Organisational effectiveness and agility

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to encourage innovation in our thinking about future organisation effectiveness. It is premised on the argument that the neo-liberal context that has dominated much of our thinking over the last 40 years is under pressure, with increasing polarisation and questioning about globalisation, and concern over our neglect of ethics and the environment. This questioning of business and society, and the development of digitisation in particular, will impact the way we should study organisation effectiveness. Notions such as flexibility, talent and organisation agility are themselves embedded in this macro context and in need of revision. Design/methodology/approach The paper takes our notions of agility and resilience, and breaks them down into their related components of change. The notion of agility – defined as the capacity to respond, adapt quickly and thrive in the changing environment – can be captured through five key components of future focus, customer-collaboration, iteration, experimentation and empowerment. Such a notion of agility must come hand in hand with resilience, and its related concepts of involvement, shared purpose, renewal, learning, risk management, networks and engagement. Findings We are moving beyond a search for greater flexibility at greater speed, towards a search for organisational agility itself. The dominant model of focussing on “hard” output measures (such as productivity, financial results and shareholder value) and enablement through internal alignment is being brought into question, as is the role of the HR discipline. Definitions of organisation effectiveness will need a stronger focus on the “means” to a different set of “ends”. The changes in the means are fundamental. Constructs such as agile structures will mean changes in work processes, structures, skills requirements, management practices, technological elements and cultural practices. Practical implications Despite many pressures for change, shareholder value thinking and related practices still appear to prevail. The traditional long-term employee value propositions that are derived from these practices are ill-matched with current employee desires for self-management of data, fair pay and opportunities for development, and more accessible styles of management and leadership. We should however expect different outcomes for the three different employee segments of elite and high-skilled employees, a squeezed middle of white collar and professional staff, and low-skilled workers. Originality/value The paper captures recent questioning about the role and purpose of business in the neo-liberal economy and uses it to highlight some of the tensions; consequently, this affects the way we think about organisation effectiveness. By deconstructing the discussion of concepts such as agility and resilience, it focusses the research and practice agenda on some of the necessary means that have recently been neglected in much of the organisational effectiveness literature.