Strategic Agility: A State of the Art Introduction to the Special Section on Strategic Agility

Abstract

I n a chaotic environment in which markets emerge, collide, split, evolve, and die, one of the primary determinants of a firm's success is strategic agility, the ability to remain flexible in facing new developments, to continuously adjust the company's strategic direction, and to develop innovative ways to create value. The competitive landscape has been shifting in recent years more than ever. Globalization, rapid technological change, codification of knowledge, the internet, talent and employee mobility, increased rates of knowledge transfer, imitation, changes in customer tastes, and the obsolescence of products and business models have all caused a turbulent environment and accelerated changes and disruptions. These trends are expected to continue, producing ever more rapid and unpredictable changes. Current concepts such as sustained competitive advantage, resource-based view, and strategic planning have been deemed vague, tautological, and inadequate for companies to cope with the rate and complexity of environmental and market changes. 1 There are tensions between formal processes of strategic planning and opportunistic strategic agility. Strategic planning has been criticized for preparing plans for tomorrow based on yesterday's actions, concepts, and tools. Although strategic planning can help in specific situations, it usually creates an inertia that prevents fast adaptation when circumstances change or market discontinuities occur. There is an agreement on the importance of strategic agility in light of complex managerial challenges such as dynamic environment, globalization, accelerating rate of innovation, and mergers and acquisitions (as mentioned by Jack Welch). 2 Strategic agility requires inventing new business models and new categories rather than rearranging old products and categories. To cope with growing strategic discontinuities and disruptions, scholars have suggested the creation of strategically agile companies, including new ways for managing business transformation and

Organizational agility: ill-defined and somewhat confusing? A systematic literature review and conceptualization

“…The systematic analysis of the literature reveals a shift in the research focus over time. While in earlier times agility as a whole was considered in the enterprise (Gunasekaran 1998(Gunasekaran , 1999Sharifi and Zhang 1999;Yusuf et al 1999;Zhang and Sharifi 2000), in the recent past, the research focus has been more on specific forms of agility, such as workforce agility (Alavi et al 2014;Qin and Nembhard 2010;Sumukadas and Sawhney 2004;Van Oyen et al 2001), supply chain agility (Chen 2019;Eckstein et al 2015;Naim and Gosling 2011), information systems agility (Lyytinen and Rose 2006;Rabah et al 2015), and strategic agility (Doz and Kosonen 2011;Fourné et al 2014;Lewis et al 2014;Morton et al 2018;Shin et al 2015;Weber and Tarba 2014). However, the research fails to consider how the various forms of agility in the enterprise then work together to increase the overall agility level of the organization.…”

Strategic agility orientation? The impact of CEO duality on corporate entrepreneurship in privatized Vietnamese firms

“…This has meant a firm must have the ability to sense external ecosystems and internal activity while making the appropriate amendments to, or switching between, business models (Doz and Kosonen, 2010). Despite the recent attention to this emerging phenomenon (see for example, Weber and Tarba, 2014), research has focused on it at a micro-firm level to understand its antecedents and influences (Arbussa et al, 2017;Doz and Kosonen, 2010). However, the desired state relating to strategic agility is one attributable to an orientation of groups of firms that are striving to achieve.…”

The Financial Effects of Strategic Divestment – An Analysis of GE Capital

“…Every strategic and organizational decision, change in direction, or even simply continuing on an established pathway requires financial support. The ability for management professionals, and organizations at large, to incorporate the concept of strategy, technology, and innovation forms the foundation of strategic agility essential for navigating a dynamic business environment (Weber & Tarba, 2014). For management professionals seeking to proactively manage and lead changes initiatives, acknowledging this reality, and managing toward this dual goal is critical.…”