Navigating the VUCA Landscape: A Systematic Literature Review of Organizational Coping Strategies

What the paper says

Purpose: In today's business landscape, organizations encounter unparalleled turbulence and uncertainty denoted by the acronym VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity). To address cross-disciplinary challenges in this eclectic environment, sustainable management is essential. The objective of this paper is to recognize potential coping mechanisms for organizations confronted by a VUCA environment.Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to evaluate current scientific approaches depicting a relationship between VUCA and organizational performance indicators to consequently deal with VUCA threats.Findings: The SLR identifies proactive strategies for VUCA challenges but criticizes their isolated use, advocating for an eclectic, integrated approach to fully address the complexities of today’s business environment.Research limitations/implications: Based on the comprehensive SLR a research gap was identified regarding the lack of a mutual interplay of proactive approaches for a management strategy tackling the multifaceted threads of VUCA. Since the development of a proactive coping strategy is crucial for a successful organization this paper represents a valuable area for potential scientific investigation.Practical implications: The presented reactive and proactive approaches may be used to overcome individual challenges organizations face in today’s business world due to the high practical relevance.Originality/value: This paper contributes to the building and evaluation of an eclectic proactive coping strategy for organizations facing threats of a VUCA environment.