Resilient by Design: Creating Businesses That Adapt and Flourish in a Changing World

As managers grapple with the challenges of climate change and volatility in a hyper-connected, global economy, they are paying increasing attention to their organization’s resilience—its capacity to survive, adapt, and flourish in the face of turbulent change. Sudden natural disasters and unforeseen supply chain disruptions are increasingly common in the new normal. Pursuing business as usual is no longer viable, and many companies are unaware of how fragile they really are. To cope with these challenges, management needs a new paradigm that takes an integrated view of the built environment, the ecosystems, and the social fabric in which their businesses operate.

Resilient by Design provides business executives with a comprehensive approach to achieving consistent success in a changing world. Rich with examples and case studies of organizations that are designing resilience into their business processes, it explains how to connect with important external systems—stakeholders, communities, infrastructure, supply chains, and natural resources—and create innovative, dynamic organizations that survive and prosper under any circumstances.

Resilient enterprises continue to grow and evolve in order to meet the needs and expectations of their shareholders and stakeholders. They adapt successfully to turbulence by anticipating disruptive changes, recognizing new business opportunities, building strong relationships, and designing resilient assets, products, and processes. Written by one of the leading experts in enterprise resilience and sustainability, Resilient by Design offers a confident path forward in a world that is increasingly less certain.

Dr. Joseph Fiksel serves as Executive Director of the Sustainable and Resilient Economy program at The Ohio State University, and is a research faculty member in the Integrated Systems Engineering Department. He coordinates Ohio State’s collaboration with leading global companies, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations to develop new methods and tools for improving the sustainability and resilience of enterprises and supply chains. Previously, he was Director of Decision & Risk Management at Arthur D. Little and Vice President for Life Cycle Management at Battelle. He holds a bachelor’s degree from M.I.T., a doctorate in Operations Research from Stanford University, and an advanced degree from La Sorbonne in Paris.