Global firms are sleepwalking toward disaster

New study shows

A global study released today (24 March) by BSI, in partnership with Cranfield School of Management, finds that business leaders are struggling to balance risk with opportunity, threatening the long-term survival of their firms. The report, “Organizational Resilience: A summary of academic evidence, business insights and new thinking by BSI and Cranfield School of Management”,  assesses half a century’s accepted wisdom on best-practice management, identifying an acute need for firms to embrace risk if they are to survive and thrive.

According to the study conflicting management advice has left senior executives reluctant to intervene, with the subsequent organizational paralysis leading firms to potentially sleepwalk into disaster. The report consolidates half a century of management thinking and over 180 academic papers into a single coherent approach. BSI commissioned the report in the wake of finding  that less than one third of CEOs are confident in leading their firms to long term success. 

Professor David Denyer, author of the study, said: “Great businesses are built by leaders prepared to take the bad with the good. They recognize the tension between consistent defensive behaviours that stop bad things happening, and progressive, flexible ideas that allow the good to prosper. Put simply, senior leaders must manage the tensions between control, action, performance and innovation if organizations are to be truly resilient – and this requires paradoxical thinking.”