Organizational Absorption

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What is Organizational Absorption? Meaning.

Organizational Absorption is the ability or capacity of a company or organization to withstand hard, severe or turbulent circumstances by creating buffers or defense mechanisms against sudden shifts in the external or Competitive Environment. While Organizational Agility tries to deal with these circumstances in an adapting, flexible and offensive way, the focus of organizational absorption is on defensive mechanisms.

Typical ways in which organizations can build absorption capacity and weather storms or unexpected crises are (Donald Sull in HBR, February 2009):

• Low fixed costs
• War Chest
• Diversification
• Vast Size (Economies of Scale)
• Tangible Assets (raw materials deposits, real estate)
• Intangible Assets (brand, expertise, technologies)
• Customer Lock-in (high Switching Costs)
• Protected Core Market (provides safe stream of cash)
• Powerful Patron (supporting government, regulator, investor or Loyal Customers)
• Excess Staff (can be shed)

Forum - Organizational Absorption   Discussions about Organizational Absorption. Organizational Absorption Cases and Examples Hi, do you know of a remarkable case or have a good example of how firms can withstand hard, severe or turbulent circums (...)

Resources - Organizational Absorption Here you find powerpoint presentations, micro-learning videos and further information sources. Business Continuity Management and Disaster Recovery Management Business Continuity Planning, Disaster Recovery Planning, Crisis Management, Organizational Absorption (...)   Introduction to Business Continuity Management Understanding of the Need to Have a Business Continuity Plan, Organizational Resilience (...)

Compare with: Anti-Fragility (Taleb)  |  Organizational Agility  |  Agile Absorption  |  Anti Hostile Takeover Mechanisms  |  Organizational Resilience  |  Crisis Management  |  Strategic Risk Management

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