Unpacking strategic agility: Aggregate and dimensional effects on organizational performance in an emerging economy

Abstract

Drawing on the dynamic capabilities’ framework, this study examines how strategic agility contributes to organizational performance in an emerging economy context. Strategic agility is modeled as a higher-order construct and analyzed through its three meta-capabilities: strategic sensitivity, leadership unity, and resource fluidity. The study also evaluates whether environmental dynamism moderates the strategic agility–performance relationship. Using survey data from 241 general managers and directors of formal firms in Metropolitan Lima, Peru, the hypotheses were tested through PLS-SEM. The results show that strategic agility has a positive and significant effect on organizational performance, both as an aggregate construct and through its underlying meta-capabilities. However, environmental dynamism does not significantly moderate this relationship. These findings support the role of strategic agility as an integrative dynamic capability and suggest that its performance implications are not contingent solely on environmental dynamism.