Abstract
Analysis of human adaptation to climate change should be based on realistic models of adaptive behaviour at the level of organisations and individuals. The paper sets out a framework for analysing adaptation to the direct and indirect impacts of climate change in business organisations with new evidence presented from empirical research into adaptation in nine case-study companies. It argues that adaptation to climate change has many similarities with processes of organisational learning. The paper suggests that business organisations face a number of obstacles in learning how to adapt to climate change impacts, especially in relation to the weakness and ambiguity of signals about climate change and the uncertainty about benefits flowing from adaptation measures. Organisations rarely adapt ‘autonomously’, since their adaptive behaviour is influenced by policy and market conditions, and draws on resources external to the organisation. The paper identifies four adaptation strategies that pattern organisational adaptive behaviour.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Burton, I.: 1997, ‘Vulnerability and adaptive response in the context of climate and climate change,’ Climate Change 36(1–2), 185–196.
Adger, W., Neil, P., Kelly, M., and Huu Ninh, N.: 2001, Living with environmental change: social vulnerability, adaptation, and resilience in Vietnam, Routledge, London.
Aldrich, H. and Auster, E.: 1986, Even dwarfs started small: liabilities of age and size and their strategic implications, in Staw, B. and Cummings, L (ed.), Research in Organizational Behavior, Greenwich, CT, pp. 165–198.
Arnell, N. W.: 2003, ‘Effects of IPCC SRES emissions scenarios on river runoff: a global perspective,’ Hydrology and Earth System Science 7, 619–641.
Arnell, N. W. and Delaney, E. K.: 2003, Adapting to climate change: water supply in England and Wales, ADAPT Project paper, Department of Geography, University of Southampton, Southampton, October.
Benner, M. J. and Tushman, M. L.: 2003, ‘Exploitation, exploration, and process management: the productivity dilemma revisited,’ Academy of Management Review 28(2), 238–256.
Chakravarthy, B.: 1982, ‘Adaptation: a promising metaphor for strategic management,’ Academy of Management Review 7(1), 35–44.
Collis, D. J.: 1994, ‘Research note: How valuable are organizational capabilities?,’ Strategic Management Journal 15, 143–152.
Cyert, R. M. and March, J. G.: 1963, A Behavioral Theory of the Firm, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Daft, R. L. and Weick, K. E.: 1984, ‘Toward a model of organizations as interpretation systems,’ Academy of Management Review 9(2), 284–295.
Downing, T. E., Olsthoorn, A. A., and Tol, R. S. J.: 1996, Climate change and extreme events: altered risks, socio-economic impacts and policy responses, ECU Report No 12/IVM Report No R 96/4, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.
Easterling, W. E., Crosson, P. R., Rosenberg, N. J., McKenney, M. S., Katz, L. A., and Lemon, K. M.: 1993, ‘Agricultural impacts of and responses to climate change in the Missouri-Iowa-Nebraska-Kansas region,’ Climate Change, 24(1–2), 23–62.
Eisenhardt, K.: 1989, ‘Building theory from case study research,’ Academy of Management Review 14(3), 532–550.
Environment Agency: 2001, Water Resources for the Future: A Strategy for England and Wales, Environment Agency, Bristol.
Environment Agency: 2003, Water Resources Planning Guidelines. Supplementary Guidance Note 1: Treatment of Climate Change, Environment Agency, Bristol.
Folke, C. et al.: 2002, Resilience and sustainable development: building adaptive capacity in a world of transformations. Edita norstedts tryckeri AB, Stockholm.
Gavetti, D. and Levinthal, D.: 2000, ‘Looking forward and look backward: cognitive and experiential search,’ Administrative Science Quarterly 45, 113–137.
Glantz, M. H.: 1988, Societal responses to climate change: forecasting by analogy, Westview Press, Boulder, CO.
Graves, H. M. and Philipson, M. C.: 2000, Potential implications of climate change in the built environment, FBE Report 2, Foundation for the Built Environment, London.
Herrington, P.: 1996, Climate Change and the Demand for Water, HMSO, London.
Hertin, J., Berkhout, F., Delaney, K., and Arnell, N.: 2002, Business and climate change: measuring and enhancing adaptive capacity, Progress report: Preliminary results from the house building and water sector, SPRU/Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, Brighton.
Hulme, M. et al.: 2002, Climate Change Scenarios for the United Kingdom: The UKCIP02 Scientific Report, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, Norwich.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC): 2001, Climate change 2001 – The Scientific Basis: Contribution of Working Group II to the third assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Kasperson, J., Kasperson, R. E., and Turner, B. L.: 1995, Regions at risk: comparisons of threatened environments, United Nations University Press, NY.
Kelly, P. M. and Adger, W. N.: 2000, ‘Theory and practice in assessing vulnerability to climate change and facilitating adaptation,’ Climatic Change, 47(4), 325–352.
Levitt, B. and March, J. G.: 1988, ‘Organizational Learning,’ Annual Review of Sociology 14, 319–340.
Lippman, S. and Rummelt, R. P.: 1982, ‘Uncertain imitability: an analysis of interfirm differences in efficiency under competition,’ Bell Journal of Economics, 13, 418–438.
March, J.: 1991, ‘Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning,’ Organization Science 2, 71–87.
McCarthy, J., Canziani, O., Laery, N., Dokken, D., and White, K.: 2001, Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability Contribution of Working Group II to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Mendelsohn, R.: 2000, ‘Efficient adaptation to climate change,’ Climatic Change, 45(3–4), 583–600.
Nelson, R. and Winter, S.: 1982, An evolutionary theory of economic change, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Nonaka, I.: 1994, ‘A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation,’ Organization Science 5, 14–37.
Parson, E. A. et al.: 2003, ‘Understanding climatic impacts, vulnerabilities, and adaptation in the United States: Building a capacity for assessment,’ Climatic Change 57(1–2), 9–42.
Reilly, J. and Schimmelpfennig, D.: 2000, ‘Irreversibility, uncertainty and learning: portraits of adaptation to long-term climate change,’ Climatic Change 45, 253–278.
Schneider, S. H., Easterling, W. E., and Mearns, L. O.: 2000, ‘Adaptation: sensitivity to natural variability, agent assumptions and dynamic climatic changes,’ Climatic Change 45, 203–221.
Smit, B., Burton, I., Klein, R. J. T., and Wandel, J.: 2000, ‘An anatomy of adaptation to climate change and variability,’ Climatic Change 45, 223–251.
Staber, U. and Sydow, J.: 2002, ‘Organizational adaptive capacity – a structuration perspective,’ Journal of Management Inquiry 11(4), 408–424.
Steinbrunner, J.: 1974, The cybernetic theory of decision, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
Teece, D., Pisonao, G., and Shuen, A.: 1997, ‘Dynamic capabilities and strategic management,’ Strategic Management Journal 18, 509–533.
Tol, R. S. J., Fankhauser, S., and Smith, J. B.: 1998, ‘The scope for adaptation to climate change: what can we learn from the impact literature?,’ Global Environmental Change - Human and Policy Dimensions 8(2), 109–123.
UK Water Industry Research: 2002, Uncertainty and Risk in Supply/Demand Forecasting – Final Report (Volumes A and B), Project Report CL-09, UKWIR Ltd., London.
Yohe, G., Neumann, J. E., Marshall, P. B., and Ameden, H.: 1996, ‘The economic cost of greenhouse induced sea level rise for developed property in the United States. Climatic Change,’ 32(4), 387–410.
Zollo, M. and Winter, S. G.: 2002, ‘Deliberate learning and the evolution of dynamic capabilities,’ Organization Science 13 (3), 339–351.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Berkhout, F., Hertin, J. & Gann, D.M. Learning to Adapt: Organisational Adaptation to Climate Change Impacts. Climatic Change 78, 135–156 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-006-9089-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-006-9089-3