Short and Long-Term Informal Coordination for Resilience: A Relational Event Modeling Approach

Organizational resilience research has mostly investigated formal coordination during large-scale disruptions. Yet, in practice, it is the small-scale, day-to-day disruptions that affect most of the operational and financial losses in organizations. Timely resolution of day-to-day disruptions depends on effective real-time, informal coordination. Current research has provided limited evidence on effective informal coordination for resilience. Thus, we rely on the modular system design and improvisation literature to propose short- and long-term informal coordination mechanisms likely to balance the control and flexibility necessary for real-time disruption response. We apply relational event modeling across 1,177 disruptions and 184,795 communication events in a water supply company and demonstrate that long-term decentralization and loose coupling combined with short-term restructuring characterized by routine breaking and centralization help solve disruptions faster. Further, we empirically demonstrate that mechanisms forming employees’ reactions to disruption occurrence do not necessarily match the mechanisms shown to help resolve them faster. In this way, we point to potential reasons behind the failures to flexibly adapt coordination when disruptions occur. This study contributes to the resilience literature by demonstrating previously unexplored mechanisms behind effective real-time informal coordination during day-to-day disruptions and provides valuable practical insights for managers in organizations dealing with frequent disruptions.