Media Release
Monday 16 March 2009
For immediate release

1000 Auckland organisations will benchmark there resilience

How resilient is your organisation really? Does it have the qualities needed to survive times of severe adversity and crisis? These are the questions that researchers from the University of Canterbury are hoping to answer for 1000 Auckland organisations invited to participate in an exciting new resilience benchmarking project.

This initiative to improve the capability of Auckland organisation’s and businesses to minimise the impact of severe disruption events is co-funded by the Auckland Civil Defence Emergency Management Group

The current global financial crisis is just one example of when an organisation needs to be resilient to survive; but it could be anything that causes an organisation to be brought to its knees, such as the failure of a key supplier, contamination on the production line, or a disgruntled employee wrecking havoc. Regardless of the cause of the crisis, there are surprisingly similar characteristics of those organisations that are able to take a crisis situation and turn it into their finest hour.

Dr. Erica Seville, ‘Resilient Organisations’ programme leader said that just a little preparation can make the difference between minor disruption and disaster.

“Resilience also requires investing in adaptive management strategies. In the end, well managed risks and effective planning are still no substitute for great leadership and a culture of teamwork and trust which can respond effectively to the unexpected.”

“No organisation is an island; the resilience of your organisation is directly related to the resilience of the other organisations on which it depends such as its suppliers. This research will offer us the opportunity to understand how the overall business community in Auckland is ready to response to a major crisis,” said Dr. Seville.

This research will measure different indicators of resilience for the 1000 organisations participating in the research project. Participation requires staff to complete an online survey about a variety of aspects related to how the organisation operates and the cultures and values embedded within the organisation. Each organisation will then get a fully confidential assessment of their resilience, and will be able to see how their organisation compares against those of a similar size and sector. The organisations will also be given a detailed report giving practical advice on what they can do to improve their organisation’s resilience.

ENDS

Background information:

• This project is part of the broader Resilient Organisations research programme, involving 17 researchers from around New Zealand. More information can be found at: www.resorgs.org.nz
• The project is co-funded by the Foundation of Research Science and Technology and the Auckland Civil Defence and Emergency Management Group.
• Participation in the research is free for organisations in the Auckland region.
• If organisations aren’t randomly selected to participate, they can nominate themselves on the research website: www.resorgs.org.nz/benchmark
• At the moment we are focusing on organisations in the Auckland region, but this initiative will likely roll out across New Zealand later this year.

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