Learning and Unlearning for Organizational Resilience : A Contingency Perspective on the Choice of Organizational Structure

Do “flat” egalitarian or hierarchical structures lead to higher organizational resilience against unexpected adversities such as supply chain crises, technological disruptions, and pandem- ics? The learning and unlearning perspective asserts that the time of adversity and its duration are two significant yet unattended contingencies. Each structure learns differently not only during the period of adversity but also until the adversity onset, creating different unlearning problems de- pending on its timing. The adversity duration then determines which structure is more resilient as well as how much it will (un-)learn. However, is the structure improving resilience still preferable, if it poses another unlearning problem at the end of the adversity? Through a computational model, I study how these two contingencies affect the choice of organizational structure, considering both resilience and performance in non-adverse periods. Flat organizations are more resilient against long-duration adversities. When the adversity occurs early, their advantage expands to medium- duration adversities. However, in certain conditions, the hierarchical structures remain preferable by compensating for their relative lack of resilience through their performance in the non-adverse period. Each structure differs in its sensitivity to adversities and the variety in its search during adversity, offering some explanation to the results and guidance to decision-makers consequently