STRATEGIC AGILITY AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: THE ROLE OF BUSINESS POLICY IN NAVIGATING ENVIRONMENTAL TURBULENCE AMONG NIGERIAN FIRMS
Keywords:
Strategic agility, Policy of Business, Competitive AdvantageAbstract
The cause of unpredictable business in the emerging economies is due to the political insanity, financial volatility, technological shocks, customer expectations, and so on. The unprecedented challenges of the industry like banking, telecommunications and manufacturing test the resistance and the competitive ability of firms in Nigeria. This paper looked at the role of the strategic agility in the sense of the ability of firms to sense opportunities and threats, capture them, and reorganize resources, as being a critical channel through which the business policy can enhance competitive advantage in turbulent environments. The paper is guided by the Resource-Based View, Dynamic Capabilities Theory, and Contingency Theory in exploring the moderating role of business policy on the relationship between strategic agility and competitive advantage of Nigerian firms. Applying a conceptual framework and basing on the insights of the empirical literature, the study establishes that Nigerian companies that adopt the strategy of agility within their policies have a greater chance to defeat rivals in the turbulent markets. Methodologically, the paper adopts a survey design with hypothetical data from 250 firm analyzed using Pearson Moment Correlation Coefficient statistical tool (PPMCC). Strategic Agility (strategic sensitivity, resource fluidity and leadership unity) enhances competitive advantage of Nigerian firms, it was also established statistically that Business Policy significantly moderates the relationship between strategic agility and competitive advantage of Nigerian firms. The present paper also makes a contribution to the literature of business policy and strategy making through shedding light on how such agencies in emerging economies can manage through the volatility by adopting agile policies. Practical implications imply that managers ought to make agility a part of strategic policies, invest in digital transformation, and cultivate cultures of learning, to remain competitive.
References
Adeleye, I., & Esu, B. (2019). Management
practices in Nigeria: A cross-cultural
perspective. Routledge.
2. Adeleye, I., Ibeh, K., & Kinoti, A. (2019). The
Changing Dynamics of International Business in
Africa. Palgrave Macmillan.
3. Akingbade, W. A. (2014). Competitive
strategies and improved performance of
selected Nigeria telecommunication companies.
Journal of Business and Management, 16(7),
39–45.
4. Andrews, K. R. (1980). The concept of
corporate strategy (2nd ed.). Irwin.
5. Ansoff, H. I., & McDonnell, E. J. (1990).
Implanting strategic management (2nd ed.).
Prentice Hall.
6. Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained
competitive advantage. Journal of
Management, 17(1), 99–120.
https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639101700108
7. Clauss, T., Abebe, M., Tangpong, C., & Hock,
M. (2019). Strategic agility, business model
innovation, and firm performance. Long Range
Planning, 52(2), 1–13.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2018.09.003
8. Donaldson, L. (2001). The contingency theory
of organizations. Sage Publications.
9. Doz, Y. L., & Kosonen, M. (2010). Embedding
strategic agility: A leadership agenda for
accelerating business model renewal. Long
Range Planning, 43(2–3), 370–382.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2009.07.006
10. Egbetokun, A. A., Oluwadare, A. J., Ajao, B. F.,
& Jegede, O. O. (2017). Innovation systems
research: An agenda for developing countries.
African Journal of Science, Technology,
Innovation and Development, 9(5), 431–448.
https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2017.13228
20
11. Eisenhardt, K. M., & Martin, J. A. (2000).
Dynamic capabilities: What are they? Strategic
Management Journal, 21(10–11), 1105–1121.
https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0266
12. Johnson, G., Scholes, K., & Whittington, R.
(2008). Exploring corporate strategy: Text and
cases (8th ed.). Prentice Hall.
13. Lengnick-Hall, C. A., & Beck, T. E. (2005).
Adaptive fit versus robust transformation: How
organizations respond to environmental
change. Journal of Management, 31(5), 738–
757.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206305279367
14. Osiyevskyy, O., & Dewald, J. (2015).
Explorative vs exploitative business model
change: The role of organizational agility.
Business Horizons, 58(6), 751–759.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
