In recent years, several organizations have implemented interventions aimed at integrating work processes and bridging network clusters. These are often permeated by different assumptions regarding clusters in organizational settings. There are concerns about the formation of silos and structural barriers to communication across the formal and informal network structures. Conversely, network clusters are regarded as spaces of local social reinforcement from which innovation ideas may emerge. Although terminologically and functionally different, they share some common features insofar as organizational behavior is concerned and the production of artifacts that fulfill organizational goals. The present scoping review presents an analysis of the literature on organizational silos while investigating attempts to bridge network clusters. Based on the search results, 40 studies were included in the analysis of the findings; of these, 20 were empirical studies and were included in a further quantitative analysis of methods and findings. We identified patterns of definitions of silos and variation in terms of aims, variables, and methods used to evaluate interventions among the heterogeneous studies. Special attention was dedicated to the role of consequences of siloed organizational behavior. We conclude that silos comprise barriers to achieving organizational goals insofar as they pose a threat to internal cooperation.

The present article discusses the dynamics of system resilience, focusing on the case of a university college in Brazil. It investigates the experience of lecturers of this educational institution in the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is exploratory basic qualitative research, aiming at understanding how the university college self-organized in this period. This research focused on local adaptation processes and was conducted through interviews with a sample of lecturers from the study programs offered by the university college. A text analysis software was used to analyze the data generated according to the three aspects of social-ecological resilience. The analytical framework of this research applies the concept of resilience in a socio-ecological system to discuss emergent organizational changes and learning in higher education. Systems resilience highlights adaptation processes characterized by an interplay of previous experience and emerging new knowledge. The findings describe the emergence of new practices and learning as faculty members encountered challenges brought on by the pandemic. Beyond learning new technological tools, the pandemic raised awareness of students’ socio-economic backgrounds in the context of inequality in Brazil. However, resilience requires open communication among staff and across organizational levels about adaptation processes that have taken place during the pandemic.

• An optimistic perspective on the concept of resilience in the oil & gas industry. • Resilience presented as an analytical concept rather than guiding existing practices. • Integrated operations has raised questions about system resilience. • Research on resilience in oil and industry rarely describes adaptive processes. • There is a need for research on resilience beyond safety concerns.

This study is a scoping review of the literature on organizational adaptation in school settings during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dramatic and unexpected environmental changes raise questions about the capacity of schooling organizations to adapt to in response to the pandemic. Different management practices have implications for the selection of organizational behaviors, electively in school settings. The research literature on school responses is analyzed from a selectionist perspective. The aim of this study is to identify and describe three constituting elements of this perspective: variation, interaction, and selection. An additional element is considered in this analysis and comprises the mechanisms of exploration and exploitation in the context of organizational adaptation. Sixteen studies met the selection criteria of describing emergent processes in schools. The findings highlight the emergence of exploration, as teachers actively experimented with a range of strategies and methods in order to maintain educational activities in the complex and uncertain context of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, several questions are raised regarding the effects and maintenance of new practices in the post-pandemic scenario. Management practices that facilitate variation and open communication about learning processes can contribute to the process of organizational adaptation.

The present article discusses the emergence and dynamics of community resilience by empirically investigating the case of the favela of Paraisópolis in São Paulo, Brazil. The emergence of innovative practices that initially contributed to significantly lower rates of COVID-19 infection and mortality when compared to the city average is described. The analytical framework combines two conceptual perspectives in the study of complex systems. First, resilience in socio-ecological systems highlights the adaptation processes characterized by an interplay of previous experience and emerging new knowledge. Second, the metacontingency framework describes the interplay between a cultural milieu, as a context for cultural practices; an aggregate product; and a selecting environment that embed the acquisition and continuity of interlocking behavioral contingencies. Research methods that combine elements of the descriptive analysis and an exploratory basic qualitative study are employed to understand how the community has self-organized during this period. The findings demonstrate how previous experience with social challenges facilitated self-organization and the emergence of innovative practices in the context of uncoordinated public health measures during the pandemic in Brazil. Furthermore, findings from interviews indicate the existence of positive feedback loops at the community level that facilitated the emergence of innovative practices. This study aims at contributing to the understanding of community resilience by identifying the geographic, psychological, and ecological factors (contextual variables) that facilitate responses to the pandemic.

Several studies have highlighted the importance of parent–teacher collaboration (PTC) in special education (SE). In Lebanon, there is a widespread perception among practitioners that out of many educational challenges facing SE organizations, there is the need to consolidate successful parent–teacher partnerships. We contribute to research on PTC by applying a conceptual framework from complexity science to investigate the interaction between teachers and parents in one SE organization in Lebanon. The interaction between teachers (internal agents) and parents (external agents) constitute an important dimension of the information flow between the school and its surrounding environment. We follow a narrative approach aiming at grasping the temporal dimension of teachers’ experience related to interacting with parents. Findings from this study indicate that teachers play an important role in sensing educational challenges and reaching out for a collaboration. However, although they gain access to valuable information regarding students’ background and social environment, several organizational factors restrain internal knowledge-sharing and communication about innovative practices. Teachers’ narratives depict learning on an individual level, but organizational barriers in the form of negative feedback loops for knowledge-sharing at the organizational level. This study recommends facilitating adaptive processes deriving from PTC. This demands positive feedback loops that facilitate behavioral variation, open communication, and thereby the exploration of innovative practices.