Cultivating strategic agility – An empirical investigation into best practice

Amidst the fluidity of today's post-COVID business environment, this paper aims to fortify the discourse on strategic agility, by presenting a comprehensive best practice framework for its development and sustenance. This is achieved by carrying out an empirical investigation on four best practice multinational corporations. Despite abundant scholarly attention, a critical gap persists in the empirical examination of specific functional practices and their role for fostering strategic agility. This research fills this void, leveraging in-depth interviews with strategic-level managers and analyzing archival data, revealing that strategic agility necessitates a systemic approach and congruent efforts across organizational functions. Key findings underscore the role knowledge management as the linchpin, with corresponding emphasis on dynamic talent management, strategic partnerships, open innovation, digitalization, and sustainability. As a result, this paper contributes to the strategic management literature by offering practical insights for managers of global businesses in navigating the complexities of a rapidly evolving competitive landscape towards organizational excellence.