Developing a Local Model of Organizational Agility in Knowledge based Firms: Applying the Interpretive Structural Modeling Approach

The most important advantage of competitive global businesses is now considered to be quick responsiveness in meeting the diverse needs of customers. Therefore, many experts in Management consider agility as the key to the success of organizations in the dynamic and unpredictable era. Numerous definitions of agility have been proposed through close scrutiny of various factors. In this study, we aimed to identify major agility-related factors based on a comprehensive theoretical and empirical literature review. Having integrated the opinions of experts and local agents based on the Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) technique, we scrutinized the extent of the driving and dependence power of these factors in knowledge-based companies that are rapidly gaining ground. The results obtained from the analysis of nineteen identified major agility-related factors showed that structural flexibility of organizations and data analysis are the most penetrating drivers and environmental accountability and the capacity to modify business goals are the most dependent factors.