Towards a Practice-based View of Information Systems Resilience Using the Lens of Critical Realism

Abstract

Disasters, natural or otherwise, are not rare events and organizations must develop resilience as a governance mechanism for business continuity, growth, and sustainability. It is critical for organizations not only to survive after a disaster but also to bounce back. Organizational resilience has gained upward attention in recent years. This research focuses on an aspect of organizational resilience, i.e., on Information Systems (IS) resilience. This study focuses on understanding the decision making process of senior executives in context to IS resilience in large organizations. Authors present an in-depth case study of a large New Zealand organization adapting with the aftermath of crisis, as well as the lessons they learned along the way. The case study vividly follows dramaturgical guidelines as prescribed by Myers and Newman. The paper shares some important lessons learned by the organization and also proposes a model for IS resilience planning and decision making in light of a strategy-implementation bicycle and causal model to understand decision-makers’ perspective to understand decision priorities.