The organizational side of a disruption mitigation process: exploring a case study during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

This paper deals with the mitigation process of the COVID-19 pandemic. Scholars propose and discuss several mitigation strategies to face the COVID-19 disruptions, mainly focusing on technology and supply chain redesign related aspects. Less attention has been paid to the organizational aspects of the mitigation process. We address this gap through an in-depth analysis of the reactive organizational practices implemented by an Italian company during the COVID-19 pandemic. We further compare these practices with those proposed in the disruption management literature to identify common traits and differences. The results show that the overall management of a pandemic’s mitigation process does not significantly differ from that of conventional disruptions, since both contexts require the same basic organizational practices. However, some peculiarities on how these practices should be implemented in a pandemic setting do emerge, such as the implementation of a cyclic rather than linear problem-solving process, the adoption of a learning-by-doing approach, the need of a risk-taker mindset and the importance of creativity and improvisation. Besides complementing the literature, these findings allow to provide indications to managers on how to organize and coordinate the activities during the mitigation process, as well as on what capabilities and competencies should be leveraged to face the pandemic’s disruptions.