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Change factors requiring agility and implications for IT

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  • Marcel van Oosterhout
  • Eric Waarts
  • Jos van Hillegersberg

Abstract

The current highly dynamic business environment requires businesses to be agile. Business agility is the ability to swiftly and easily change businesses and business processes beyond the normal level of flexibility to effectively manage unpredictable external and internal changes. This study reports on a cross-industry analysis of change factors requiring agility and assesses agility gaps that companies are facing in four industry sectors in the Netherlands. A framework was constructed to measure the perceived gaps between the current level of business agility and the required level of business agility. The questionnaire and in-depth interviews held reveal that today's businesses perceive to lack the agility required to quickly respond to changes, whose speed and requirements are difficult to predict. The paper presents rankings of generic and sector-specific agility gaps. These show that although some generic change factors requiring agility exist, the change factors requiring agility that cause agility gaps differ across industry sectors. Among the factors that enable or hinder business agility, the existence of inflexible legacy systems is perceived to be a very important disabler in achieving more business agility. A number of basic principles and directions are discussed to transform Information Technology from barrier into key enabler for increased agility in organizations and business networks.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcel van Oosterhout & Eric Waarts & Jos van Hillegersberg, 2006. "Change factors requiring agility and implications for IT," European Journal of Information Systems, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 132-145, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:tjisxx:v:15:y:2006:i:2:p:132-145
    DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.ejis.3000601
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    Cited by:

    1. Wu, Chih-Wen & Botella-Carrubi, Dolores & Blanco-González-Tejero, Cristina, 2024. "The empirical study of digital marketing strategy and performance in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    2. Petra Lesníková & Andrea Janáková Sujová, 2023. "Agile Companies – Features And Benefits," Economy & Business Journal, International Scientific Publications, Bulgaria, vol. 17(1), pages 80-89.
    3. Zhu, Xiumei & Li, Yue, 2023. "The use of data-driven insight in ambidextrous digital transformation: How do resource orchestration, organizational strategic decision-making, and organizational agility matter?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    4. Enrique de Diego Ruiz & Paloma Almodóvar & Ignacio Danvila del Valle, 2023. "What drives strategic agility? Evidence from a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (FsQCA)," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 599-627, June.
    5. Shuxin Zhang & Sid Suntrayuth, 2024. "The Synergy of Ambidextrous Leadership, Agility, and Entrepreneurial Orientation to Achieve Sustainable AI Product Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-20, May.
    6. repec:bfv:journl:014 is not listed on IDEAS

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