The Agility Factor

Since 1980, there have been tremendous changes in the competitive environment in every industry, and every indicator suggests that the pace of change is increasing. Recent research suggests that the expected life of a new American company is about six years. How can organizations beat the odds, survive, and sustain long-term growth and profitability? In The Agility Factor, Christopher G. Worley, Thomas Williams, and Edward E. Lawler III reveal the key factors that drive sustained profitability based on the practices of companies that have regularly outperformed their competitors. Drawing on research from large companies across a variety of industries, the authors explain that the most successful companies are not the typical organizations lauded by the media, but companies that possess a quiet agility which allows them to internalize the outside forces of variation, selection, and retention, and put these forces to productive use. Agility gives an organization the ability to develop and pursue options that it would not otherwise have. It is a dynamic capability that allows companies to make timely, effective, and sustained responses to environmental change. Agility is more than simply good management and more than a single set of capabilities. It provides a way to perceive environmental threats and opportunities, test possible responses, and implement change quickly over long periods of time. Agility is a very advanced organizational capability that relies on a system of routines, enlightened management, and sophisticated human resource processes. Filled with illustrative, research-based case studies, The Agility Factor gives leaders the information they need to put in place a strategic framework of agility within their organizations. For executives, consultants, board members, and all those responsible for the long-term health of organizations, agility creates opportunities to give their companies a performance edge.