Organizational crisis preparedness during the COVID-19 pandemic: an investigation of dynamic capabilities and organizational agility roles

Abstract

Purpose While there is a consensus that dynamic capabilities (DC) and organizational agility are two key mechanisms that help firms to survive and cope with the environment’s dynamic change and uncertainties, little is known about their roles in leveraging firms’ preparedness to overcome organizational crises during turbulent contexts such as the COVID-19. The purpose of this study is twofold. This paper first analyzes the direct relationship between DC and organizational agility dimensions (i.e. customer, operational and partnering agilities). Second, this paper investigates the direct link between organizational agility dimensions and a firm’s organizational crisis preparedness. Design/methodology/approach Based on a survey of Moroccan firms administrated during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, a theoretically derived model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings The results show that DC are significantly related to the three types of agility and that only customer and operational agility affect organizational crisis preparedness. Originality/value This research provides new insights into crisis management literature by introducing and empirically examining the impact of DC and organizational agility in addressing global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.