Organizations, including schools and universities, must be resilient to sustain operations and ensure the learning continuity of students. Organizational resilience is the ability of the organization to anticipate, respond, adapt to incremental changes, thereby enabling the organization to survive and prosper even in times of adversity or crisis. The resilience of private higher educational institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines is challenged by the drastic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. To enhance resilience, private HEIs need to understand their resilience strengths and weaknesses and must be able to evaluate the effectiveness of their resilience strategies. This study validated the indicators affecting the level of organizational resilience of private HEIs in terms of the effectiveness of resilience strategies and competitiveness. Results showed that leadership and culture (LC), networks (N), change readiness (C), and quality education and learning continuity (L) factors directly affect organizational resilience. Structural equation modeling (SEM) showed that learning outcomes (β: 0.931), quality and inclusive education (β: 0.916), planning strategies (β: 0.898), proactive posture (β: 0.896) and innovation and creativity (β: 0.836) have the highest direct effect to organizational resilience. Moreover, there was a significant difference in the effectiveness of resilience strategies and competitiveness of private HEIs in Metro Manila and outside Metro Manila. Private HEIs in Metro Manila showed a higher level of organizational resilience than those outside Metro Manila. The size of private HEIs also positively influenced the effectiveness of resilience strategies and competitiveness. Findings of the study have practical implications for the educational sector, school leaders and administrators, researchers, and society.

Keywords

Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Pandemic, Educational System, Governance