Agility in the digital age: three studies in operations and supply chain management

Abstract

The core objective of this research is to investigate agility in the digital age, along with its critical antecedents and consequences, from a diverse perspective. In today’s dynamic era, agility is an essential capability that enables companies to quickly adapt to change. To gain a competitive advantage, many firms strategically develop agility as a key capability. In the past, when the business environment was generally more stable and less dynamic, the resource-based view was a dominant theoretical framework guiding firms in achieving a competitive advantage. However, with increasing environmental dynamism, scholars argue that resource-based view alone is no longer effective for sustaining competitive advantage in this new era.
Therefore, this thesis aims to explore how the resource-based view can be extended to help firms gain a competitive advantage, particularly through the utilization and development of agility. While existing literature has primarily focused on the role of agility in enhancing operational performance, environmental and resilience-related issues warrant greater attention. Accordingly, the first two papers investigate how agility contributes to environmental performance improvement and the development of supply chain resilience. Subsequently, the final study examines how agility can be effectively developed in the digital age.
Structurally, this research is divided into three parts. First, it examines how the anticipation of new technologies serves as a strategic approach to develop agility and enhance environmental performance. Second, it explores how agility, when aligned with emerging technologies, contributes to the development of supply chain resilience. Third, it investigates how digital integration facilitates agility development by mitigating organizational inertia.
For empirical assessment, this research adopts cross-sectional survey data and applies multiple quantitative methods to derive conclusions. The findings can help supply chain professionals better understand agility by identifying its key antecedents and consequences. Overall, this research provides a holistic framework for understanding agility in the 21st century while also serving as a foundation for future research in this area.

Date of Award	20 Aug 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Nottingham
Supervisor	Jing Dai (Supervisor) & Boying Li (Supervisor)