"The Institution Has No Umbrella:" An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of MFI Managers Navigating Climate Rupture

Climate change is not only an environmental concern for microfinance institutions (MFIs) in rural Bangladesh; it is an operational rupture that exposes institutional fragility at the grassroots. While scholarship has largely examined portfolio risks and client vulnerabilities, the perspectives of branch managers, those who interpret and implement policy under climatic stress, remain overlooked. The study employs Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as methodology to explore the lived experiences of four MFI branch managers in climate‑affected districts. The research pursues five objectives: (1) explore managers’ perceptions of institutional vulnerability, (2) identify and interpret themes emerging from their narratives, (3) examine adaptive practices beyond formal policy, (4) develop the concept of structured vulnerability to explain the interplay between organizational frameworks and managerial interpretation, and (5) offer policy implications for climate‑resilient microfinance. Four themes have emerged from the analysis. They are; the fragmented anticipation mechanisms, the paradox of inclusion in risk screening, the translation of climate stress into professional precarity through performance targets, and the recognition that resilience requires capabilities beyond credit provision. Together, these findings suggest that managers construct an unseen infrastructure of resilience through discretionary improvisation, revealing a theory of structured vulnerability. By centering managerial voices, this study presents a theoretically and empirically informed perspective on institutional weaknesses, which has significant implications for microfinance policymaking that can move from reactive mitigation to proactive adaptation in Bangladesh and comparable contexts.