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After the Storm Has Passed: Translating Crisis Experience into Useful Knowledge

Author

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  • Gwendolyn K. Lee

    (Warrington College of Business, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611;)

  • Joseph Lampel

    (Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester M15 6PB, United Kingdom;)

  • Zur Shapira

    (Stern School of Business, New York University, New York, New York 10012)

Abstract

This virtual special issue (VSI) collects together 19 papers published in Organization Science that explore how organizations learn from crises. The objective is to discuss insights that can help us understand the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, implications that existing research carries for organizations’ abilities to keep hard-earned lessons after the storm passes, and opportunities that the current phenomenon offers for future inquiry in this domain. Organizations, large and small, in scores of countries, have suspended normal operations. To survive, many organizations have adapted by shifting almost all human-to-human interactions online while facing an ethical dilemma and a tense tradeoff between public health and economic well-being. We take stock of the research on organizational learning from crises, summarize useful knowledge for managing the current crisis, and provide directions for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Gwendolyn K. Lee & Joseph Lampel & Zur Shapira, 2020. "After the Storm Has Passed: Translating Crisis Experience into Useful Knowledge," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 1037-1051, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:31:y:2020:i:4:p:1037-1051
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2020.1366
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    References listed on IDEAS

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