Threat rigidity

Last updated

Threat rigidity is an organizational behavior where the response to perceived threats is an inflexible adherence to established routines and behaviors, even when change may be more appropriate. [1]

Threat rigidity can lead to employee disengagement. [2] [1]

The return to office initiative has been in part attributed to threat rigidity. [2]

The contingency theory provides an alternative to threat rigidity enabling changes to occur. [3]

The term was coinned in a 1981 paper Threat Rigidity Effects in Organizational Behavior: A Multilevel Analysis. [4] [5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Mazzei, Matthew J.; DeBode, Jason; Gangloff, K. Ashley; Song, Ruixiang (July 2025). "Old Habits Die Hard: A Review and Assessment of the Threat-Rigidity Literature". Journal of Management. 51 (6): 2154–2181. doi:10.1177/01492063241286493.
  2. 1 2 Davies, Jessica (29 May 2023). "WTF is 'threat rigidity' and how is it showing up in modern leaders?". WorkLife.
  3. ↑ Donaldson, Lex (20 February 2001). The Contingency Theory of Organizations. SAGE. pp. 177–178. ISBN   978-0-7619-1574-4.
  4. ↑ Staw, Barry M.; Sandelands, Lance E.; Dutton, Jane E. (1981). "Threat Rigidity Effects in Organizational Behavior: A Multilevel Analysis". Administrative Science Quarterly. 26 (4): 501–524. doi:10.2307/2392337. JSTOR   2392337.
  5. ↑ Shimizu, Katsuhiko (2007). "Prospect Theory, Behavioral Theory, and the Threat-Rigidity Thesis: Combinative Effects on Organizational Decisions to Divest Formerly Acquired Units". The Academy of Management Journal. 50 (6): 1495–1514. JSTOR   20159486.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.