The two concepts of sustainability and resilience are often conflated in both research and practice. However, organizations that pursue sustainability may be fragile, and many resilient organizations are unsustainable. We first interrogate sustainability and resilience separately, and then examine how they interrelate in different organizational archetypes. This analysis yields a configurational approach, contingent on current organizational and industrial characteristics. Specifically, we identify three distinct pathways towards resilience and sustainability: 1) An absorptive pathway that focuses on retaining sustainability practices while ensuring economic viability. 2) A transformative pathway involves that entails exploring new solutions to reimagine the business. 3) An adaptive pathway that progresses through incremental advances and small wins. We emphasize that only resilience pathways consistent with their initial organizational configurations will effectively support sustainability; otherwise, they may lead to adverse outcomes.
