HED4812
Assignment 1
Due Year 2026
, QUESTION 1
Discuss the concept of organisational agility and an organisation’s capacity to
manage and respond to change.
Organisational agility refers to an organisation’s ability to sense changes in its
environment and respond to them quickly and effectively. It is not simply about reacting
fast. It involves being flexible, adaptive and proactive in dealing with uncertainty,
competition and shifting stakeholder expectations (Alavi, Wahab, Muhamad and Arbab
Shirani, 2014).
An agile organisation continuously scans its internal and external environments. For
example, a retail company that notices customers moving from in store shopping to
online platforms must adjust its strategy by investing in e commerce systems, digital
marketing and logistics. This shows sensing and responding capacity.
Organisational agility includes three key elements:
1. Strategic sensitivity This is the ability to recognise changes in the environment
early. For example, during the COVID 19 pandemic, organisations that quickly
identified the risks of physical operations shifted to remote working models. This
shows awareness and forward thinking.
2. Leadership unity and commitment Agility requires leaders who support change
and align employees toward a common goal. When leadership teams are
divided, change efforts fail. Unified leadership enables quick decision making and
coordinated action (Teece, Peteraf and Leih, 2016).
3. Resource fluidity Resources such as people, finances and technology must be
easily reallocated. For example, a manufacturing company that shifts production
lines to produce sanitizers during a crisis demonstrates flexible resource use.
Organisational capacity to manage change depends on culture, leadership,
communication and employee involvement. A culture that encourages learning and
Assignment 1
Due Year 2026
, QUESTION 1
Discuss the concept of organisational agility and an organisation’s capacity to
manage and respond to change.
Organisational agility refers to an organisation’s ability to sense changes in its
environment and respond to them quickly and effectively. It is not simply about reacting
fast. It involves being flexible, adaptive and proactive in dealing with uncertainty,
competition and shifting stakeholder expectations (Alavi, Wahab, Muhamad and Arbab
Shirani, 2014).
An agile organisation continuously scans its internal and external environments. For
example, a retail company that notices customers moving from in store shopping to
online platforms must adjust its strategy by investing in e commerce systems, digital
marketing and logistics. This shows sensing and responding capacity.
Organisational agility includes three key elements:
1. Strategic sensitivity This is the ability to recognise changes in the environment
early. For example, during the COVID 19 pandemic, organisations that quickly
identified the risks of physical operations shifted to remote working models. This
shows awareness and forward thinking.
2. Leadership unity and commitment Agility requires leaders who support change
and align employees toward a common goal. When leadership teams are
divided, change efforts fail. Unified leadership enables quick decision making and
coordinated action (Teece, Peteraf and Leih, 2016).
3. Resource fluidity Resources such as people, finances and technology must be
easily reallocated. For example, a manufacturing company that shifts production
lines to produce sanitizers during a crisis demonstrates flexible resource use.
Organisational capacity to manage change depends on culture, leadership,
communication and employee involvement. A culture that encourages learning and
