Resilience is defined as “the positive ability of a system or company to adapt itself to the consequences of a catastrophic failure caused by power outage, a fire, a bomb or similar” event.[1]
In recent years the term has been used to describe a burgeoning movement among entities such as businesses, communities and governments to improve their ability to respond to and quickly recover from catastrophic events such as natural disasters and terrorist attacks. The concept is gaining credence among public and private sector leaders who argue that resilience should be given equal weight to preventing terrorist attacks in U.S. homeland security policy.[2]
One of the earliest uses of the term in this context was by Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Stephen Flynn in the book America the Vulnerable: How Our Government is Failing to Protect Us from Terrorism.[3] Dr. Flynn argued that America’s critical infrastructure – including bridges, tunnels, electrical grids, ports, chemical plants, and water systems – represents a key potential target to terrorists because a strike that impaired the infrastructure could severely disrupt important social and economic activity in the country. Making U.S. infrastructure more resilient was a key recommendation. With some 90% of U.S. critical infrastructure in private hands, such an emphasis will require strong public-private cooperation.
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MIT Professor Yossi Sheffi extended the resilience concept to business continuity initiatives in his 2005 book The Resilient Enterprise.[4] Dr. Sheffi analyzed how disruptions can adversely affect the operations of corporations and how investments in resilience can give a business a competitive advantage over entities not prepared for various contingencies. Business organizations such as the Council on Competitiveness have embraced resilience and have tied economic competitiveness to security.[5] The Reform Institute has highlighted the need to enhance the resilience of the supply chain and electrical grid against disruptions that could cripple the U.S. economy.[6][7] Many corporations are adopting resilience and business continuity initiatives and sharing best practices.[8]
Many experts and leaders see resilience as a vital component to a comprehensive homeland security strategy.[9][10] Hurricane Katrina demonstrated that not all catastrophic events can be prevented and a focus on response and recovery is needed.
Prominent members in the United States Congress are embracing resilience. The Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, Bennie Thompson (D-MS) declared May 2008 “Resilience Month” as the committee and its subcommittees held a series of hearings to examine the issue.[11][12] President Obama[13] and the Department of Homeland Security[14][15] have also made resilience an integral component of homeland security policy.
The Quadrennial Homeland Security Review, released by the Department of Homeland Security in February 2010, made resilience a prominent theme and one of the core missions of the U.S. homeland security enterprise.[16]
More scholarship is turning towards examining how to achieve resilience. Some have identified the four facets of resilience as preparedness, protection, response and recovery.[17] Other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, are adopting the resilience concept.[18][19]
As part of the Canterbury University Resilient Organisations programme, ResOrgs have developed a tool for benchmarking the Resilience of Organisations. [20]
In Organizational Studies, resilience is often referred to as the maintenance of positive adjustment under challenging conditions. Here, resilience emerges as the response to specific interruptions of the normal. Sutcliffe and Vogus [21]argue that resilience should rather be viewed from a developmental perspective, as an ability that develops over time from continually handling risks. Resilience, then, is "the continuing ability to use internal and external resources successfully to resolve new issues". Thus, "resilience is the capacity to rebound from adversity strengthened and more resourceful".
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