Surviving disruption: nature inspired solutions

Purpose Decision-makers in companies increasingly face unprecedented natural disasters. When business continuity is at risk, managers need a framework to imminently react. Design/methodology/approach A literature review and analysis of survival responses in nature and business case examples of company responses to the Covid-19 pandemic was the approach used. Findings There are direct parallels between the physiological stress response when a living individual perceives a threat to its survival, and the immediate reactions that occur when companies are faced with a disruptive event. Practical implications This article is meant to be used by decision-makers in companies to better react to disruptive events. Originality/value While nature-inspired methods have inspired inventions and algorithms, Hans Selye's general adaptation theory has not been used in parallel with business scenarios. We correlate fundamental organism survival mechanisms with a risk response framework to improve the probability of business survival during external threats.