What drives strategic agility? Evidence from a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (FsQCA)

Strategic agility is a topic that has not reached maturity and is of increasing interest for companies and academics alike. Yet few studies assess what drives strategic agility in organisations. This paper aims to review how companies are currently obtaining strategic agility and to identify the individual factors and configurations that lead to it. The study draws on a survey carried out with 40 Spanish companies in the services sector. The study then uses Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to identify the different configurations of factors that lead to strategic agility. Finally, we complement QCA analysis by performing a case study for each of the configurations that lead to strategic agility. The study reveals that there is no necessary condition to reach strategic agility and that companies reach it in five main ways, depending on different combinations of six factors: firm size, firm age, whether the firm is international, whether it competes in a turbulent environment, and whether the firm invests in i) capabilities and technologies, and ii) additional revenue models or cost-cutting mechanisms or not.