Crisis, Recovery, Innovation: Responsive Organization after September 11

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Abstract
After the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, many firms, directly affected by the attack, resumed trading when markets reopened less than a week later. How were these companies able to respond, working under conditions of fear and grief, so quickly and effectively? Drawing on conversations with executives and employees in financial service firms with offices in the World Trade Center and adjacent buildings, this report documents the importance of strong personal ties, lateral self-organization, and nonhierarchical relations in the recovery process. As a response to uncertainty, organizational factors that explain recovery are similar to those that generate innovation.

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