Industry patterns of agility: a study of the role of Information Systems and Information Technology as an antecedent of strategic agility within European organisations

摘要

As globalisation opens up local markets for global competition, Information Systems and Information Technology (IS/IT) make it increasingly simple to elicit, process and transfer complex data anywhere instantly. Taken together, globalisation and IS/IT radically increase the complexity and turbulence of most industries, putting increasing demand on the flexibility and responsiveness (strategic agility) of incumbent organisations. This study addresses to what extent IS/IT act as an antecedent of organisational agility. At this end, a quantitative perspective was employed using a 33-variable 5-point Likert scale survey instrument where variables were grouped according to a 4D construct representing the four strategic dimensions of agile competition by Goldman, Nagel and Preiss (1995). A condensed version of the survey was pretested by 24 attendees at a European IT conference whereas the full survey was taken by 145 members of a European IT user group. The study makes the following contributions: (1) A validated and calibrated research instrument that can be used to diagnose and benchmark IS/IT leverage within organisations, (2) An overview and a graphical presentation of IS/IT leverage within European sectors and regions, measured along the four strategic dimensions of agile competition and (3) Empirical support for the viability of Goldman, Nagel and Preiss's (1995) agility definition.