Leveraging Strategic Agility in the Pandemic Environment

Strategic agility is defined as the firm's capability to dynamically change its plan for achieving competitive advantage. Research on strategic agility has blossomed with over a dozen journal articles published during the last three years. Recent empirical research suggests young firms benefit more than older firms from strategic agility, especially when facing environmental turbulence. That is, firm age and environmental turbulence jointly moderate the relationship between strategic agility and firm performance. If the pandemic climate of 2020 represents a high degree of turbulence, then strategic agility may be highly beneficial for young firms struggling to survive if not prosper during pandemic conditions. This applied research article first reviews theory and prior research on strategic agility and environmental turbulence. It is argued the coronavirus pandemic ranks highly on the five components of the environmental turbulence construct, namely, the complexity, rapidity, novelty, visibility, and frequency of environmental change A sensitivity analysis is conducted to identify six subfactors of the framework which most influence firm performance in high environmental turbulence. These are, in order, multiple business models, flexible organizational structures, probing the future, reflecting on past/future trajectory, modular systems and processes, and leadership empathy. The article concludes with a discussion of how these strategic agility subfactors may be leveraged by entrepreneurs and small firms during pandemic and other turbulent environments, and directions for future research.