Abstract
This paper summarizes the elements of agility listed in contemporary scientific literature and aligns them to the four different forces described by the acronym VUCA. There is a general consensus that organizational resilience and agility are crucial elements to gain sustainable competitive advantage especially since the arresting economic changes during the pandemic year 2020. There is little agreement though how precisely organizational agility responds to volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). By systemization of frameworks and models from the literary sources the aim is to create a combined model. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to develop a model that can practically be employed to evaluate the agile status quo of an organization. It should support practitioners to distinguish between the different requirements each part of the VUCA acronym requires. The design of this study is a conceptual paper which proposes a new corporate agility model with direct linkages to the requirements of VUCA forces. It derives from, and builds on, existing scientific literature while integrating a comprehensive set of existing agile frameworks. The result of this research is a model which defines distinct enablers, sensing capabilities, agile practices, and responses as answers to VUCA forces. It highlights that certain elements reinforce and link to each other to transform an entire organization agile. Surprisingly, leadership and strategy are not incorporated as elements but rather seen as conditions that subordinate the iterative learning approach of this model. Originality is given as the created model provides a set of elements leaders can implement or use to assess organizational agility. Furthermore, it supports how to deal with strategy and leadership in the transitional process. Relevance is given as during the worlds COVID-19 crises the economic and governments changes in terms of volatility and uncertainty were especially challenging for organizations.
Highlights
The pandemic crisis in 2020 showed arrestingly how fast and in which magnitude economic conditions can change for an organization. This scenario is described by the term VUCA which stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity
Practical applicability and acceptance are provided through the adaption of a similar visualization as the corporate culture model by Denison (Denison et al, 2004)
It must be highlighted though that a basic requirement for application is a strategic commitment to organizational agility as a prerequisite
Summary
The pandemic crisis in 2020 showed arrestingly how fast and in which magnitude economic conditions can change for an organization. One answer to VUCA are agile working practices and an organizational structure that is able to react flexible and fast to economic alterations evoked by changing consumer preferences, technological leaps or even lock downs of the social life (Ganguly et al, 2009). The aim of this qualitative literature review is to develop a comprehensive and in practice applicable model on how organizations respond to these economic scenarios. It needs to be condensed to ensure practical applicability
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