Dr Andrew Griffiths

You may have heard about the effect of El Nino on the environment, but what about its impact on big business?

UQ researcher Dr Andrew Griffiths is one of the first in the world to study corporate resilience and adaptation to long-term global climate change.

Dr Griffiths has been awarded a $60,000 UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award to look at how managers can create resilience in their organisations to cope with changes such as prolonged drought.

“If organisations are not resilient and do not take on board conditions in the natural environment, then you won’t see resilient economic systems,” Dr Griffiths said.

Dr Griffiths’ research looks at ensuring a company has “slack resources” and capabilities to adjust to massive changes in its operating environments.

While most industry sectors will feel the impact of climate change, particular attention can be paid to agricultural or pastoral companies and those whose product is linked to natural resources.

“Pastoral-based companies have been around for a long time,” Dr Griffiths said.

“We can track their complete historical records and compare their historical resilience as a company with patterns of climate change, and you can start to see how companies learn about the environment.”

Drought and climate change could also have a severe effect on businesses in winemaking regions and aquafarming, while increased storms could have implications for the insurance industry.

• Dr Andrew Griffiths www.uq.edu.au/uqresearchers/researcher/griffithsab.html

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