features with practices and sources of family firms’ organizational resilience, the main contribution is to propose a frame and set a research agenda to enlarge and strengthen the understanding of organizational resilience in family firms.